News Briefs

Ace Hardware is enabling brands to engage its shoppers with targeted digital advertising.

The world’s largest hardware cooperative is launching "RedVest Media, The Helpful Network," its new retail media network. Through its partnership with Epsilon Retail Media, RedVest Media offers brand advertisers a retail media solution that includes onsite premium ads, search, and display; email and push messaging; in-store signage; and offsite programmatic display, video, connected TV and mobile ads.

"Ace has always been about helping our neighbors," said Molly Hjelm, corporate VP of retail media at Ace Hardware. "With RedVest Media, we're now extending that helpfulness to our brand partners, giving them the tools and data to drive meaningful engagement and measurable results at both the national and local level."

Participating brands will have access to real-time performance dashboards to track onsite and offsite campaign impact and e-commerce conversion, with managed and self-service options available. RedVest Media is fully interoperable with the Pacvue, Flywheel, and Skai omnichannel advertising platforms.

Ace Hardware is following in the footsteps of home improvement rivals such as The Home Depot, which initially launched a retail media network in 2018 and then upgraded it to the new Orange Apron Media offering in March 2024. 

In addition, Lowe’s introduced Lowe's One Roof Media Network, a retail media service designed to provide a portfolio of omnichannel advertising services, in October 2021, and rebranded it with a new logo and a simplified name: Lowe's Media Network in August 2024. 

[READ MORE: Lowe’s rebrands retail media network]

Headquartered in Oak Brook, Ill., Ace Hardware is the largest hardware cooperative in the world, serving more than 8,700 locally owned and operated stores around the globe, including almost 5,200 Ace retail stores in the U.S. 

A sizable chunk of shoppers are now utilizing artificial intelligence platforms while shopping – a trend that some brands and retailers are slow to respond to.

According to data from cross-channel marketing platform Cordial's latest report titled "Brands Battle for Attention as AI Redefines the Funnel," about one third of consumers now regularly use AI platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity and Claude throughout their shopping journey, which includes discovering brands, researching products and making purchases. Millennial and Gen Z consumers are leading AI adoption at rates 33% and 11% higher than average, respectively.

Despite this increased use of the technology, almost half of all brands (47%) maintain minimal or no AI agent presence, while only 7% have developed comprehensive AI optimization strategies. Only 3% of brands, overall, have the ability to predict what customers actually want by leveraging behavioral data in real time, and just 7% have an advanced AI presence with enriched data, optimized content and direct integrations. This disconnect represents a massive blind spot, according to Cordial.

“We’re in a fundamentally different marketing landscape than we were just months ago,” said Rob Garf, head of strategy and insights at Cordial. “Consumers are more connected and shopping is more fragmented. AI has upended the traditional funnel as consumers increasingly embrace personal agents to discover and purchase products. Brands must break into these walled gardens by optimizing their data, AI and channels for a seamless and personalized experience wherever a consumer chooses to engage.”

[READ MORE: How to prepare for having shopping agents as your customers]

Cordial’s report combines Dynata survey results of 1,000 U.S. consumers and 30 marketing executives, fielded in July 2025.

A U.K.-based organic wellness products and aromatherapies brand is supporting global growth with fulfillment and transportation technology.

Seeking to expand its direct-to-consumer and business-to-business footprint beyond the U.K. and Europe into the U.S., Neom sough to implement a fulfillment and transportation infrastructure to enable global operations. The company selected 3PL and inventory management technology provider Radial to initially launch U.S. business-to-business sales, followed by direct-to-consumer sales the following year.

As a result of implementing Radial fulfillment and transportation solutions across both its business-to-business and direct-to-consumer U.S. operations, Neom obtained scalable functionality tailored to support its U.S. growth.

The company ships 90% of orders the same day, resulting in quicker delivery times with an average of 3.2 days in transit per order and a 100% fill rate for all orders processed using Radial technology.

Business-to-business orders are filled for eight different retail partners, and Noem projects 76% year-over-year sales growth in the U.S. In addition, Radial supports Neom’s B Corp certification by sourcing sustainable packaging solutions to its consumers.

Luxury handbag and accessories brand Brandon Blackwood also works with Radial to optimize the accuracy of direct-to-consumer orders and keep track of its broad SKU assortment.

