# Albertsons incrementality tool closes retail media's last proof gap — 40% lift for Mondelēz trial

*CPG brands can now measure exact in-store display ROI, shifting budget from trade spend to shelf media.*

By **Jenny Huang Goodman MPA MSc MHSA, Principal** — The Stash Edge, Hako Shikin LLC.
Published 2026-07-02.

Canonical: https://www.pops4.com/stash/articles/albertsons-media-collective-2026-07-02t12-2
Subject: Albertsons Media Collective
Tags: retail media, incrementality, shelf marketing, cpg, trade spend, point of sale

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Albertsons Media Collective launched incrementality measurement tools in early 2025 to prove the true sales impact of in-store campaigns, according to Marketing Dive. The pilot delivered a **40% sales lift** for Mondelēz brands using Albertsons' in-store media, validating what had been guesswork for decades: whether a cooler decal or end-cap sign actually moved product.

The measurement suite isolates the incremental sales attributable to in-store media by comparing exposed stores to matched control stores, allowing CPG brands to calculate the exact ROI of shelf media the same way they measure digital. Albertsons Media Collective now offers this tool across its **2,200+** stores, according to Progressive Grocer, covering shelf screens, cooler door wraps, and cart media. Mondelēz ran the pilot and confirmed a measurable lift, reallocating budget from undifferentiated trade spend to targeted in-store placements.

The mechanism is control-group incrementality: Albertsons runs a campaign in a subset of stores, holds back matched stores as controls, and compares sales velocity over the same period. The result is a clean incremental lift number that survives finance scrutiny. For CPG brands, this closes the last proof gap in retail media — digital has had this for years, but shelf media remained a faith-based line item. Albertsons' move turns shelf placements into a performance channel with a cost-per-incremental-unit metric.

The timing matters. Retail media networks generated **$54 billion** in 2024 according to GroupM, but nearly all of that was digital. In-store media — the highest-intent environment in the funnel — had no standardized proof. Albertsons' tool makes shelf media a reallocation target for CPG marketers who need to justify every line. If a brand spends **$200,000** on trade marketing and **$50,000** on in-store media, and the in-store media delivers a **40%** lift while trade delivers an assumed **10%**, the next budget shifts toward proof.

The steal for a small physical-product brand: you cannot access Albertsons' platform, but you can run your own store-level incrementality test if you have regional distribution. Identify **10-20** stores carrying your product. In half, run a point-of-sale intervention — shelf talker, counter card, demo day, bundled display. In the other half, do nothing. Track sell-through for four weeks via your distributor or the retailer's portal. Calculate the lift. If the intervention stores move **30%** more units, you have a cost-per-incremental-unit figure. Present that number to the buyer when negotiating next quarter's shelf space or co-op budget. The math: if your intervention cost **$500** across five stores and generated **150** incremental units at **$8** retail, you drove **$1,200** in incremental revenue for the retailer at a **$3.33** cost per unit. That number funds the next test.

For brands with multi-door distribution, the incrementality discipline scales. Run the test in one region, document the lift, then offer the retailer a funded in-store media plan for the next quarter with a guaranteed volume commitment tied to the proven lift. The retailer gets predictable velocity; you get shelf priority. The key is the control group. Without it, you are claiming correlation. With it, you are proving causation, and causation moves budget.

## The takeaway

Run your own incrementality test — half your doors get the intervention, half stay dark, measure the lift, and present the cost-per-unit to the buyer.

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## Publisher

**Hako Shikin LLC** — Virginia Beach, Virginia. Founded 1997. ASI 217876 · DUNS 18-204-6339.
Principal and author: **Jenny Huang Goodman MPA MSc MHSA**.

- Author: https://www.huanggoodman.com/about
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