• by Laurie Sullivan , Yesterday

Ecommerce continues to evolve beyond the search bar. This week, Kroger Precision Marketing (KPM) integrated product listing ads (PLA) as new placements within Kroger's new AI shopping assistant, providing a new AI experience.

The ads are clearly identified as sponsored content and are available across the Kroger Family of Companies websites and apps.

The ads may appear in Kroger’s AI assistant when the consumer builds a shopping list, such as when consumers ask for ideas on back-to-school snacks or what to make with zucchini squash for dinner. The ads will appear alongside organic results and are labeled as sponsored content.

In this experience, sponsored placements from active Search & Browse PLA campaigns may appear in Shopping Assistant results. They are automatically included when running this type of ad group, and do not require any additional campaign set-up or bidding strategy. 

Advertisers may use KPM's report builder to analyze Shopping Assistant PLA performance separately from other types of Search & Browse inventory.

Kroger CEO Greg Foran said during the company's earnings call in June that 95% of Kroger’s transactions are tied to a loyalty card backed by more than 20 years of history.

“That means we can measure actual purchase behavior, not just intent, and that’s increasingly valuable to brands and advertisers," Foran said. 

Foran called KPM "a high-margin business built on first-party data that very few retailers can match." 

That data enables KPM to measure actual purchase behavior, not just intent -- and makes it increasingly valuable to brands and advertisers. The fundamentals of this industry are moving in this direction, Foran said, calling data the most valuable currency in advertising.

KPM, a retail media network, has an estimated annual revenue of less than $5 million, although it serves as a growing revenue stream that helps offset price cuts for its parent company.

While exact revenue figures are often not disclosed separately, the unit reportedly experienced profit growth of more than 20% in the first quarter of 2026.