Kaufland Turns Loyalty Data Into Retail Media With a Coca-Cola 'Meal Deal'
Updated: 6 days ago
German grocer Kaufland is scaling its retail-media business by using first-party data from its Xtra-Card loyalty programme to target shoppers, showcased in an ECR Award-winning Coca-Cola 'Meal Deal' campaign that lifted attachment sales.
What Happened
Kaufland is growing its retail-media arm, Kaufland Interact, by using first-party data from its Xtra-Card loyalty programme to target shoppers more precisely. It showcased the approach in a joint campaign with Coca-Cola at the ECR congress in Bonn.
The 'Meal Deal' case — which won an ECR Award 2026 — combined digital and in-store advertising to lift attachment sales, for example prompting frozen-pizza buyers to add a cola to the basket.
The Insight
The data revealed a clear gap: roughly three in four customers who buy a frozen pizza do not add a cola. That single insight is exactly the kind of gap retail media is built to close.
By targeting the right shoppers with the right prompt at the right moment, Kaufland turns a known behavioural gap into incremental sales for a brand partner — the core promise of retail media made concrete.
Marketing Minute's Take
Retail media's real value isn't the ad space; it's the first-party data underneath it. Kaufland is showing that a loyalty programme is now a media asset, and grocers that own shopper data own a high-margin advertising business.
The 'three in four don't add a cola' figure is a masterclass in selling retail media. It reframes an ad buy as a solved business problem for the brand — far more compelling than impressions and reach.
What Businesses Should Do
If you hold first-party customer data, treat it as a strategic asset, not an afterthought. Loyalty and purchase data can power far sharper targeting than the generic audiences most brands still buy.
Brands buying retail media should demand the insight, not just the inventory. Ask the retailer to identify the specific behavioural gap you're closing — that's where the incremental sales, and the accountability, live.
Quick FAQ
What did Kaufland do with its loyalty data?
It used first-party data from its Xtra-Card loyalty programme to target shoppers in a retail-media campaign, showcased in an award-winning Coca-Cola 'Meal Deal' case.
What was the key insight?
Roughly three in four customers who buy a frozen pizza do not add a cola — a behavioural gap the data-driven campaign set out to close.
Did it win anything?
Yes — Kaufland Interact's 'Meal Deal' case with Coca-Cola won an ECR Award 2026.
Retail media's real value was never the ad slot — it's the first-party data underneath it. Kaufland proving a loyalty card is now a media asset should make every retailer sitting on shopper data rethink what business they're actually in. — Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing
A loyalty programme is now a media asset — first-party data, not ad space, is what makes retail media valuable.
Are you treating your customer data as a cost centre — or as the media business it could become?
If you would like to know more about this topic, please contact us on danieln@merxmarketing.co.uk
Sources: HORIZONT, Lebensmittelzeitung and Kaufland/presseportal.
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Written by Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing Ltd and Marketing Minute
