As digital grocery experiences become increasingly integral to shopping, the demand for seamless, intuitive, and contextually relevant content reshapes the consumer journey. Few understand this transformation better than Joey Petracca, COO and Co-founder of Chicory—a company sitting at the unique crossroads of food media, commerce, and technology. In this candid and insightful conversation, Petracca breaks down how shoppability is evolving beyond basic personalization into moments of true utility, where the right content meets the right intent.

With Chicory powering contextual commerce across thousands of food websites, Petracca offers a behind-the-scenes look at how their platform connects unstructured recipe content to structured retail data, enabling consumers to build grocery lists or check out in just a few clicks. He also shares his perspective on the rising influence of retail media networks, the critical role AI and machine learning play in ingredient mapping and product recommendations, and why the future of commerce media lies in turning everyday digital interactions into meaningful shopping experiences.

If you’re curious about where grocery tech is headed—or how brands, publishers, and retailers can better meet consumers in the moments that matter—this interview is a must-read.

Full interview; 

As consumer habits shift toward convenience and personalization, how do you see the role of shoppable content evolving in the digital grocery journey?

It’s all about making the consumer journey as easy and seamless as possible.

And look, that doesn’t necessarily mean what we’ve all come to think of as personalization, which is using all this data to target the right consumer. We believe in contextual relevancy and finding that moment online when a consumer is in the right mindset—when you know they’re looking to buy or create a list.

And that’s the moment where shoppable content comes into play.

In some ways, we’ve oversaturated the media with shoppability.

We’ve put shoppable links and experiences on everything because we want our ads to go somewhere meaningful. We want our ads to go to an interesting landing page with a measurable call to action, even if it’s just a purchase intent or an add-to-cart action. As marketers, we crave the ability to quantify success very tactically.

But it doesn’t necessarily mean we’re providing the consumer utility. We need to step back and ask, “When does this make sense?”

For us, it’s in moments when the consumer prepares to shop and decides what to buy. If you’re on a retailer’s website, you’re ready to buy, but those aren’t the only moments. 

It’s not when you’re browsing a news website or even, honestly, on Facebook. Sure, as a marketer, you might have incredible behavioral data about that person and understand that they might be generally in the market soon to buy your product, but at that moment, right when you show an ad to them, are they in a shopping mindset? If the answer is no, we shouldn’t utilize these shopping experiences. 

Also Read: “Your Brand Is What Barbara Says It Is”: Liz Carter on the Feedback-Fueled Future of Marketing

Chicory sits at the intersection of food media, commerce, and tech—what unique challenges and opportunities does that convergence bring?

One of the biggest challenges about working in all three areas is that we’re tied to different trends. 

Take food media as an example. Food media is changing rapidly. Ten years ago, when we started the business, people visited websites. They went to food blogs to get recipe content and food inspiration. That’s changed dramatically, particularly since COVID. The rise of social content and influencers who monetize through their websites but primarily on social platforms has really changed how consumers engage with content. AI is having a similar effect on how consumers discover new content and new food. And that’s an example of our business model that has to evolve. We have to meet where consumers are going.

It’s the same thesis about how content and commerce need to connect to provide utility to consumers, retailers, and brands, but ultimately, we’ve got to expand where we are. But that also provides a lot of opportunities for us. And one of the biggest ones is that we get to see the entire ecosystem.

Our technologies are on thousands of sites, so we can see things like cooking and food trends. We can access millions of consumers making purchase decisions every day, and they’re not just doing it in a single retailer, and they’re not just doing it with a single brand. It truly has this network effect where we’re able to get a lot of insights and data that we’re ultimately able to use to inform and help our clients market better to consumers.

What’s your take on the future of commerce media in CPG? Do you see retail media networks or recipe platforms leading the charge?

The future of commerce media in CPG is 100% tied to whatever retail media ultimately becomes. What I mean by that is that I think the opportunity with retail media is that it can turn any moment online into an extension of the store. We use the term shopability, shoppable links, or commerce, but when we talk about commerce media, you’re offering the ability for a consumer to move down the funnel much faster.

But that only works if the consumer feels like they’re in a place that is an extension of the store. When it comes to retail media data and measurement, and these commerce tools that ultimately retail media groups have to build, maintain, and support, that is the future.

