Albertsons Tests Shoppable Facebook Video Ads as Grocers Digitize Circulars

As grocers look for the most effective digital coupon strategies, Albertsons is testing dynamic, shoppable ads with Facebook and Instagram.

The grocer’s retail media network, Albertsons Media Collective, announced in a recent LinkedIn post that it is partnering with Meta and with mobile ad solutions provider Kargo to pilot interactive advertisements on the social media platforms offering deals at consumers’ local stores that they can clip digitally.

“Our pilot is replacing traditional digital circular ads with dynamic ad campaigns across Facebook and Instagram to meet more consumers where they are. … We are merging product and promotional data to enable advanced targeting, actionable content and measurable performance,” Albertsons Media Collective stated in the LinkedIn post.

The company added that it intends to add similar capabilities for connected TVs and to leverage “dynamic localization and personalization” to makes its campaigns more effective at driving sales and loyalty.

The news comes as grocers rethink their circulars for the digital age. A couple months ago, The Save Mart Companies announced new digital coupon clipping features in partnership with Swiftly. Around the same time, Kroger discontinued its weekly in-newspaper print ads, shifting its coupons primarily to its digital platforms while making print copies available in stores.

Conversely, also this past spring, Giant Eagle reversed course on its couponing efforts, bringing back print circulars distributed via mail just months after stopping them.

It is not only merchants looking to find ways to evolve their couponing efforts for today’s connected consumer — aggregators are doing the same. Instacart has been adding more discounting- and budgeting-focused features. These include introducing a “Stores to Help You Save” section to its marketplace, making it possible for consumers to use their accounts with retailers’ loyalty programs when shopping from those merchants on Instacart and other capabilities.

Grocers across the industry are noting the need to offer deals and discounts to retain consumer loyalty. Findings from PYMNTS’ study “Big Retail’s Innovation Mandate: Convenience and Personalization,” created in collaboration with ACI Worldwide, which draws from a survey of 300 U.S. and U.K. retailers, revealed that 74% of grocers think that consumers would be very or extremely likely to switch merchants if digital coupons and rewards were not provided.

Indeed, many shoppers are highly motivated by deals. PYMNTS’ “Consumer Inflation Sentiment: The False Appeal of Deal-Chasing Consumers,” which drew from a survey of more than 2,100 United States consumers, found that 44% of grocery shoppers are deal chasers, willing to go wherever they will get the best price. Additionally, the results revealed that two-thirds of shoppers take prices and discounts into account when choosing which grocers to shop from.

Plus, data from PYMNTS’ study The 2023 Global Digital Shopping Index: U.S. Edition, which draws from a survey of more than 2,800 U.S. consumers, shows that the ability to use coupons is a high priority for many shoppers. The report noted that 39% of consumers consider coupon usage to be very or extremely important when choosing merchants, and an additional three percent cite this as the single most important concern when deciding where to make purchases.