[READ MORE: EXCLUSIVE Q&A: Brandon Blackwood optimizes inventory accuracy]

A major footwear parent company has added a former employee its C-suite.

Caleres, the parent of Famous Footwear, Sam Edelman, Stuart Weitzman, Allen Edmonds, Naturalizer, Vionic and more, has tapped Kathleen Welter as the company’s new chief human resources officer. In the role, she will oversee recruitment, talent management, training, culture, compensation, benefits and labor law compliance. Caleres has more than 9,000 associates worldwide.

Welter has more than three decades of human resources experience. Most recently, she served as VP of human resources at consulting firm Woodward & Curran, where she spent nearly a decade. From 2003 to 2013, Welter worked at Caleres, eventually serving as VP of talent strategy & leadership continuity.

Welter will be a member of the company’s leadership team and will report to president and CEO Jay Schmidt. Doug Koch, current chief human resources officer, will remain at Caleres for a 30-day transition period with Welter and to support special projects until his retirement at year-end.

[READ MORE: Caleres names new Famous Footwear president]

Caleres operates nearly 1,000 retail stores in the United States and Canada, more than 830 of which are Famous Footwear locations.

Consumer sentiment fell back in August as Americans grew increasingly worried about inflation, both on a short -and long-term basis.

The University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment Index decreased 5% month over month in August, landing at 58.6, according to preliminary results. The August figure is down 13.7% from a year ago. The deterioration in August largely stems from rising worries about inflation, noted Joanne Hsu, surveys of consumers director.

The index for current economic conditions fell 10.4% month over month in August to 60.9, while the consumer expectations index fell 0.9% to 57.2. It’s down 20.7% from a year ago.

Year-ahead inflation expectations rose from to 4.9% in August from 4.5% in July, with the increase seen across multiple demographic groups and all three political affiliations. Long-run inflation expectations also rose, from 3.4% in July to 3.9% in August.  

"This month ended two consecutive months of receding inflation for short-run expectations and three straight months for long-run expectations,” said Hsu.

In other readings, buying conditions for durables plunged 14%, its lowest reading in a year, on the basis of high prices. Current personal finances declined modestly amid growing concerns about purchasing power, but expected personal finances inched up a touch along with a slight firming in income expectations, which remain subdued.

“Overall, consumers are no longer bracing for the worst-case scenario for the economy feared in April when reciprocal tariffs were announced and then paused,” said Hsu. “However, consumers continue to expect both inflation and unemployment to deteriorate in the future.”

PetSmart customers can now purchase pet insurance on the retailer's website.

The pet supplies and services retailer is partnering with Healthy Paws, a Chubb company and provider of accident and illness pet insurance coverage for dogs and cats, to offer pet insurance products backed by coverage and service. 

"Pet parents trust PetSmart to deliver comprehensive care solutions for their beloved companions at every life stage, including support during unexpected events,” said Rob Pace, senior VP of veterinary health services at PetSmart.” We are thrilled to partner with Healthy Paws to provide pet parents with access to Healthy Paws' accident and illness coverage that offers pet parents unmatched peace of mind."

Customers can obtain a free quote for Healthy Paws insurance plans through PetSmart's website and enroll in a plan that meets their pets' needs. Pet plans feature a seamless mobile claims process, no maximum annual or lifetime payouts, reimbursement for covered expenses and customer service, offered at a variety of price points.

"We're excited to team up with PetSmart to expand access to pet insurance at a destination many pet parents already frequent for trusted products, services and advice," said Alex Faynberg, executive VP and head of Healthy Paws. "This partnership empowers animal lovers to protect their pets like family and safeguard against life's unforeseen health challenges."

An increasing number of retailers are offering pet insurance. Chief PetSmart rival Petco offers co-branded Petco | Nationwide pet insurance on its website, while Walmart has offered services in collaboration with pet-insurance provider Petplan since 2020.

In addition, Walmart subsidiary Sam’s Club recently launched a new healthcare services program aimed at pets and their owners with Spot Pet Insurance.

[READ MORE: Sam’s Club launches pharmacy and insurance plan for pets]