Pharmacy Chain Doubles Ad Revenue While Keeping Incumbent Sponsored Products Vendor

Replatforming, Reimagined: 4 Key Takeaways

Find out how a leading U.S. pharmacy enhanced its retail media network (RMN) by integrating Pentaleap’s Fluid Ad Server with its existing retail media infrastructure, rather than performing a complete replatform.

‍

The Challenge: Enhancing Ad Performance While Leveraging Incumbent Demand-Side Strengths

Retailers often face challenges in optimizing ad relevancy and inventory usage within existing RMN tech stacks. Many of these stacks, like those from companies strong on the demand side, excel in connecting brands with major agencies and extensive brand relationships. For this prominent retail media network, the challenge lay in boosting ad performance without sacrificing the existing advantages provided by the leading retail media vendor through whom they’d been accessing demand.

Rather than initiating a full replatform, the pharmacy wanted to enhance its ad relevancy, increase click-through rates (CTRs), and ultimately expand the volume of sponsored products shown on-site. The solution required a modular approach that would allow it to build on its existing infrastructure while delivering substantial performance gains.

‍

Tech Primer: Understanding the Retail Media Ad Tech Stack 

Here’s a quick overview of the typical flow of retail media ads on retailer websites: 

This streamlined process ensures that only the most relevant ads reach shoppers, optimizing ad performance and enhancing the user experience.

‍

The Starting Point: Leveraging a Trusted Partnership with its Existing Demand Provider

Before implementing any changes, this RMN had already established a strong partnership with a leading retail media known for its extensive relationships with top brands and agencies. With a robust ad tech stack, this RMN was set up to access a wide network of advertisers. This significantly bolstered their ad inventory, drove consistent engagement, and delivered impressive results.

Recognizing an opportunity to further boost revenues, the RMN set its sights on optimizing ad relevancy and increasing CTRs. With a modular integration plan in mind, the RMN aimed to elevate ad performance and expand its on-site ad inventory, all without disrupting its demand partnership, or the workflow for existing advertisers.

‍

Step 1: Integrating Pentaleap’s Fluid Ad Server to Optimize Ad Relevancy and Flexibility

The pharmacy RMN began by enhancing its sell-side capabilities with Pentaleap’s Fluid Ad Server while keeping it’s existing DSP in place. The integration was technically smooth, taking only two weeks and launching with minimal friction.

To assess impact, the RMN conducted an A/B test with randomized impressions: one set triggered the conventional ad server response, while the other set funnelled existing demand through Pentaleap’s ad server.

After aligning on specific categories to test, the A/B test went live, ensuring a controlled environment to compare outcomes from the Pentaleap integration.

‍

Step 2: Capturing Incremental Gains with Initial Results and Mid-Test Optimizations

Initial results quickly indicated promising performance improvements. Following these early gains, mid-test optimizations were introduced to further fine-tune ad placements.

By the end of the test, the pharmacy RMN achieved a 133.6% increase in daily ad revenue compared to the baseline. This combination of initial impact and ongoing enhancements allowed to exceed advertiser ROI targets while maintaining operational stability.

This phased approach not only preserved the RMN’s existing infrastructure and demand relationships, but also maximized incremental revenue growth, proving that strategic integrations can drive substantial results with minimal disruption.

‍

Step 3: Expanding Ad Inventory to Give Advertisers More Influence at the Point of Sale

With ad relevancy now on par with organic performance and paid CTR matching organic CTR, this top US pharmacy confidently expanded the ad space available to advertisers. This gave advertisers greater control and influence at the point of sale, significantly increasing the volume of paid clicks. The impact?


• Users find what they are looking for as ads match organic relevancy.
• Advertisers enjoy better ROI and increased sales volume.
• Its existing retail media vendor benefits from more traffic and higher ad spend through its platform.
• The RMN doubles its ad revenue, achieving a 2X increase through expanded ad inventory.

This expansion demonstrated the potential of a well-integrated, modular system to scale seamlessly and deliver amplified results.

‍

Step 4: Expanding Demand Sources with Real-Time Bidding and API Integrations

Looking ahead, the pharmacy RMN is poised to broaden its demand sources by enabling Real-Time Bidding (RTB) integration through Pentaleap’s DSP. Future phases will connect additional demand sources such as Google and Microsoft via RTB, while incorporating Skai and Pacvue via API integration. This setup will further diversify and optimize demand channels, providing a seamless experience for both advertisers and shoppers.

By expanding demand through RTB and direct APIs, the pharmacy RMN is building a flexible, modular tech stack that supports ongoing growth and adapts quickly to evolving market conditions.

‍

Leading U.S. Pharmacy Chain Charts a Retail Media Transformation Through Modular Upgrades

The pharmacy RMN’s successful integration with Pentaleap exemplifies how modular, phased upgrades can achieve remarkable results in retail media. By optimizing each component individually, this RMN enhanced both user and advertiser satisfaction while avoiding the disruption of fully replatforming.

For other RMNs considering similar paths, this pharmacy’s journey illustrates how incremental enhancements can deliver substantial improvements. With each phase independently optimized, RMNs can remain responsive to evolving demands while preserving a robust, adaptable tech foundation.