The only real question about the retail media network at BJ’s Wholesale Club is why it took so long to get started. The answer may be they didn’t want to build it for themselves, since they just announced their program will use Microsoft PromoteIQ, a comprehensive retail media platform that Microsoft bought in 2019. Props to Microsoft for making that deal before retail media networks were cool.
Here’s a retail story that doesn’t involve a media network – but don’t worry, it does feature Amazon, AI, and Kansas City. Independent retailer Community Groceries will be the first non-Amazon company to deploy the Amazon One entry gate and Amazon’s Just Walk Out checkout technology. Amazon One grants entry after reading your palm or credit card, while Just Walk Out tracks what customers put in their cart and charges for it. O brave new world.
“Retail innovation, design and décor” sounds like an odd combination, although the décor in question has to do with store fixtures, not curtain swags. In any case,that’s what Retail Fluent does. They’ve just added retail media networks to the list, including in-store screens, programmatic ad sales, and audience measurement. And if you do want a drop valance in ruffled muslin, they can probably get you that too.
The U.S. Senate has passed a bill that could potentially ban TikTok in the U.S. if its Chinese owner, ByteDance, does not sell its holdings within a year. The bill now goes to the President Biden, who has said he will sign it. Court challenges are likely to follow.