News Briefs

Wegmans Food Markets is deploying Instacart’s AI-powered Caper Carts at the grocer's Dewitt location in Syracuse, New York. 

The move reflects grocers' and tech providers' ongoing investments in AI tools that enhance personalization, convenience and real-time savings for in-store customers.

The smart carts are part of Instacart’s broader "Connected Stores" suite of in-store technologies aimed at bridging digital and physical retail. Equipped with built-in sensors, cameras and a digital scale, Caper Carts can automatically detect items as they're added, track total spend and enable seamless checkout without waiting in line. Shoppers can also log into their Wegmans Shoppers Club loyalty account directly from the cart's touchscreen interface.

The in-store pilot marks the first time Wegmans has deployed the technology. The two companies have worked together since 2017 on services including same-day delivery, pickup, EBT SNAP payment acceptance and loyalty program integrations.

"Caper Carts are transforming everyday grocery shopping into a faster, more personalized experience," David McIntosh, chief connected stores officer at Instacart, said in the release. "We're excited to partner with Wegmans… to bring this technology to their store."

Sam's Club has appointed a new chief marketing officer as it continues to evolve its brand and membership experience.

Chris Curtin most recently served as senior vice president, head of digital, social and rewards, at Bank of America, according to his LinkedIn profile. He's also served on Spotify's CMO advisory council for the last nearly five years. 

"At Sam's, our vision is to excel as the world's best club retailer," Curtin wrote in a June 30 LinkedIn post. "We pride ourselves on a vibrant business model, an unparalleled value proposition, and a culture of excellence. Embodying the spirit of our founder, Sam Walton, we uphold his belief in seeking the positive and integrating innovative ideas into our operations."

Also Read: Sam's Club Rebrands Retail Media Network to 'Experience Network'

According to his LinkedIn profile, Curtin's other prior experience includes stints at Visa, Hewlett Packard Enterprises (HP) as well as The Walt Disney Company, where he held various high-ranking media roles. He also founded a call center software company called CCC.

The leadership update comes as Sam’s Club continues to invest in retail media, digital innovation and member-centric marketing strategies, including its Member Access Platform (MAP) and new measurement and personalization tools.

Criteo has launched its Auction-Based Display technology to modernize how retailers and brands activate display advertising within retail media networks. The solution is already being used by retail partners Costco and Shipt, with Albertsons Media Collective slated to come on board soon.

The launch is designed to give retailers more flexibility and monetization options by introducing programmatic, auction-based buying alongside existing reservation-based display deals. The solution allows retailers to offer biddable ad inventory that can better reflect real-time category dynamics and seasonal demand — elements that are particularly important in commerce-driven environments.

“Display advertising is a proven retail media format, but the needs of advertisers and retailers are evolving,” Melanie Zimmermann, general manager of global retail media at Criteo, said in a media release. “Our new auction-based offering is modernizing display technology — creating a flexible, automated solution that's tailored to the retail environment.”

According to Criteo, auction-based display ads offer more control over ad relevancy, improved yield for premium placements and broader access to national media budgets for retail media networks. Retailers can pair this with their fixed-price placements to capture a wider range of brand demand while delivering more timely and personalized ad experiences to shoppers.

Advertisers, meanwhile, can gain access to standardized measurement and streamlined campaign management across sponsored products, display and video ads within a single platform — helping them optimize multi-retailer campaigns more efficiently.

The solution is now available to retailers globally.

Lyft is enhancing its in-app advertising platform through a partnership with DoubleVerify (DV), a media verification provider, to give brand advertisers deeper transparency, performance insights and fraud protection across its ad inventory.

As the rideshare company continues to grow its advertising business, the integration with DV brings media quality measurement to Lyft’s platform, helping marketers better evaluate the effectiveness of their in-app campaigns.

The partnership will leverage DV’s technology via the Open Measurement SDK, initially rolling out across Lyft ads in North America. The Open Measurement SDK is an industry-standard framework developed by the IAB Tech Lab, Google, DoubleVerify and others to enable third-party ad viewability and verification across web, mobile apps and connected TV (CTV).

Also Read: Lyft Launches Programmatic In-App Ads

Advertisers will gain access to DV’s suite of post-bid verification capabilities, including:

• Viewability Authentication: Offers clarity into whether an ad has been seen and helps assess its impact.
• Fraud Verification: Detects invalid traffic (IVT) and prevents ads from being served to bots or compromised devices.
• In-Geo Alignment: Ensures ads are delivered in the intended geographic location.
• Attention Measurement: Uses DV’s Authentic Attention to deliver near real-time data on how users engage with ads.
• Brand Suitability: Verifies that ads appear in appropriate and brand-safe environments.

