The news: Consumers are feeling squeezed, Albertsons CEO Susan Morris said on the company’s earnings call.

• The grocer said lower-income shoppers are putting fewer items in their baskets, prioritizing essentials, and shopping more frequently as they manage cash flow.
• Middle-income households are also showing rising price sensitivity, increasingly trading down in certain categories.
• While spending among higher-income households has remained “largely stable,” Morris noted that even these consumers are becoming more price- and value-conscious, reflecting a broader shift toward cautious discretionary spending.

The pressure was exacerbated by the government shutdown, which delayed SNAP funding and reduced same-store sales by roughly 10 to 20 basis points.

To keep consumers spending, Albertsons is pulling multiple levers, including lowering prices in key categories, offering more personalized promotions, and enhancing its loyalty program with perks such as free extended Uber One trials for members. The grocer is also leaning on technology, rolling out features such as its “Ask AI” search capability, which is driving a 10% increase in basket size among users, suggesting it could provide a meaningful boost to revenues if adoption scales.

The numbers:

• Adjusted EPS came to 72 cents, up 1.4% YoY and ahead of the 68 cents analysts expected, in the fiscal third quarter ended November 29, 2025.
• Revenues were $19.12 billion, up 1.9% YoY, but $50 million below expectations.
• Same-store sales grew 2.4%.
• Digital sales rose 21%.

Albertsons narrowed its full-year earnings guidance to a range of $2.08 to $2.16 per share, from $2.06 to $2.19 previously, and trimmed its same-store sales growth outlook to 2.2% to 2.5%, down from 2.2% to 2.75%.

Our take: A tough consumer environment raises the stakes for Albertsons to lean more heavily on high-margin revenue streams, particularly its retail media arm, Albertsons Media Collective, to support profitability.

• The company said on-site media delivered double-digit YoY growth in Q3, and it continues to roll out new tools designed to improve measurement and prove ROI. One example is its new in-store incrementality measurement, which aims to isolate true incremental lift from in-store media rather than crediting sales that would have occurred anyway.
• The solution operates at the store level, comparing performance in test stores exposed to ads with control stores that receive no media. By estimating the counterfactual—what would have happened without advertising—the model provides a clearer read on true lift.
• That kind of clarity can be reassuring when advertisers are feeling more cautious.