Mars will introduce Skittles, Starburst, M&M's Chocolate and Extra Gum Spearmint with natural coloring options beginning next year. The company has not yet announced the specific natural dye sources it will use, but emphasizes that details and timelines for further conversions will depend on finding effective, scalable natural alternatives.

Instacart has launched an upgraded version of its Carrot Academy mobile learning platform, offering more than 40 redesigned optional lessons and new multimedia content. The update includes a personalized "For You" page and single sign-on access. Future updates will add desktop learning and multilingual content. The rollout coincides with a new shopper rewards card and a refreshed Cart Star rewards program.

Online grocery shopping reached a new milestone of $10 billion in July, with approximately 61% of US households -- about 81 million people -- making purchases online. Delivery sales rose 36% to $4.3 billion, while pickup sales increased 24% to $4 billion. Both segments benefited from repeat customers, who spend 50% more per order than first-timers.

Birdzi and eGrowcery have formed a strategic partnership to offer retailers integrated solutions that combine eGrowcery's unified commerce platform with Birdzi's AI-driven personalization tools. The collaboration is designed to provide retailers with a seamless solution that combines digital and in-store technologies to enhance shopper engagement and operational efficiency.

Companies like Perplexity and ChatGPT have started integrating checkout systems directly into their chat interfaces, which Roanoke College professor Elizabeth Parkins says will help shoppers "get what they want faster, with less hassle, and honestly, with less chance of changing their mind." While only 10% of customers in a Yext survey trust AI search models' first results, 62% take their advice on brand decisions and 43% say that they use AI tools every day.

Brands that offer rewards across connected streaming and gaming platforms can get a 40% increase in retention, Programming Insider reports, and first-time conversion rates go up 25%. Marketers have turned to integrated rewards as they try to reach a gaming base that is now almost 50% female and includes a large population of adults.

I have always believed the best industry conversations happen when we step back from the day-to-day and take a wide-angle view of where we are headed. That was exactly the kind of conversation we had during FMI and Inmar's Activating Retail Media at Every Touchpoint webinar. Hearing from leaders in retail media reminded me just how quickly this space is evolving and why grocery retailers and brand