Commerce media is moving into new places, becoming a more meaningful business for retailers, and facing bigger questions about whether advertising is actually working.
In Episode 009 of Commerce Media Minute, Shaun Ayala looks at three developments that caught his attention this week.
Amazon Ads comes to ChatGPT
Amazon Ads announced a partnership with OpenAI to support advertising inside ChatGPT.
The integration is currently being tested as a pilot with select advertisers in the United States, allowing advertisers to extend Amazon Ads campaigns into conversational ad experiences within ChatGPT.
It raises an interesting question for marketers: what should a good advertisement actually look like inside an AI conversation?
As consumers increasingly use AI to research, compare products and make decisions, relevance, context, brand safety and measurement could become increasingly important.
And maybe the bigger question isn’t simply how marketers advertise inside AI, but how advertising can contribute something useful to the conversation without disrupting what made that experience valuable in the first place.
Kroger Precision Marketing profit grows 24%
Kroger reported its second-quarter 2026 results, including adjusted e-commerce sales growth of 20% and a 24% increase in Kroger Precision Marketing profit.
That word — profit — is particularly interesting.
For years, much of the retail media conversation has focused on growth: new networks, more inventory and increasing advertising revenue.
But as retail media matures, another question may become increasingly important:
How good of a business can retail media become?
One quarterly result doesn’t answer that question for the entire industry, but Kroger’s results provide another interesting signal about the economics behind retail media.
Circana adds Google Meridian to Liquid Mix
Circana announced the addition of Google’s Meridian framework to its Liquid Mix measurement offering.
Meridian is Google’s open-source marketing mix modeling framework. Circana says its new offering combines Meridian with Circana’s first-party data, AI capabilities and measurement expertise.
Behind the technology is a much simpler question marketers have been trying to answer for a long time:
What did my advertising actually do?
As marketers invest across retail media, search, social, CTV, in-store and other channels, understanding what actually contributed to a business result becomes increasingly complicated.
The evolution of tools like marketing mix modeling reflects the industry’s continued effort to move beyond simply observing what happened and toward understanding why it happened.
The takeaway
These three stories point to a similar shift.
Commerce advertising is entering new environments.
Retail media is becoming an increasingly meaningful business.
And marketers are continuing to push for better ways to understand what their advertising actually contributes.
As commerce media expands into new places and becomes a bigger business, marketers are going to expect better answers about what their advertising actually does.
In this episode
Amazon Ads and ChatGPT
Advertising inside AI conversations
Kroger Precision Marketing
Retail media profitability
Kroger e-commerce growth
Circana Liquid Mix
Google Meridian
Marketing mix modeling
Incrementality and advertising measurement
The evolving commerce media ecosystem
Commerce Media Minute is an independent ShaunAyala.com production hosted by Shaun Ayala, exploring commerce media, retail media, advertising, AI, measurement and the changing future of marketing.
Visit ShaunAyala.com for more.
Sources & Further Reading
Amazon Ads — Amazon Ads announces new integration with ChatGPT
September 10, 2026
Amazon Ads’ official announcement of its partnership with OpenAI and the U.S. advertiser pilot.
Kroger — Kroger Reports Second Quarter 2026 Results and Updates Guidance for 2026
September 11, 2026
Kroger’s official earnings release reporting 20% adjusted e-commerce sales growth and 24% growth in Kroger Precision Marketing profit.
Circana — Circana Advances AI-Powered Marketing Measurement: Introducing Liquid Mix with Google Meridian
September 8, 2026
Circana’s announcement detailing the addition of Meridian to Liquid Mix.
Google — Meridian
Official documentation for Google’s open-source marketing mix modeling framework.