Dollar General Launches Unified Retail Media Platform

Retail media has expanded rapidly, but for most brands and agencies, it remains fragmented. Onsite retail ads and offsite media campaigns are still planned, executed, and measured in separate systems, leaving marketers to piece together performance after the fact. A new collaboration between Dollar General, Kevel, and The Trade Desk aims to change that by introducing a unified approach to full-funnel retail media activation and measurement.

The move positions Dollar General at the center of a broader shift in retail media: from siloed channels to connected commerce ecosystems that more closely mirror the real customer journey.

Breaking Down Onsite and Offsite Silos

At the core of the new solution is a long-standing industry challenge. Onsite retail media offers high-intent audiences close to purchase, while offsite channels provide scale across the open internet. But the two have historically operated in parallel, limiting both coordination and measurement.

The new framework connects Dollar General’s onsite inventory with offsite activation through The Trade Desk, with Kevel powering the underlying infrastructure. Campaigns can now be planned, executed, and measured across both environments with consistent reporting.

Austin Leonard, VP and GM of Dollar General Media Network, spoke with Street Fight and framed the move as a necessary evolution in how retail media is delivered. “This collaboration is about delivering stronger outcomes for our advertisers by unifying onsite and offsite campaigns within a single platform,” said Leonard. “Retail media is media and as specialized publishers, creating a more connected ecosystem has long been a priority. Opening our inventory to The Trade Desk, alongside the progress we’ve made in our retail audience marketplace, is an important step in helping brands win at Dollar General.”

For agencies and brand marketers, the implication is clear: fewer silos, clearer attribution, and a more coherent view of performance across the full path to purchase.

From In-Store Signals to Full-Funnel Activation

The announcement builds on Dollar General’s recent push into commerce media. Earlier this year, the retailer introduced an AI-enabled in-store audio network across thousands of locations, signaling a broader effort to digitize and monetize the physical shopping experience.

With more than 21,000 stores and expanding digital capabilities, including myDG delivery across the majority of its footprint, Dollar General has been steadily building a first-party data ecosystem. The integration of onsite and offsite media extends that ecosystem beyond owned channels, enabling advertisers to engage consumers earlier in the funnel and follow them through to transaction.

Leonard further noted that the strength of Dollar General’s onsite inventory also plays a role in making this integration viable. “Our onsite display inventory, powered through Kevel, consistently delivers 70–80% viewability, making this a natural time to integrate it further into our managed service campaigns as our digital commerce business continues to grow,” he told Street Fight. “It also reflects a broader, more strategic approach to scaling the DG Media Network, creating a unified solution that supports the full customer journey, with the flexibility to expand into self-service capabilities over time.”

Kevel’s Role: Enabling Interoperability

While Dollar General is the focal point, Kevel plays a critical role in enabling the integration. The company has positioned itself as a provider of retail media infrastructure, allowing retailers to build and control their own ecosystems while connecting to broader activation channels.

This approach aligns with a growing industry trend toward interoperability, where systems can work together without requiring full consolidation.

Jaclyn Nix, COO of Kevel, emphasized that standardization is central to scaling retail media effectively. “Standardization is one of the most critical levers for scaling retail media today,” said Nix in conversation with Street Fight. “Kevel’s onsite infrastructure provides the foundational connectivity that makes a unified ecosystem possible.”

She added that the collaboration addresses one of the industry’s most persistent gaps. “We are excited to partner with Dollar General and The Trade Desk on this first-to-market solution, which bridges the gap between offsite demand and onsite activation. By enabling seamless measurement and interoperability across the full consumer journey, we are helping retailers streamline their programs and unlock new levels of growth for their brand partners.”

The announcement builds on Kevel’s recent integration with Adobe, which aimed to enable real-time retail media activation within broader marketing workflows—further positioning the company as a connective layer within the evolving commerce media stack.

Extending Reach With The Trade Desk

The Trade Desk provides the offsite scale that completes the model. Through its platform, advertisers can extend campaigns across the open internet, including channels such as connected TV, digital audio, and display. By linking those channels with onsite retail placements, the collaboration enables a more coordinated approach to campaign execution. One that aligns upper-funnel awareness with lower-funnel conversion efforts.

For agencies, this creates a more streamlined planning process and a clearer connection between media investment and outcomes.

A Shift Toward Full-Funnel Accountability

The broader significance of the collaboration lies in what it signals about the direction of retail media. As the space matures, the focus is shifting from isolated channels to integrated ecosystems that support full-funnel strategies.

Unified measurement is a key part of that evolution. By connecting onsite and offsite performance, the new solution enables advertisers to better understand what impact media is actually having beyond baseline behavior.

For brands, this means greater visibility into what drives sales. For agencies, it offers a stronger foundation for optimization and performance storytelling.

What Comes Next

Testing for the solution is expected to begin in June 2026, with broader availability anticipated in the third quarter of this year.

For Dollar General, the initiative represents another step in its transformation from a traditional retailer into a scaled media platform. For the industry, it underscores a clear trend: the future of retail media will be defined not just by reach, but by how effectively that reach is connected, measured, and optimized across the full customer journey.