News Briefs

Frontline workers aren’t completely opposed to companies using artificial intelligence in the hiring process – but they do want transparency.

That’s according to a new survey from AI-native frontline workforce platform Fountain, which revealed that three-in-four frontline employees said how a company explains its AI use directly shapes their trust. When companies clearly explain how they use AI, nearly a third of workers say they trust them more for it, with another four-in-10 saying their trust would depend on what that AI is doing.

When asked to name the biggest benefit of AI in frontline workforce management, 15% specifically named more consistent communication and updates. Over three-fifths (62%) of those who applied for jobs in the past year have been “ghosted,” or left without communication, after multiple rounds of interviews.

Twenty-two percent of respondents pointed to faster hiring as the best use of AI in hiring, while a similar percentage said AI could help reduce bias in decision making. Only one-in-four frontline workers oppose the use of AI in the hiring process completely. 

[READ MORE: Here’s what hiring managers and workers think of AI on the job]

“This survey confirms something we’ve long thought at Fountain. Frontline workers want respect and honesty,” said Fountain CEO Sean Behr. “They know AI is part of the process. They're asking to be kept in the loop. ‘Tell me where I stand.’ ‘Tell me who decides.’ ‘Follow through when you say you will.’ The industry spent years deploying AI and forgot those basics.”

Fountain commissioned Propeller Insights to survey 1,014 U.S. frontline workers in June 2026.

A Pennsylvania-based regional convenience store operator is replacing legacy edge computing infrastructure at its stores.

Sheetz is deploying the StorMagic SvHCI hyperconverged infrastructure platform across its more than 830 store locations. The retailer has already completed migrations at more than 600 stores, averaging 200 stores per month, and expects to complete the rollout in a four-month timeframe.

The migration is being completed remotely, allowing Sheetz to simplify its software stack across its store footprint while reducing cost, complexity and operational disruption. The retailer had previously deployed the StorMagic svSAN solution as the hyperconverged storage layer with its legacy store infrastructure platform  across hundreds of store locations to virtualize critical in-store applications, improve resiliency and simplify edge infrastructure management. 

By replacing multiple single-purpose systems with a single  two-node HCI architecture, Sheetz intends to reduced hardware complexity, accelerate deployments and created a scalable and available platform to support business-critical services including payment processing, loyalty programs and store operations.

"Our initial rollout proved StorMagic could deliver the resilience and centralized management needed across a large distributed retail environment," said Gary Silver, director of platform engineering, Sheetz. "StorMagic worked to understand our needs and requirements, to include a 24/7/365 operating environment, and ultimately delivered a product and plan that is allowing us to migrate hundreds of locations from our previous solution quickly and with minimal downtime, without requiring hardware replacements or having to send technicians to every site. This project is proof that large-scale edge migrations don't have to be disruptive, drawn-out or scary affairs."

[READ MORE: Sheetz to enter Indiana]

Founded in 1952, Sheetz currently operates more than 830 stores across its seven-state footprint, which currently includes Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Maryland and Michigan. Sheetz also plans to build 100 store locations over the next 10 years in Indiana.

Consumers are increasingly using artificial intelligence tools in their shopping routines.

Roughly 70% of consumers say they shop with AI today and plan to use it even more in the future, according to a new survey from marketing agency LDWW. Nearly two-thirds noted that AI influenced a recent purchase decision.

A recent report from Numerator revealed just 2% of variation in AI acceptance among generations, with Gen Z, millennials, Gen X and baby boomers embracing the technology for different reasons.

While the adoption is growing, consumers are still being cautious about getting reliable information from AI. LDWW’s survey found that over half actively check the citations provided by AI, and nearly 60% say it is important to know what sources are used to form AI answers.

Nearly one-in-five Americans say AI tools are the most trustworthy source they use to shop, with 43% trusting the brand information they encounter on platforms.

“For a large share of Americans, AI is expanding from a simple research tool into a trusted shopping resource on par with online reviews and personal recommendations,” noted LDWW. “At the same time, consumers are reporting a 'trust but verify' approach, paying close attention to where AI gets its information.”

[READ MORE: AI-based shopping is coming of age — here's how]

The LDWW Consumer AI Survey was conducted in late February 2026 among a nationally representative sample of 2,000 U.S. adults

Wayfair is once again hosting an omnichannel “Black Friday in July” sales promotion.

The five-day sale brings what Wayfair says will be “holiday-level” savings across every home category. From July 23-27, 2026, Wayfair is offering five full days of savings across its entire e-commerce site, including markdowns on thousands of Wayfair Verified items hand-vetted for quality by product specialists.

In addition, starting Monday, July 20, there will be early deals inclusive of 24-hour deals, as well as exclusive early discounts for Wayfair Rewards loyalty members and app users. 

Starting July 23, limited quantity doorbusters will be available in-store and online, and thousands of 24-hour online flash deals will drop throughout the event. Exclusive in-store offers will also start July 23, and family-friendly activities, raffles and giveaways will take place all weekend long at Wayfair stores in Chicago, Atlanta, and Columbus, Ohio. 

In-store offers will also be available at all AllModern, Birch Lane and Joss & Main banner locations. Wayfair will provide free shipping sitewide throughout all five days, with many items available for free white glove delivery — fully assembled and delivered to the customer’s room of choice. Members of the Wayfair Professional program for trade and business customers will also have access to exclusive pro-only deals on thousands of products.

Wayfair also hosted “Black Friday in July” in 2025, and as is the case this year the promotion followed Amazon Prime Day rather than compete with it.

[READ MORE: Wayfair hosting post-Prime Day sales event]

"We are excited to bring Black Friday savings to the summer, offering our customers some of our most significant deals of the entire year," said Jon Blotner, president of commercial and operations at Wayfair. 

Bath & Body Works has more than 1,900 stores in the U.S. and Canada. It also has 550-plus international locations spanning six continents and over 45 countries.

The two largest online payment platforms may be merging to form a digital payments behemoth that would handle close to $4 trillion in annual transactions.

Stripe is partnering with private equity firm Advent International to make an acquisition offer worth more than $53 billion for PayPal Holdings Inc., according to a report from MarketScreener following up on initial reporting from Reuters.

The offer, said to have been submitted earlier in July 2026, would value PayPal at $60.50 per share, a roughly 28% premium from a recent stock valuation, and reportedly includes committed financing of roughly $50 billion from multiple banks. If the companies merge, they would form a leading digital payment platform responsible for the processing of $3.7 trillion in annual transactions.

Stripe and Advent would reportedly each take 50% ownership of PayPal under terms of the offer, which PayPal is said to have not yet responded to. None of the companies has issued an official statement.

In the past year or so, PayPal has taken steps to integrate leading-edge technologies with its platform, including enabling ChatGPT users to check out instantly using its services, as well as to enable retailers on its network to become discoverable within the Perplexity generative AI model. 

[READ MORE: PayPal to let users pay for their purchases within ChatGPT]

In July 2025, PayPal introduced a service enabling instant crypto to stablecoin or fiat conversions for U.S. retailers to accept payments globally across more than 100 cryptocurrencies and wallets such as Coinbase and MetaMask.

Stripe, a privately-held company, received a valuation of close to $160 billion in a tender offer it made to buy back shares from current and former employees in February 2026. Investors including Thrive Capital, Coatue, and a16z, as well as Stripe using its own capital, backed the offer. 

Chain Store Age will provide updates on this story as they become available.