Also Read: Is Your CDP a Dinosaur in a Composable World?

Can you walk us through the data infrastructure behind Chicory’s contextual commerce engine—how do you ensure relevancy and scale?

For us, the technology and the data infrastructure start with understanding contextual relevancy.

How do you understand the difference between boneless chicken breast and boneless skinless chicken breast diced into pieces, which are both called for in a recipe?

It sounds easy, but it’s a fairly complicated problem.

We’ve evolved and really invested in ensuring contextual relevancy. Previously, machine learning was a big part of this, and now AI, but ultimately, we’re making sure that we’re using the latest cutting-edge technology.

So, for example, we just updated our entire foodonomy, which is based on the identification of ingredients and food and different recipe categories, with generative AI, which has become much better at understanding content.

It still needs a lot of hand-holding and training, especially in particular categories, like food, recipes, and grocery shopping, but it’s a powerful tool.

I think ultimately, that’s how you scale: You use the latest and greatest technology. You’re always pushing forward and trying to understand, “Can this be better or more relevant?” Retailers have also evolved a lot, which has made this a lot easier.

You know, the APIs and capabilities that our retail partners continue to release improve the consumer experience.

Again, that’s really what this is all about: making sure that the consumer can seamlessly transition from content to commerce, with the right relevant product being marketed to them and ultimately the right product in their basket, whether they want to buy in-store or online.

What role does AI or machine learning play in powering product recommendations and shopper behavior insights at Chicory?

They’re both foundational to what we do at Chicory and have been since the beginning. The problem that we ultimately solve is a data challenge. You have all of this unstructured data across the internet in the form of recipe and ingredient data, which is all unstructured. And then you have this very structured data from the grocery store, right?

They use these incredibly complex files for weekly deals and product information.

That might not have been online 30 years ago, but they’ve always had rich, structured data. And so, how do you match all of this unstructured data on the internet to all this structured data available from these retailers?

Some of these APIs are getting better, but some might not have access to all that structured data and what you’d want. The secret has always been machine learning and AI, which has advanced greatly because of generative AI.

When we first started the business, we had to create models and train all the data ourselves. My cofounder and I would spend our weekends training data for eight, nine, or ten hours a day. We would train hundreds or thousands of ingredient lines, map them to structured ingredient data in our taxonomy, and then map them to product data at the retailer.

Now, you still have to train, model, and have quality control, but all of that can be automated and much simpler to utilize.

Also Read: Metricool’s Growth Lead on Data, Influencers and AI’s Impact

How do you approach integration with retailers and CPG brands from a technical and operational standpoint?

It starts with having a robust technical team, which we do. We have incredibly talented engineers and product managers who understand the space and have extensive experience.

We’ve worked with a bunch of retailers, and we’re the first people to get access to their APIs. And we’re the ones that have to test and break things and work very closely with the retailers’ teams. So, ultimately, it’s about being a partner to the retailer. And both sides understand nothing’s going to be perfect. We’re going to have to work through things together. There might be use cases that neither of us expects will come up. And with our strongest partnerships, that’s absolutely where we see that.

There’s no secret technical sauce other than to hire great people and operate with empathy when it comes to those partners. And they’ll operate with empathy with you, and you’ll figure out how to tackle challenging technical problems together because it truly is a team effort with two different businesses.

If you could fast-forward three years, what capabilities or consumer experiences do you hope Chicory will have helped pioneer across the grocery tech space?

For us, it’s really that idea about extending the retailer experience outside of the website. I won’t say that websites won’t exist in three years. But look, they’re challenged, right? Social platforms are challenging the open web and websites. AI, such as Google’s Gemini, is challenging the open web. They’re challenging search engine marketing and how discoverable websites are.

And while websites aren’t going anywhere, it will be harder and harder to get people to visit and stay on a single webpage when these platforms and other areas across the internet are also places where consumers are going.

For us, it’s about unlocking that secret, whether it’s a recipe, a shopping list, a meal plan, or whatever it ultimately is. If a consumer is in a place in their journey where they’re trying to figure out what they are going to make for dinner this weekend or pick up in—store, the retailer experience should extend into those moments. Right now, it doesn’t happen in a great way.

