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Fractional Brand Managers

Costco Velocity Retail Media: What Suppliers Should Know About Costco’s Ad Network

Writer: alexsteinbergmojo
alexsteinbergmojo
Oct 25
4 min read
Marketing manager reviewing a website homepage mockup with a highlighted product banner

Costco Velocity retail media is the name Costco now uses for its advertising business, and it changes a long-standing assumption: that Costco brands grow only through the buyer, the roadshow and the coupon book. Costco is building paid ways for suppliers to reach members online. Whether that is right for a young brand is a different question, and one worth answering with facts.


Today is October 25, 2026. This guide is based on two 2026 trade articles, one 2024 interview and one 2024 news article. Where they differ or leave gaps, we say so.


A note on sources. The main 2026 details come from a Path to Purchase Institute article dated March 24, 2026 (originally from Progressive Grocer), and an eMarketer piece that carries no date or author in the text we reviewed. The 2024 material includes a Beet.TV interview (April 30, 2024) and a Quartz article (June 6, 2024, updated August 6, 2024). We did not find a Costco-published advertiser guide, rate card or eligibility list.


What Costco Velocity Is


According to Path to Purchase Institute, Costco is building out Costco Velocity, its newly branded retail media network. Mark Williamson, whose title is given as assistant vice president of retail media in the 2024 Beet.TV piece and associate vice president in the eMarketer piece (we use “AVP”), announced the next phase.


The first new format is Reserved Display, built with ad tech firm Moloco and described as the first format built natively on the Costco Velocity stack. As reported:

  • It launches on high-traffic Costco.com pages, including the homepage and search results.

  • Williamson describes the placements as “personalized digital endcaps” that show “highly visible, highly relevant” ads.

  • Beta partners get access in Q2 2026, with broader availability to follow. Through Q2 and Q3, Costco plans to add ad slots and formats and connect Reserved Display to programmatic platforms.

  • Williamson suggests advertisers run it alongside existing Criteo-enabled sponsored product campaigns.


How Costco Says It Will Work


Per the same article, Williamson set out four principles:

  1. The system will be omnichannel-centric, using real-time signals to predict member relevance.

  2. Optimization will target actual sales rather than impressions or click-through rates.

  3. Measurement will focus on incremental growth, separating new demand from credit shifting between channels.

  4. Moloco’s AI will integrate with Costco’s identity resolution and audience-building tools so advertisers can activate custom Costco audiences without extra setup.


In a LinkedIn post quoted by eMarketer, Williamson wrote: “We aren’t building a media network to hide margin. We are building an engine to move merchandise.”


What Came Before


In an April 2024 Beet.TV interview, Williamson said suppliers wanting to partner on media should remember “who we are and why we’re successful,” and that “For our retail media program to differentiate from others, we have to be uniquely Costco.” The interview named two channels: Costco’s website and its monthly coupon book, within a broader shopper marketing platform that also includes in-store savings. A June 2024 Quartz article reported Costco aimed to work with an ad tech firm and to “ultimately charge advertisers to reach millions of its paying members,” and cited shopping data from “more than 70 million households.” The Quartz article paraphrased Williamson rather than quoting him.


What We Could Not Find


  • Who is eligible to advertise, and whether emerging brands are accepted.

  • Pricing, minimum budgets or a rate card.

  • Whether beta access has widened since Q2 2026.

  • Results from any advertiser.

  • Costco-confirmed scale figures. The 2026 articles gave none.


Ask your buyer, and confirm whether media decisions run through the buying office or a separate team.


Should a Young Brand Advertise Yet?


That depends on your numbers, not on the novelty. Questions to ask:

  • Is your item already in stock and selling steadily online and in the warehouse? Ads cannot fix a thin supply.

  • Do you have enough margin after Costco’s pricing to fund media? Costco’s pricing model leaves little room, as our pricing guide explains.

  • Do you have a product page, images and reviews that convert visitors?

  • Can you measure the result? Costco says it will measure incremental sales, so ask how.


This is our framework, not Costco’s.


Your Costco Velocity Retail Media Checklist


  1. Ask your buyer whether your item is eligible and who owns the media relationship.

  2. Request a media overview: formats, pricing, minimums and reporting.

  3. Set a goal before you spend: awareness, trial or velocity.

  4. Build a test budget you can afford to lose.

  5. Fix your product page first: images, copy, specs.

  6. Check inventory against the lift you hope to create.

  7. Align timing with a roadshow, a coupon book offer or a new item launch.

  8. Define success in sales terms, and ask how Costco will report it.

  9. Review after the first flight and decide what to change.

  10. Keep other channels going, since ads are an add-on, not a replacement.


Common Mistakes


  • Buying media before the product is stable in supply.

  • Expecting ads to fix pricing or product problems.

  • Skipping measurement.

  • Spending the whole launch budget on one format.

  • Assuming it is open to everyone.

  • Treating a 2024 article as current.


Why This Is a Brand Strategy Issue


Retail media blurs marketing and merchandising. Costco has said it wants its media program to be “uniquely Costco,” which suggests the right approach is to support the merchandise story you already have, not bolt on a separate campaign. A fractional brand manager can help you decide whether, when and how much.


Work With Fractional Brand Managers


FBM helps emerging brands plan for Costco across the buyer conversation, the roadshow, the coupon book and now paid media. If you are weighing whether to advertise with Costco, we will help you build a test you can measure.



This article is general information, not advertising or financial advice. Details come from trade and news articles that may be outdated; Costco’s retail media terms and eligibility were not found. Confirm with Costco. We are not affiliated with Costco Wholesale.


Summary


  • Name: Costco Velocity, Costco’s retail media network

  • First format: Reserved Display, built with Moloco

  • Placement: high-traffic Costco.com pages such as the homepage and search results

  • Timing: beta partners in Q2 2026, broader availability to follow

  • Eligibility, pricing: not found




 
 
 

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