5 Retail Media Strategies Every CPG Brand Needs in 2026

Retail media isn't coming. It's here and it's reshaping how CPG brands compete for shelf space, basket share, and consumer loyalty.

Spending on retail media networks surpassed $50 billion in 2025, and 2026 is poised to break records again. For challenger brands fighting for share against category leaders with deeper pockets, this isn't a threat. It's the great equalizer. Retail media gives you something that was previously impossible: the ability to reach shoppers with first-party purchase data, at the exact moment they're making buying decisions, with closed-loop measurement that proves ROI down to the SKU.

But here's the catch: retail media is also getting more complex. More networks, more ad formats, more competition for the same eyeballs. The brands that win in 2026 won't just be the ones spending the most, they'll be the ones spending the smartest.

At Hangar12, we've spent 50 years helping CPG brands convert shoppers at the moments that matter most. Here are the five retail media strategies we're deploying for clients right now and how you can use them to punch above your weight class.

1. Stop Treating Retail Media Networks as Interchangeable

Here's a mistake we see constantly: brands running the same campaign across Walmart Connect, Kroger Precision Marketing, and Target Roundel as if they're interchangeable pipes for media dollars. They're not.

Each retail media network operates differently: different ad formats, different data taxonomies, different auction dynamics, different shopper demographics, different measurement frameworks. Running a Walmart Connect campaign the same way you'd run an Amazon Ads campaign is a fast way to waste budget.

What smart brands do instead:

• Walmart Connect: Lean into omnichannel. Walmart's strength is connecting online behavior to in-store purchase. Use Sponsored Products for search capture, but allocate budget to display campaigns that drive awareness among Walmart's massive weekly foot traffic. Walmart shoppers skew value-conscious, lead with price-driven messaging and promotions.
• Kroger Precision Marketing: This is where data gets surgical. Kroger's 84.51° loyalty data covers 60+ million households with granular purchase history. Build campaigns around behavioral audiences, lapsed buyers, competitive brand shoppers, category enthusiasts, not just demographics. Use their off-site programmatic capabilities to reach shoppers before they even open the Kroger app.
• Target Roundel: Target shoppers skew younger, more urban, and more digitally engaged. Roundel's off-site programmatic is particularly strong for awareness-building. Pair Roundel media with Target Circle offers for a one-two punch of awareness and conversion.
• Instacart Ads: The fastest-growing platform for online grocery. Instacart is especially valuable for brands without massive brand awareness, shoppers on Instacart are actively searching categories, which means Sponsored Product ads can capture demand you'd otherwise miss.

The bottom line: each network deserves its own strategy, its own creative, and its own KPIs. If your agency is copy-pasting campaigns across networks, you're leaving money on the table.

Learn more about our retail media approach →

2. Align Retail Media with Your Promotional Calendar (Not the Other Way Around)

One of the highest-ROI moves in retail media is also one of the most overlooked: syncing your media spend with your promotional calendar.

Think about it. You're running a BOGO at Kroger for two weeks. You've negotiated a display at Target for a seasonal push. You've got a coupon dropping in the Walmart app. These are moments when your offer is strongest — when the conversion math is in your favor. And yet, many brands run retail media campaigns on a separate track entirely, burning budget during weeks when they have no promotional support.

The smarter play:

• Map your retail media flights to your trade calendar. When you have an offer in-market, that's when you surge retail media spend. When you're dark on promotions, scale back to baseline awareness.
• Use retail media to amplify FSI and coupon drops. If you're running a digital coupon on Ibotta or a load-to-card offer on Kroger, layer retail media on top to remind shoppers and drive redemption.
• Coordinate with your consumer promotions team. Sweepstakes, sampling programs, and rebates all benefit from retail media amplification. Don't silo these efforts.

This approach doesn't just improve ROAS — it builds stronger relationships with retail buyers, who see that your brand invests in driving sell-through when it matters.

3. Use Retail Media for Full-Funnel, Not Just Bottom-Funnel

Here's a trap: because retail media offers closed-loop measurement tied to purchase, brands often treat it as a pure bottom-funnel conversion play. Sponsored Products only. ROAS obsession. Ignoring awareness entirely.

