retail media spend is on pace to hit close to$70 billion in 2026, the fastest-growing category in digital advertising. It’s for a reason;76 percent of purchasesstill happen in person and retailers view an entire store as just waiting to be monetized. Grocery margins are thin, so it makes sense that retail media networks became the industry’s newest obsession. Albertsons is scaling its digital screen network from an 80-store pilot up to 800 of its 2,200+ stores this year. CVS plans on about11,000 digital screens nationwideby 2026, including checkout ads running through point-of-sale systems in roughly 7,000 stores.