What Shopper Media Group does

Shopper Media Group, now operating as Cartology, is an Australian retail media business that functions as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Woolworths Group. Its core offering is a data-led retail media platform that connects consumer brands with shoppers across in-store, online, off-network, and retail-out-of-home channels, with the Woolworths and BIG W retail networks serving as the primary inventory backbone and Woolworths Group first-party data — covering 82.7M monthly transactions and 11M+ Everyday Rewards members — serving as the targeting and measurement foundation. The portfolio comprises four solution lines: Woolworths retail media (in-store digital, online, and data-led campaigns), BIG W retail media (discount department store audiences), Retail Out of Home (3,600+ digital screens across retail environments), and Customer Research & Insights (omnichannel shopper intelligence).

Cartology serves brand marketers, shopper marketers, and agency representatives running enterprise-level campaigns on behalf of CPG advertisers; documented clients include Vaseline, Red Bull, Sony Playstation, Mars, Swisse, Energizer, Activia, and Aptamil, with Energizer-style seasonal activations indicating extension into non-grocery CPG verticals. Go-to-market is a B2B enterprise field-sales motion — quote-based, multi-year contracts, with no self-serve public pricing — augmented by thought-leadership content, annual awards (Campaign of the Year), and industry event participation (Shop! ANZ). Revenue is generated through advertising placement across the retail media inventory, with closed-loop attribution linking ad exposure to actual purchase behaviour via the Everyday Rewards data asset.

The company employs 11-50 people, is headquartered in North Sydney, Australia, operates across Australia and New Zealand, and was founded in 2015. Its only disclosed external funding was a 2017 round of approximately A$7.57M; it is now wholly owned by Woolworths Group. Note that 'Cartology' is the current trade name (legal name), with 'Shopper Media Group' listed as a previous name in the source data.

Name

Shopper Media Group

Legal name

Cartology

Website

https://shoppermedia.com.au

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Shopper Media Group (operating as Cartology) is an Australian retail media business and wholly-owned Woolworths Group subsidiary that connects CPG brands with shoppers through data-led advertising across Woolworths, BIG W, and 3,600+ digital out-of-home screens.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

North Sydney

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Retail Media Advertising: Cartology generates revenue through advertising placements across Woolworths and BIG W retail networks. Brands pay for access to first-party customer data and advertising inventory across multiple channels including in-store digital screens, online properties, and retail out of home displays. The model is consumption-based with campaigns sized to brand budgets and objectives.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Cartology operates a data-led retail media business that sells advertising placements across Woolworths and BIG W retail networks in Australia and New Zealand. The offering spans in-store digital screens, online properties, off-network placements, and a Retail Out of Home network of more than 3,600 digital screens, all powered by first-party customer data from Woolworths Group (82.7M monthly transactions and 11M+ Everyday Rewards members). Campaigns are sized to brand budgets and delivered with closed-loop attribution linking ad exposure to purchase behavior.

Product overview

Cartology is a unified retail media platform offering integrated advertising solutions across multiple channels. The core platform provides data-led advertising connecting brands with customers through Woolworths and BIG W retail media solutions, Retail Out of Home (3,600+ digital screens), and customer insights services. The portfolio includes specialized solutions for different retail environments—Woolworths retail media leveraging 82.7 million monthly transactions and 11 million Everyday Rewards members, BIG W retail media for discount retail audiences, and Retail Out of Home for digital out-of-home placements. Supporting services include customer research and insights, media kits, and annual Campaign of the Year awards recognizing retail media effectiveness.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Cartology Retail Media Platform
• Woolworths Retail Media
• BIG W Retail Media
• Retail Out of Home
• Customer Research & Insights

Quantifiable outcome

• Australia and New Zealand's largest recognition of Retail Media effectiveness with 48 submissions from 36 brands

Named customers10 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Woolworths GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCartology is a wholly-owned subsidiary and powered by Woolworths Group. This parent company relationship provides Cartology with exclusive access to Woolworths customer data (82.7M monthly transactions, 11M+ Everyday Rewards members), retail media inventory, and operational infrastructure. The partnership enables Cartology to offer data-led advertising solutions across Woolworths retail environments.
• WoolworthscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrimary retail network partner providing in-store, online, and retail media advertising inventory. Woolworths is the flagship retail brand for Cartology's media solutions, offering the largest customer reach with 82.7M monthly transactions.
• BIG WcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSecondary retail network partner under Woolworths Group. BIG W provides Cartology with access to discount department store retail media inventory, complementing Woolworths coverage with different customer demographics and retail environments.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Tesco Media and Insight: Tesco's retail media business monetises Clubcard first-party data and in-store screens for CPG advertisers in the UK. Functionally identical to Cartology (supermarket-led, data-led, omnichannel retail media) at a larger international scale.
• Kroger Precision Marketing: US grocery retail media network owned by The Kroger Co., monetising 84.51° first-party shopper data for CPG brands across digital and in-store inventory. Directly comparable business model (grocer-owned, data-led RMN serving CPGs).
• Coles 360 (Coles Group): Woolworths's main Australian grocery rival operates Coles 360 as its in-house retail media network, using Coles loyalty and transaction data to sell ads to CPG brands. Directly comparable because it offers the same product (data-led in-store and online retail media) to the same Australian CPG advertisers.
• Albertsons Media Collective: US supermarket retail media network powered by Albertsons's Safeway/Vons/Pavilion loyalty data. Closely comparable as a grocer-owned RMN selling data-led CPG advertising across digital and in-store channels.
• Sainsbury's Nectar 360: UK supermarket retail media network monetising Nectar loyalty data for CPG brands. Closest international structural peer: owned by a major grocer, sells data-driven retail media to the same advertiser segments as Cartology.
• Ahold Delhaize Advertising (Adepto): European grocery retail media network spanning multiple banners (Albert Heijn, Stop & Shop, Food Lion). Closely comparable multi-banner grocer-owned RMN with first-party data assets selling CPG advertising.
• Wesfarmers / OnePass Media: Wesfarmers's retail media arm leverages its portfolio (Kmart, Target, Bunnings, Catch) for advertiser access. Comparable because it is another diversified Australian retail conglomerate building a multi-brand retail media network around first-party shopper data, competing for the same CPG/brand budgets as Cartology.
• Loblaw Companies (PC Optimum media): Canadian grocer that runs an in-house retail media operation around its PC Optimum loyalty programme. Structurally comparable grocer-owned, data-led retail media network monetising first-party shopper data for CPG advertisers.

Broad incumbents

• Criteo: Global commerce media platform that has pivoted from retargeting to retail media/agency services. Comparable because it competes for the same CPG retail-media budgets as Cartology but at a much broader scale across many retailers rather than owning a single retailer's inventory.
• CitrusAd / Instacart Ads (Australian view): CitrusAd operates a white-label retail media platform used by Australian and global retailers. Comparable because it powers on-site sponsored-product ad businesses that overlap with Cartology's online advertising solutions on Woolworths.com.au.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Shopper Media Group