That's short-sighted.

Yes, retail media is phenomenal for capturing demand. But it's increasingly capable of creating demand too. Display inventory on retailer properties, off-site programmatic through networks like Roundel and Kroger's 84.51°, and even connected TV through Walmart Connect's expanding partnerships, these are awareness channels that happen to come with purchase attribution.

A full-funnel retail media strategy looks like this:

• Top of funnel: Off-site programmatic and CTV to build awareness among category shoppers before they're actively browsing. Use retailer audience data to target households that buy from your category but haven't tried your brand.
• Mid-funnel: On-site display ads that remind shoppers of your brand while they're browsing adjacent categories. Retargeting campaigns that re-engage shoppers who viewed your product page but didn't convert.
• Bottom-funnel: Sponsored Products and search ads to capture high-intent demand. This is where most brands focus but it's only the final piece of the puzzle.

The brands winning in retail media are the ones connecting these layers, building mental availability before the shopping trip and converting that awareness at the point of purchase.

See how we approach full-funnel CPG marketing →

4. Invest in Creative That's Built for the Shelf, Not the Feed

Here's a creative problem we see all the time: brands repurpose their social media creative for retail media placements and wonder why performance is flat.

Social creative is designed for the feed: thumb-stopping, emotionally resonant, brand-forward. Retail media creative needs to do something different: it needs to close the sale. The shopper is already on Walmart.com or the Kroger app with intent to buy. Your job isn't to entertain them. It's to convince them that your product is the one to put in their cart.

What high-performing retail media creative looks like:

• Product-forward, not lifestyle-forward. Show the product clearly. Make it recognizable so it matches what they'll see on shelf or in search results.
• Lead with the benefit or differentiator. "50% more protein" or "No added sugar" beats aspirational messaging when someone's comparing options in a category.
• Include the offer if there is one. If you're running a promotion, make it the hero. "Save $2" or "Buy 2, Get 1" should be unmissable.
• Match the retailer's visual environment. Creative that feels native to Target's aesthetic performs better on Roundel than generic creative that looks out of place.

Your digital media strategy should include retail-specific creative as its own workstream, not an afterthought.

5. Measure Incrementality, Not Just ROAS

ROAS is the default metric for retail media. It's also one of the most misleading.

Here's the problem: ROAS tells you how much revenue was associated with your ad spend. It doesn't tell you how much of that revenue was incremental — meaning, sales that wouldn't have happened without the ad. If your Sponsored Product ad is capturing a search from someone who was already going to buy your product, you're paying for a sale you would have gotten anyway.

True incrementality measurement requires:

• Holdout testing. Work with your retail media partners to run controlled experiments where a portion of the audience doesn't see ads. Compare conversion rates between exposed and unexposed groups.
• Matched market testing. For larger campaigns, test in select markets while holding others dark, then compare sell-through.
• Halo analysis. Measure whether retail media spend is driving sales of non-advertised SKUs in your portfolio. Strong brand campaigns often lift the whole line, not just the featured product.
• New-to-brand metrics. Platforms like Amazon and Walmart Connect offer new-to-brand reporting. Prioritize campaigns that are acquiring new buyers, not just harvesting repeat purchasers.

At Hangar12, incrementality analysis is baked into our ConsumerFirst® methodology. We don't just report on what happened, we diagnose what's actually working and reallocate spend accordingly.

The Retail Media Opportunity for Challenger Brands

Here's the reality: retail media has leveled the playing field in ways that weren't possible a decade ago.

You don't need the biggest budget. You need the sharpest strategy. You need an agency that understands each platform's nuances, syncs media with your trade calendar, builds creative for the shelf, and measures what actually matters.

The brands that figure this out in 2026 will take share. The ones that don't will keep wondering why their retail media "isn't working."

If you're a challenger brand ready to get serious about retail media, let's talk. We've been doing this for 50 years and we're just getting started.

Related Reading

• How to Choose the Right CPG Marketing Agency in 2026
• Shopper Marketing & Retail Media Services
• Digital Media Services for CPG Brands

Hangar12 is a CPG marketing agency specializing in retail media, shopper marketing, and brand strategy for challenger brands. Request a consultation →