Published on: October 22, 2026
As GLP-1 medications reshape shopping habits, CPG brands must compete for a place in smaller baskets. Brian Owens, Head of Global Measurement Science Operations, Uber Advertising, explains how connecting creator content to retailer sales data and receipt-verified purchases can help brands earn consideration and measure what drives sales.
GLP-1 weight-loss medications are changing how people eat, and that changes how they shop. When appetite changes, everything downstream changes.
Users buy fewer sweets, salty snacks and sugary drinks. They reach for fresh produce, yogurt, chicken and protein shakes instead. They care more about protein, fiber and keeping muscle than about indulgence.
For brands in consumer packaged goods (CPG), that is a structural shift.
“The contest is no longer about growing a bigger basket. It is about staying in a smaller one.”
And it is now won or lost not on the shelf but in the feed, where creators and retail media have become the engine of commerce marketing.
Acosta Group’s US study of GLP-1 users, released in April 2026, found that 70% research products or health information to support their weight-loss journey. The survey covered 2,117 US adults, including 213 current GLP-1 users. Younger users do much of that research online.
Among Gen Z and Millennial users, 57% research on social media, 41% on AI apps and sites, and 38% on retailer apps and sites. These users are shifting spend toward high-protein, high-fibre, hydration and gut-health products, and toward benefit-led skin, body and hair care.
Shoppers decide what earns a spot in the smaller basket by scrolling before shopping. Brands that are not in that scroll, with a credible voice and a clear path to purchase, are not in the consideration set.
For mainstream food, beverage and wellness brands, the answer is to run brand creators through retail media networks. That way creators are picked with purchase data and measured to the basket, not to likes.
The retailers are already building for this. Kroger Precision Marketing surveyed 400 of its shoppers and found 68% had bought at least one grocery, household or personal care product in the past six months that they directly attributed to social media. Walmart Connect is among the networks using retailer sales data to choose which creators to work with.
“Creators work harder when retail data picks them, and the retailer’s own sales data grades them.”
The temptation is to put “GLP-1 Friendly” on pack. Resist it. Acosta’s research found the label polarizes shoppers, raising doubts about taste, nutrition and whether the product is even meant for them.
A better play is content that helps people live the journey:
“The brand that becomes useful earns the basket spot. The brand that just slaps on a label risks losing it.
Not every brand has a big retail media budget. For over-the-counter (OTC), supplement and emerging brands, drive-to-retail creator platforms fill the gap. Platforms such as Crafted connect creator content to receipt-verified cashback at a named store: the shopper watches a video, buys at the retailer, uploads the receipt and gets paid back.
That turns a protein-bowl video, or an electrolyte how-to, into a measurable trip to the aisle. It also hands the brand first-party data on who actually bought.
What to measure
Engagement is not the scoreboard. Two numbers are:
If a creator program cannot report one of these, it is a brand-awareness line item and should be budgeted like one.
In more than 15 years across CPG and retail, I have rarely seen the rules shift this fast. The brands that treat the feed, the retailer and the basket as one system will hold their place. The ones that keep them in separate budgets, with separate agencies and separate scorecards, will keep losing shelf space they never see disappear.
The question for every brand team is simple: how are you fighting for your place in a smaller basket?
Brian Owens is the Head of Global Measurement Science Operations at Uber Advertising. He has spent more than 15 years in CPG and retail media at Uber, P&G, Gillette, Reckitt, Kantar and VML.
Disclaimer: This article was originally written by the author. Views expressed are the author’s own. All rights belong to the original author.