“As marketers expand their investments in high-impact, in-app environments, transparency and trust are critical,” Mark Zagorski, CEO, DV, said in a media release. “Our partnership with Lyft helps ensure that advertisers can measure quality, and drive performance with confidence.”

Advertisers will be able to monitor ad campaign quality and performance via DV Pinnacle, DoubleVerify’s unified analytics and reporting platform.

The companies expect the integration to go live within the coming weeks.

Commerce agency Harvest Group has acquired Next Step Club Solutions, a boutique brokerage firm specializing in Costco Wholesale. 

Announced on June 3, the acquisition strengthens Harvest Group's capabilities in the club retail channel, expands its national footprint and deepens its relationships with Costco buyers. Founded in 2019 by Steve Freeman, Next Step has carved out a niche as a “concierge broker,” guiding brands from early product concepts to national Costco rollouts, per a media release.

"[Freeman] and his team at Next Step have built something special," Valerie Corniel, VP of Costco at Harvest Group, said in the release. "They hold strong, long-standing relationships with Costco buyers nationwide and understand the nuance of operating within a club retail environment. This acquisition gives us stronger coverage across all Costco regions and brings expertise in taking brands from initial launches to national programs."

Freeman, who brings more than 30 years of Costco-specific experience (including roles at Resource Marketing and Advantage Solutions), will join Harvest Group’s Costco team as VP alongside Corniel.

Next Step’s track record includes supporting the development of Kirkland Signature items, turning regional tests into multi-million-dollar programs, and earning “first call” status with buyers across multiple departments. The firm provides strategic sales support, product development, program management and influencer marketing services.

Through the acquisition, Harvest Group clients will gain:

• Expanded Coverage across Costco regions, enabling stronger client advocacy;
• Enhanced Expertise with leadership experienced in multiple Costco departments and categories;
• Scalable Growth Support for brands evolving from regional rotation to national distribution;
• Integrated Strategy opportunities to further integrate Costco initiatives into broader commerce efforts.

"With Next Step's experience and Harvest's tremendous capabilities, we will now be able to expand our service to our existing client partners while positioning ourselves for growth with new products, new clients and innovation," Freeman added.

Publicis Groupe’s Mars United Commerce and Profitero have launched Profitero+, an integrated model for digital commerce growth. 

The offering expands Profitero’s existing analytics capabilities into a full-service model by incorporating Mars United’s managed services to turn data insights into action. It also leverages Mars United’s global retailer expertise and the go-to-market capabilities of the Publicis Commerce network, enabling brands to unify their media, content, operations and strategy under one connected umbrella.

“Profitero+ marks a major step forward in uniting commerce marketing intelligence and activation,” the companies revealed in a May announcement. “By combining Profitero’s global analytics with Mars United Commerce’s deep activation expertise, we’re empowering brands to adapt and win across the entire digital retail landscape, now and into the future.”

Four core pillars make up the Profitero+ solution:

• Commerce Media: Offers managed services across JBP negotiation and campaign planning, management, optimization and reporting/measurement. Enhanced by Profitero’s digital shelf analytics and integrations with media bidding platforms.
• Commerce Content: Delivers end-to-end content strategy, design, production and syndication — all informed by Profitero’s content scoring and AI tools.
• Commerce Operations: Services focused on efficiency and profitability through catalog management, SKU analysis, fulfillment strategy, brand protection and price/inventory intelligence.
• Commerce Strategy & Insights: Provides advisory solutions to help brands improve go-to-market strategies, including product assortment, supply chain, pricing, consumer experience and organizational design.

Profitero+ leverages collective assets that include:

• Profitero’s digital shelf coverage of 1,400-plus retailers in 70 countries.
• Mars United’s digital commerce specialists embedded in 15 retailer hubs worldwide.
• Shopper intelligence drawn from Mars United’s own behavior database and Epsilon’s CoreID first-person identity platform.

According to the companies, brands using the integrated model have seen an average 20% year-over-year improvement in commerce media performance.

Profitero+ arrives at a time when brands are under pressure to consolidate retail data, media and operations across a fragmented ecosystem.