News Briefs

Acosta Group’s Connected Commerce team has entered into a strategic alliance with retail AI platform provider CommerceIQ to support brands navigating an increasingly complex landscape. 

The partnership combines Acosta Group’s omnichannel agency capabilities with CommerceIQ’s AI-enabled platform, said John Carroll, president, Connected Commerce for Acosta Group. 

According to the companies, the integrated platform is designed to address the growing complexity brands face as commerce decisions multiply across channels and retail environments. By unifying sales, media and content data into a single system, the partnership aims to turn fragmented insights into coordinated dashboards and workflows.

Acosta Group’s Connected Commerce team spans omnichannel account management, digital shelf management, retail media, full-service Amazon support and shopper marketing.

CommerceIQ’s platform is designed to help partners optimize retail media investments, improve share of search and drive incremental sales growth. The platform uses AI “teammates” to continuously analyze hundreds of digital signals, enabling real-time insights, optimization and automated workflows across sales, media and content. 

Rohan Ganeson, president of CommerceIQ, said in the media release that the alliance reflects a shared focus on advancing agentic AI within commerce operations.

“Moving forward, we will continue to double down on our platform investments, accelerating innovation and delivering best-in-class solutions, with a key focus on advancing agentic AI to unlock new efficiencies across commerce operations,” Ganeson said. 

As part of the partnership, CommerceIQ client-focused experts will join the Acosta Group Connected Commerce team to support platform adoption and execution.

“We are gaining a measurable technological edge,” Carroll said. “Accelerating data stitching and unlocking more time for strategic initiatives, joint business planning, creative problem-solving, and direct customer engagement.”

Barrows Connected Store has appointed James Hay as global CEO, effective Jan. 1.

Based in London, Barrows Connected Store partners with retailers such as Tesco and Kroger to transform physical stores into intelligent media networks, enabling brands to activate digital campaigns at the point of purchase.

Hay will lead the company's global business, encompassing teams in the U.K., U.S. and South Africa, to advance the vision for intelligent, connected store environments that transform in-store experiences for retailers, brands and shoppers.

“James is a natural leader and one of the most trusted operators in our business,” said Brent Taylor, executive chairman of Barrows Connected Store. “He has been instrumental in shaping Barrows Connected Store from its early days into the global platform it is today. His deep understanding of retailers, brands and shoppers combined with his ability to lead with clarity, empathy and conviction, makes him uniquely suited to lead our next phase of growth.”

Hay previously led Barrows' U.K. and European business for several years as managing director. Most recently, he served as global managing director of Barrows Connected Store. 

“This next phase of our journey is exceptionally exciting as we scale formative media solutions alongside technology that is redefining how in-store media works — operationally, commercially, and creatively,” Hay said.

He also brings experience in consumer packaged goods, having held senior brand and product management roles at L’Oreal and Mars. 

Kroger is expanding its on-demand grocery delivery footprint nationwide by rolling it out across Uber, Uber Eats and Postmates.

Announced Jan. 15, the expansion brings nearly 2,700 stores from Kroger’s banners onto Uber’s apps, allowing customers to order groceries, Kroger’s private-label products and household items for on-demand or same-day delivery. Participating banners include Ralphs, Fred Meyer, King Soopers, Smith’s, Fry’s, Harris Teeter and Mariano’s.

The nationwide rollout gives shoppers broader access to Kroger banners through third-party delivery platforms as the retailer continues to invest in digital and omnichannel convenience.

The move builds on an existing partnership between the companies, which previously included Kroger’s floral and sushi offerings on Uber Eats, and now expands access to full-store assortments nationwide.

To support the launch, Uber is offering customers discounts of up to 50% off their first order from select Kroger banners. Uber One members will also receive $0 delivery fees on eligible orders.

Jivox has rebranded to DaVinci Commerce, the namesake of its marketing platform.

The name change reflects the company's plan to lead the next era of commerce marketing. It describes the era as AI agents working alongside humans to accelerate execution — without sacrificing trust or control.

The company also announced in a news release that it raised a strategic round of financing to invest in the growth of its AI-native DaVinci Commerce platform.

