Albertsons teams with Criteo to elevate in-app search ads

BOISE, Idaho — Albertsons Media Collective, the retail media arm for Albertsons Cos. has announced a new integration with Criteo, the global commerce intelligence platform, bringing sponsored product discovery into Albertsons Cos.’ AI-powered conversational search. The integration enables brands to connect with shoppers as they plan meals, discover products and build baskets.

Albertsons Media Collective announced a new integration with Criteo, the global commerce intelligence platform, bringing sponsored product discovery into Albertsons Cos.’ AI-powered conversational search. The integration enables brands to connect with shoppers as they plan meals, discover products and build baskets.

As customers increasingly turn to AI-driven tools for inspiration and guidance, Albertsons Media Collective is helping brands participate in key planning and shopping moments that are closer to purchase. The integration modernizes the app search experience by surfacing ads naturally within conversational discovery. Through Criteo, eligible sponsored products can appear within AI-powered conversational search product carousels, helping connect customers with relevant items while giving advertisers a natural way to show up in the shopping journey.

“As shoppers use AI and conversational experiences to explore options, brands have an opportunity to put customers first by connecting them to the right products in the moments that matter, meeting their needs with relevance while making retail media feel effortless and organic,” said Jill Pavlovich, SVP, Digital Customer Experience for Albertsons Companies. “This integration is about creating retail media that helps customers along their shopping journey, showing up in ways that are useful and additive to their experience, while giving advertisers a new path to engage closer to the moment of purchase.”

For shoppers, the experience is designed to surface product options that are highly relevant to search queries and fit naturally within the conversation, helping them discover items that are connected to what they are already planning or looking to buy. Albertsons Cos.’ AI-powered conversational search is designed to make grocery shopping easier and more personalized by helping customers find products, plan meals, compare options and build baskets through a conversational experience based on the customer’s searches, inputs and shared preferences. Rather than beginning with a specific item, shoppers can start with broader needs, like planning a meal or restocking for the week, and move directly from inspiration to basket building. Over 85% of Albertsons Cos.’ AI-powered conversations begin with open-ended or exploratory questions.

“In grocery, so many decisions happen in the context of a weekly shop, from discovering new products to planning meals,” said Jenny Dickinson, eCommerce Customer Business Manager, McCormick. “Being part of an experience like Albertsons Cos.’ AI-powered conversational search lets us introduce our brands in a way that feels genuinely helpful to shoppers, while giving us a clearer view of how those moments translate into consideration and sales.”

The collaboration builds on Albertsons Media Collective’s ongoing partnership with Criteo and reflects its broader focus on building retail media solutions that improve the shopper experience while creating measurable opportunities for advertisers.

“Retail media is expanding, with discovery increasingly happening within AI-driven experiences,” said Sherry Smith, President of Retail Media at Criteo. “With Albertsons Cos. as our first retailer to bring Sponsored Products into an AI-powered shopping assistant, we are helping brands connect with shoppers in those moments of intent, setting the foundation for how retailers will monetize AI-driven discovery while maintaining control of the shopper journey.”