Target Corporation reported first-quarter net sales growth of 6.7% year over year, beating expectations across every core merchandise category and both in-store and digital channels. For food and beverage operators and emerging CPG brands, the headline EPS number matters far less than two data points buried in the release: Roundel — Target's retail media network — posted nearly 25% non-merchandise revenue growth alongside Target Circle 360, and same-day delivery surged more than 27%. These are not vanity metrics. They represent a fundamental shift in where shelf influence is now being bought and measured.
Roundel has quietly become one of the more sophisticated retail media networks in mass channel, offering sponsored product placements, programmatic display, and closed-loop attribution tied directly to in-store purchase data. For an emerging beverage brand or specialty food supplier trying to compete on a cluttered end-cap, that closed-loop capability is the same intelligence infrastructure that large CPGs have funded internally for years. The same-day delivery growth — powered by Circle 360 membership — means the impulse purchase window has moved from the store aisle to a consumer's phone, and the brands winning that window are increasingly the ones with funded digital presence on the platform, not just physical facings.
This performance puts Target directionally in line with Walmart Connect and Amazon's advertising services business, both of which have accelerated retail media monetization over the past 18 months. Kroger Precision Marketing and Instacart Ads have also raised the baseline expectation: if your brand is on a shelf without a corresponding retail media investment, the algorithmic discovery layer is systematically deprioritizing your SKU at the exact moment a high-intent shopper is browsing. Operators and brand managers who treat retail media as optional line-item spend are effectively ceding digital shelf placement to better-funded competitors. Peer benchmarks suggest that top-performing emerging brands are allocating between 8% and 15% of their trade marketing budget to retail media, up from near zero three years ago.
For F&B brands in active distribution conversations or planning a retail launch, the intelligence signal here is procurement-level: buyers at Target are watching Roundel performance data when they evaluate reorder velocity and line review outcomes. A brand that can demonstrate Roundel-funded demand — measurable click-to-purchase attribution, same-day delivery basket inclusion rates — enters a line review with a fundamentally different conversation than one presenting organic velocity alone. Suppliers should also recognize that Target Circle 360 membership growth concentrates the highest-LTV shoppers in a trackable cohort, meaning programmatic and geo-targeted campaigns timed to membership renewal cycles can meaningfully influence trial and repeat at scale.
The takeaway for any brand currently on Target shelves or in a distribution pitch: Roundel is no longer a nice-to-have amplifier. It is increasingly the mechanism by which Target itself decides which brands are working. Build your buyer deck accordingly.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
