The Drum’s new commerce media columnist, Kiri Masters, sits down with Dollar General’s Austin Leonard to unpack where its retail media network can grow.
A woman shops in Dollar General
Austin Leonard, three months into leading Dollar General’s retail media network, is betting that the retailer’s more than 20,000 stores in underserved markets represent an untapped advertising goldmine.
With a surprising adoption of digital behaviors among this audience, and over 90 million addressable shopper profiles, Leonard argues Dollar General offers brands access to rural audiences that traditional e-commerce giants can’t reach.
Leonard frames Dollar General’s advertising proposition with a compelling thesis: “We’re essentially building the last mile of e-commerce for the last mile of America.”
While competitors focus on urban and suburban markets, Dollar General serves communities where it’s often the only retailer in town.
Through marketplace partnerships with DoorDash and Uber, Leonard reports that customers acquired through these channels are highly incremental to Dollar General. This customer acquisition metric challenges assumptions about market saturation in Dollar General’s core territories, tracked through backend infrastructure that identifies whether customers have purchased before.
Dollar General’s price advantage, combined with its extensive location network, enables same-day and one-hour delivery better than larger competitors, introducing the brand to customers who may have mistakenly categorized Dollar General as a dollar store.
Leonard then challenged industry misconceptions about rural customers, noting they over-index on digital engagement and are more likely to use same-day delivery services. The problem, he argues, is perspective: the advertising industry is heavily centered in coastal urban markets, so most ad professionals have limited exposure to rural consumer behavior and market dynamics.
This disconnect leads to underestimating rural customers’ sophistication and buying power, a gap Dollar General is positioned to bridge through new digital media opportunities and traditional in-store media capabilities.
Behind Leonard’s strategy for DGMN lies significant investment in data infrastructure and measurement capabilities, areas where his background provides important perspective. Prior to Dollar General, Leonard served as senior vice-president of retail media at Publicis/Epsilon. He also previously held leadership roles at Walmart, Sam’s Club, Rakuten and eBay. This dual perspective on both commercial retailer needs and technology gives him a unique lens on how to operationalize and scale media networks.
That combined experience proved crucial in understanding Dollar General’s capabilities. The retailer has built 90 million-plus addressable shopper profiles through partnerships with LiveRamp, bridging offline purchase history with online targeting capabilities, particularly valuable given Dollar General’s unique customer base and heavy cash transaction volume.
More importantly, Leonard has positioned DGMN around measurement standards that many retailers avoid entirely. DGMN has built its incrementality measurement using IAB specifications for test-and-control methodologies, with Leonard noting they use “testing control-based, not synthetic” approaches. The company has also implemented IAB-compliant match market testing for its in-store radio programs.
While adoption of such standards remains limited across the retail media industry, Leonard’s commitment signals a measurement philosophy that contrasts with competitors who resist external verification. “We want to be an active, vocal member pushing the industry to do it the right way,” he says.
Measurement consistently ranks as the top pain point for media buyers. Research from the American National Advertisers (ANA) in July 2024 found that 57% of advertisers cite lack of standardization across platforms as their top challenge with retail media, while 44% struggle with walled gardens, and 28% face issues with timely analytics. Brands are increasingly withholding spending from platforms that can’t demonstrate true incremental value.
Looking ahead, Leonard articulates an ambitious vision for DGMN: to be “the most innovative, collaborative and consumer-centric retail media network.” This philosophy reflects lessons learned from his previous retail media roles and current industry challenges.
“Retail media is at its best when shopper teams, sales teams, brands, merchants, and the RMN collaborate to create impactful programs,” Leonard explains.
This collaborative approach becomes particularly important given Dollar General’s scale and complexity. As a $40bn+ retailer with more than 20,000 locations, Dollar General serves customers across diverse geographic and economic segments. Dollar General’s CEO recently called DGMN “the linchpin of the digital initiatives,” highlighting the network’s strategic importance to the company’s evolution.
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Leonard’s strategy balances Dollar General’s traditional strengths, extensive physical footprint and in-store media capabilities, with sophisticated digital targeting and measurement. The company’s investment in digital engagement tools, including app-based trip planning and deal discovery, creates multiple touchpoints for advertiser messaging while serving customers’ value-focused shopping behaviors.
For an industry grappling with trust deficits and measurement challenges, Leonard’s approach offers a potential path forward. By combining rural market access with standardized measurement and collaborative partnerships, DGMN positions itself as a bridge to underserved audiences that major e-commerce platforms struggle to reach.