Family Dollar joins a crowded retail media marketplace - RetailWire

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Apr 20, 2021

Family Dollar has become the first dollar store to launch an ad network to support placements across its mobile app and FamilyDollar.com. The move puts the dollar store chain in a line of other retailers trying to mimic Amazon.com’s ad sales success.

A video promoting the network, called Chesapeake Media Group, points to data showing that consumer packaged goods (CPG) digital spend is expected to grow by over 16 percent in 2021, and 73 percent of that spend is expected to be on mobile.

The service promises CPG brands the ability to target the approximately 14 million users registered in the Family Dollar Smart Coupons program with contextually relevant messages at the point-of-purchase across Family Dollar’s nearly 7,900 stores. Key strategies include promoted items, category takeovers, brand experiences, premium advertisements, coupon placements and push notifications, along with performance analytics.

“Brands will be able to directly reach millions of families across America through a variety of digital options,” said Richard McNeely, chief merchandising officer at Dollar Tree, the parent of Family Dollar, in a statement.

Family Dollar joins Walmart, Target, Home Depot, Instacart, Kroger, CVS and Walgreens in starting or ramping up their sell-side advertising in recent years as Amazon builds on its position as the third largest online ad platform.

Last year, Amazon’s share of the U.S. digital ad market grew to 10.3 percent from 7.8 percent in 2019, according to eMarketer. Amazon is particularly gaining share on Google, which had a 28.9 percent share compared to Facebook’s 25.2 percent. Amazon’s share is expected to reach 11.9 percent by 2022 as trade spending and shopper marketing follow the general consumer shift to e-commerce, and will be aided as well by its investments in NFL-broadcast rights and its ad-supported video properties.

A recent Digiday article said that, despite the glut of newer retail media inventory, budgets continue to prioritize Amazon and Walmart because they have become trusted platforms.

A report from Criteo, an ad firm specializing in online retargeting, however, posits that brands are seeking out alternatives. “Now may be the time for brands to take advantage of lower prices and better placements with other retail partners where the competition is less stiff,” according to the report.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: Do you see demand growing for specialized ad platforms, such as Family Dollar’s, or is there only room for a small number of key players in this market? Do you see the marketing dollars going to retail media shifting CPG messaging from brand building to sales promotion?

Braintrust

"This shows how retailers are finding new business models in offering services on the supply side as well as the consumer side of their business."