News Briefs

Independent commerce media platform SmartCommerce and Pathformance, a marketing and measurement company, have joined forces to help CPG brands better understand and improve their commerce media efforts in real time.

The partnership combines SmartCommerce’s Click2Cart technology with Pathformance’s measurement and analytics capabilities. Click2Cart enables consumers to add products directly to their preferred retailer’s shopping cart from digital ads, social media posts and other digital touchpoints.

Integrating Pathformance’s measurement capabilities into Click2Cart campaigns provides brands with insights gathered to improve the digital ad performance and effectiveness.

"With consumer shopping behaviors evolving rapidly, it’s critical that brands can optimize their digital commerce strategies in real-time," Jennifer Silverberg, CEO of SmartCommerce, said in a media release. "Partnering with Pathformance gives our client brands more ways to turn data into immediately actionable insights, and to drive better outcomes."

“When we align brands and agencies, we can easily enable a process to measure each tactic, both individually and holistically, to validate and optimize media spend,” added Elizabeth Johnson, CEO of Pathformance. “SmartCommerce’s innovative add-to-cart approach aligns perfectly with our mission to provide brands and advertisers with transparency and measurable results. Together, we are combining our strengths to help brands connect the dots between media dollars spent and carts filled.”

As independent commerce media grows alongside retail media networks, this partnership was formed to help consumer brands optimize ad spend and support a range of retail partners, the companies said. The collaboration focuses on providing brands with tools to enhance advertising strategies and improve consumer engagement.

Rite Aid has named Bryant Harris as senior vice president, chief merchandising officer. 

Harris will play a critical role in evolving the drugstore chain’s merchandising strategy and enhancing its product assortment to meet the changing needs of customers, according to a news release. 

As chief merchant, he will oversee assortment, procurement, pricing, visual merchandising and store design, and he'll work closely with Rite Aid’s store operations and marketing teams to create customer-centric shopping experiences.

Joining the company’s executive leadership team, Harris will report to CEO Matt Schroeder. 

“As we continue to strengthen our business and accelerate our transformation plan, we are pleased to welcome [Harris] to Rite Aid,” Schroeder said in the release. “[Harris] will be a great addition to the team to help further our mission to provide thoughtful, personalized experiences that support our customers’ health and wellness goals.”

Prior to joining Rite Aid, he spent five years as chief merchandising officer at Wakefern Food Corp. There, he developed and executed a strategic roadmap to enhance the company’s merchandising effectiveness and overall performance. Harris brings nearly two decades of retail experience with notable leadership roles at Save A Lot and Sam’s Club.

“I am excited to join Rite Aid to continue advancing the merchandising strategy that delivers a compelling product mix and a shopping experience that meets our customers’ expectations,” Harris said. “I look forward to collaborating with the team and our suppliers to ensure we provide the products our communities need to live their healthiest life.”

Mars Inc. has appointed CPG industry veteran David Jacobs as vice president of marketing, food & nutrition, North America. He reports to Dave Dusangh, regional president of food & nutrition North America.

Jacobs joined the company in January, according to his LinkedIn, after more than 17 years at SC Johnson, most recently as the manufacturer’s executive director and head of marketing for North America.  

In his role at Mars, Jacobs leads strategies to drive penetration and accelerate growth across the rice and ready meal categories in the U.S. and Canada, per a news release. He oversees growth plans for Ben's Original and Seeds of Change, as well as other strategic initiatives to drive value creation across the business.

In addition to SC Johnson, Jacobs also spent nearly eight years in marketing and sales at Unilever. At these companies, he led product portfolio and marketing strategies by creating and implementing key capabilities and operation models to grow brands across the U.S., Southeast Asia and global markets in the food, personal care and home cleaning categories, per the release.

"I have always admired Mars for its exceptional brands, strong values and principles, and commitment to innovation," Jacobs said in the release. "Mars Food & Nutrition brands nourish communities around the world and having the opportunity to contribute to creating better food today for a better world tomorrow is inspiring to me. I look forward to helping shape the future of this dynamic and purpose-driven business."

Programmatic sampling platform Swish Brand Experiences has integrated with Upshop, a store operations technology provider, to give CPG brands and retailers a way to distribute sponsored product samples using data to target the consumers.

With this integration, retailers using Upshop’s e-commerce order management technology can activate Swish’s sponsored product sampling platform to deliver free, full-size products to relevant orders. This partnership expands the Swish network and offerings to meet CPG brand demand for this type of solution, according to a news release.

The partnership represents a larger industry effort to modernize retail media by bridging the gap between digital and physical engagement. It also provides retailers with a new retail media capability to add to their existing portfolios and revenue streams.

"Retailers and brands want solutions that create real value, not added complexity," Adam Stave, CEO of Swish Brand Experiences, said. "Our partnership with Upshop makes Sponsored Product Sampling effortless to activate, eliminating technical hurdles and allowing retailers to move faster than ever." 

"Largely, e-commerce has been defined by costs with operators focused on efficiencies," Mike Weber, CMO of Upshop, added. "This partnership adds real value to the shopper experience, without any additional work for the store team."

Instacart is piloting a program that lets its contractors take photos of store displays on behalf of CPG brands. 

Brands rely on display-check photos for a number of reasons, including understanding how their products are being merchandised, especially in comparison with their competition. In addition to having their retail execution field teams snap photos, CPGs may hire outside agencies for a more comprehensive view. 

The photo taking is one task Instacart shoppers can opt in to complete for brands, Business Insider first reported and an Instacart spokesperson confirmed to P2PI in an email. 

Instacart shoppers can opt in and accept the display-check task like they would a standard order, according to the company. 

This pilot is currently available to select shoppers in select markets, and Instacart said it's working closely with its retail partners. Further details weren’t available.

In-store audio platform Qsic named Marc Walkin as its vice president of marketing. 

Effective in January, Walkin is tasked with leading Qsic’s marketing strategy as the company looks to expand its global presence, according to a media release. 

“As retailers look to turn on new revenue streams, in-store retail media is emerging as the next major growth area, presenting a massive opportunity for audio as an advertising channel," Matt Elsley, co-founder and CEO of Qsic, said in the release. "We have ambitious plans to expand into new markets, introduce new capabilities and bring more awareness to the value of audio, and [Walkin] has the experience to execute them.”

Walkin brings plenty of experience in retail media and brand marketing to Qsic, having previously held leadership roles at Ahold Delhaize, Staples, PopCorners, Beech-Nut Nutrition Co. and Ahold Delhaize’s Stop & Shop. 

Additionally, prior to joining Qsic, he co-founded Turbyne, a retail media platform spun off from Advantage Solutions, which he helped lead into an acquisition by Colateral in 2024. 

"Qsic is fundamentally redefining the value of in-store audio in today’s retail media-driven landscape and taking a data-first approach to changing how retailers and brands connect with consumers through audio," Walkin said. "It’s an exciting time for retail media, and I’m eager to tell the story of how Qsic is transforming the industry through audio."

Walkin’s appointment follows the closure of a $25 million Series B funding round from Qsic to fuel the company’s expansion. Qsic plans to double its workforce and roll out more than 70,000 speakers across North America over the next year.