The Week in Commerce Marketing — Retail, E-commerce and DTC: March 21, 2025 edition

Welcome to The Week in Commerce Marketing — Retail, E-commerce and DTC, a weekly roundup for marketers from Quad Insights.

Direct-to-consumer (DTC) brand Omaha Steaks just announced the coming launch of a romance novel, “Certified Tender,” per a brand announcement. “Certified Tender” is the first in the brand’s Meat-Cute Romance Series, a three-part collection “celebrating love, connection and the joy of coming together,” which Omaha Steaks “hopes readers will devour… just as eagerly as a USDA Certified Tender Filet Mignon.” The novel will be available for preorder starting in April at OmahaSteaks.com.

Previously: “Omaha Steaks launches Strips 4 Steaks Promotion in partnership with the Kansas City Chiefs,” from the Sept. 6, 2024 edition of this column.

More brand activations and promotions: “Bread, butter and blue jeans: American Eagle’s Nashville pop-up is a whole mood” (Glossy)

Macy’s just announced plans to develop a fictionalized TV series based on “When Women Ran Fifth Avenue: Glamour and Power at the Dawn of American Fashion,” the nonfiction best-seller by journalist Julie Satow. Per a brand announcement, Macy’s acquired TV rights to the book, which tells the real-life story of “the women who built and shaped some of the most iconic department stores in America,” including Lord & Taylor’s Dorothy Shaver, Bonwit Teller’s Hortense Odlum and Henri Bendel’s Geraldine Stutz. Macy’s will add to the story its own Margaret Getchell, who “transformed Macy’s in the 19th century.” The project is being led by Macy’s CMO Sharon Otterman.

See also: “Macy’s Launches Arch Studio Home Collection” (Store Brands)

More brand content and campaigns:

• “Apple Plays With Action Movie Tropes in New iPhone 16 Ad” (Adweek)
• “Tom Brady Rides A Goat, Dick’s Rides The Moment” (MediaPost)
• “Bad Bunny Strips It Down for New Calvin Klein Campaign” (Hypebeast)
• “SKIMS Unveils Wedding Shop Campaign With ‘White Lotus’ Star Patrick Schwarzenegger and Supermodel Abby Champion” (RetailWire)
• “Ralph Lauren Goes Back to the Beach for Spring Campaign” (Women’s Wear Daily)
• “Watch Puma’s ‘Go Wild’ campaign, its biggest to date” (Ad Age)
• “Adrian Brody to Front Campaign for Monos’ Aluminum Collection” (Women’s Wear Daily)
• “Corona Plays Ball With Mexican Beach Mindset For New Brand Effort” (MediaPost)

Instacart just unveiled new solutions designed to “make it easier for consumers to discover relevant products based on their unique health and lifestyle preferences,” per a brand announcement. Through a new generative AI-powered tool called Smart Shop, the grocery technology company can analyze customers’ habits and dietary preferences to provide more relevant product recommendations faster. Customers can also modify their preferences, selecting from 14 specific dietary preferences such as gluten-free and high fiber. Across Instacart’s catalog, new AI-powered Health Tags will provide detailed nutritional information on products, while Inspiration Pages will serve up “expert-backed health recommendations and shoppable recipes.” Instacart developed the first such page in partnership with the American Diabetes Association.

Previously: “Instacart partners with NBCUniversal to serve CPG advertisers,” from the May 10, 2024 edition of The Week in Consumer Packaged Goods.

More commerce innovations and operations:

• “Michaels provides subscription-based access to digital creative assets” (Chain Store Age)
• “Michael Kors Launches in Amazon Fashion Stores” (Women’s Wear Daily)
• “Klarna Replaces Affirm as Buy-Now-Pay-Later Provider at Walmart” (The Wall Street Journal)
• “Walmart develops generative AI tool for merchants” (Chain Store Age)
• “Dollar General partners with DoorDash to serve SNAP customers” (Drug Store News)
• “Wayfair plots second large-format store” (Retail Dive)
• ICYMI: “Build-A-Bear to Reimagine Workshops with New Orlando ‘Retail-tainment’ Experience” (Retail TouchPoints)
• ICYMI: “Kohl’s has stopped accepting Amazon returns at some store locations” (Modern Retail)
• ICYMI: “Microsoft Tackles Fashion Discovery with New Copilot AI Integration” (Retail TouchPoints)
• ICYMI: “Kroger Unveils New Employees: AI Robot” (MediaPost)

Stella McCartney just unveiled a new 38-piece children’s capsule collection in collaboration with beloved Nickelodeon TV series “SpongeBob SquarePants” that “captures the show’s sense of kooky nautical nonsense,” Women’s Wear Daily’s Violet Goldstone reports. With pieces featuring Bikini Bottom’s various characters, the limited-edition Stella McCartney Kids x SpongeBob SquarePants collection includes swimwear, footwear and accessories — with items ranging from denim jackets and jeans to crochet pieces prominently featuring SpongeBob’s mug — as seen on Stella McCartney’s website.

More launches and brand collabs:

• “Aldi to release another round of branded gear” (Supermarket News)
• “This Collaboration Gap Merch Highlights Iconic Artists” (Trend Hunter)
• “Nordstrom Teams Up With Reformation for ‘Make Room for Shoes’ Collection” (Footwear News)
• “Louis Vuitton Unveils Collaboration With Watchmaker Kari Voutilainen” (Women’s Wear Daily)
• “PetSmart Unveils 2025 Arcadia Trail Collection” (Store Brands)
• “BoxLunch Drops New Baseball Collection” (License Global)
• “Kohl’s introduces 2 private label home brands” (Retail Dive)
• “Sephora’s ‘Next Big Thing’ Is a Dermatologist-approved Skin Care Brand” (Beauty Inc)
• “Target Expands Baby & Toddler Assortment” (Store Brands)
• “The New Champs Sports Gear Spring/Summer Range Has Over 100 Pieces” (Trend Hunter)
• “Lowe’s to run spring sale; launches budget brand; closes stores Easter” (Chain Store Age)
• ICYMI: “Hanes steps into athleisure category” (Fashion Dive)

Consumer insights:

• “Walmart Ranks 1st Among YouGov’s 2025 Grocery Store Brands” (Progressive Grocer)
• “Three-quarters of Amazon shoppers are women” (Supermarket News)
• “Numerator: Amazon, Costco, Dollar Tree among most-visited retailers in 2024” (Chain Store Age)
• “Social media becomes produce’s fountain of youth” (Supermarket News)
• “Sports apparel market projected to reach $173B this year: report” (Fashion Dive)
• “Total retail sales inch up in February but miss estimates” (Chain Store Age)
• ICYMI: “Grocery prices hold steady as overall inflation declines” (Grocery Dive)