The platform is designed to help large global brands and commerce media networks scale consumer engagement and acquisition through agentic commerce marketing.

DaVinci Commerce was recognized as a Top 50 innovation at the 2026 National Retail Federation (NRF) Innovators Showcase.

Commerce media continues to be one of the fastest-growing segments in digital advertising, based on eMarketer's May 2025 forecast projecting U.S. commerce media ad spend at a 15.3% CAGR from 2025–2029.

While eMarketer's forecast reflects the scale and pace of category growth, market adoption is widely understood to be shaped by broader industry dynamics, including the increasing convergence of commerce media, programmatic buying and closed-loop measurement.

At the same time, enterprises are rapidly adopting AI — and increasingly, agentic AI — to automate complex, multi-step workflows that previously required significant human coordination.

"Commerce media growth is no longer limited by media spend but constrained by the ability to handle speedy launches, multi-retailer complexity and compliance," said Diaz Nesamoney, DaVinci Commerce founder & CEO, in the news release. "We built the DaVinci Commerce platform from the ground up to be AI-native, enabling brands to lower the cost and complexity of creating and running commerce campaigns across multiple retail media networks while improving performance through personalized commerce ads — all with enterprise-grade guardrails.

“As demand for agentic commerce marketing continues to accelerate, we raised this round of financing to further invest in product innovation and expand our go-to-market efforts."

WHSmith North America is scaling its airport retail media ambitions through a new partnership with Mood Media’s In-Store Marketplace (ISM), bringing programmatic activation to its growing in-store media network across U.S. airports.

Through the collaboration, WHSmith North America Media Network (WHS Media), which is managed by SMG, will deploy ISM’s centralized retail media platform alongside Mood Media’s in-store hardware to unify digital screens and audio into a single, fully managed ecosystem. The rollout will span 350+ airport stores, activating approximately 700 digital screens and audio channels to reach high-value travelers during extended dwell times.

The move enables WHSmith to move beyond traditional digital-out-of-home (DOOH) placements and toward DSP-style, programmatic buying, allowing advertisers to access the entire network through a single point of entry. It also enables WHSmith to monetize in-store screens and audio assets.

Early adopters including PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay and Bose are already live on the network, with additional brands expected to follow.

The partnership underscores WHSmith’s push to position its airport footprint as a premium retail media environment, capitalizing on affluent, high-intent travelers and transforming in-store touchpoints into a cohesive media channel for brands.

Canadian home improvement retailer Rona is working with Google Cloud to enhance its artificial intelligence impact across all its operations and accelerate its growth through the cloud. 

"We are automating our processes, modernizing our retail operations and enhancing the customer experience by integrating cutting-edge technologies such as Google Distributed Cloud Edge and AI," J.P. Towner, president and CEO at Rona Inc., said in a news release. 

"We are rethinking the ways our stores operate, how our teams interact with customers, and how technology can support every stage of the in-store experience. Google Cloud’s expertise will be of great benefit to us, to our customers and to our employees," added Martin Thibodeau, senior vice president and CIO for Rona. 

Rona is also offering quick delivery with DoorDash, making thousands of items available for purchase through the platform. "We are eliminating the barrier between store and customer by innovating and making home improvement more accessible, more connected and quicker," Towner added. 

Rona overhauled its approach to search engine advertising to offer customers a more customized experience at each step of their shopping journeys, letting them find SKUS they're looking for and also offering solutions best suited to their projects. "By leveraging real-time data and historical performance, we can now optimize our advertising investments according to demand and market trends," said Catherine Laporte, chief digital and marketing officer at Rona. "Artificial intelligence plays a pivotal role in the dynamic adjustment of our strategies, enabling us to react even more rapidly to changes in consumer behavior and easily identify unforeseen fluctuations in demand."

Rona operates more than 425 stores under the Rona, Rona+ and Dick's Lumber banners. In recent years it has invested in streamlining its supply chain, growing its private brands, positioning itself among construction professionals and growing brand awareness through marketing and store conversions.