It’s a display ad with a shoppable link on it. It’s not integrated or contextually relevant. So, for us, it’s working hand in hand with the retailers, our brand partner, and our publishing partners to ensure that it truly is a seamless commerce experience and an extension of what the consumer would experience on the retailer’s website, but in another location.

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Delta Cargo announced the launch of its newest product, DeliverDirect, developed in collaboration with SmartKargo. DeliverDirect is a door-to-door delivery service for the U.S. market, offering a competitive and customizable solution for e-commerce retailers seeking to optimize their direct-to-consumer shipping solutions. With DeliverDirect, Delta Cargo pioneers an innovative domestic carrier approach, providing swift service with transparent pricing for e-commerce and small parcel delivery.

From initial warehouse pickup to delivery at the end consumer’s doorstep, DeliverDirect is a fast, seamless, end-to-end service that upgrades traditional ground or air shipping services utilized by most current e-tailers. Small package shippers will benefit from increased shipping speeds, an uncomplicated pricing structure, proactive alert management, transparent tracking and reporting, and access to Delta’s vast domestic network.

“We are thrilled to introduce DeliverDirect, our new offer for the small parcel delivery market,” shared Alison Ricker, Managing Director, Delta Cargo Global Sales. “Through our strategic collaboration with SmartKargo, DeliverDirect gives e-tailers an alternative transportation solution that fits their customers’ requirements, and we envision that this service will prove to be a fast, reliable and cost-effective solution.”

“E-commerce shippers are looking for simple, faster, and more reliable alternatives to deliver their products to consumers. Delta Cargo has a vision for small package delivery that will transform the U.S. market and continue to diversify their already robust offering in the air cargo market. Their innovative approach makes them a fantastic partner for SmartKargo, and we look forward to growing this service together,” stated Milind Tavshikar, CEO and Founder of SmartKargo.

The DeliverDirect offering can be tailored to shippers’ needs with a variety of service innovations that empower customers to customize according to their unique preferences. These service innovations include: personalized pick-up times, geo-fenced notifications for consumers, multiple delivery attempts, signature-required deliveries, proof of delivery with photos, and access to advanced reporting features for a complete comprehensive service that aligns seamlessly with a variety of needs.

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“A lack of delivery options at checkout” and “unclear returns policies” could be denting retailers’ peak-season profits, warns a new guide by nShift, the global leader in online delivery management software. A new guide, “Going for gold” argues that to successfully prepare for the “golden quarter” at the end of the year, retailers and warehouses must recast the earliest weeks of 2024 as the “groundwork quarter”.  During this time, they must make a robust assessment of their performance during peak season and decide whether they have the right technology and infrastructure in place to boost their chances of success. How orders are shipped to customers is a crucial part of golden-quarter success.  

Mattias Gredenhag, CTO at nShift said, “The golden quarter represents the biggest commercial opportunity for online and multi-channel retailers. A failure to properly prepare risks undermining their chances of success. Offering the right peak-season customer experience is critical to success.  If shoppers have a bad delivery experience, they may abandon the retailer forever.  It’s vital that ecommerce businesses have the right infrastructure and technology in place to meet increased demand and encourage customer loyalty.”

The guide notes that by failing to make the most of their delivery management, online retailers become vulnerable to five common errors. 

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Krepling, an ecommerce channel management platform, announced that it has raised a $3.3 million seed round and launched a fully centralized universal builder, offering merchants a consolidation of tools and services to foster personalized customer experiences. The round includes the participating investors: LAUNCH, Brickyard, Front Porch Ventures, 11 Tribes Ventures, Colabora Ventures, and Broadshade Investments. The funding will be used to further expand the Krepling team in several departments and enhance the capabilities of simplifying e-commerce integrations, without the need for outside agencies or developers.

Liam Gerada, CEO and co-founder of Krepling, said, “As marketplace options for consumers and technology advancements increase, it’s adamant for brands to use tools that will maintain business growth and not fall behind. We are addressing the most critical challenge in the e-commerce sector currently and are pivotal in providing a comprehensive toolkit that supports the modern mid-market merchant looking to scale. With this funding, we can advance our distinctive edge in the market and empower merchants to navigate the e-commerce landscape with unparalleled ease and efficiency.

Jason Calacanis, CEO, founder, and managing partner of LAUNCH, said, “Krepling’s solution eliminates the countless hours spent connecting the various business operations required to deliver a seamless ecommerce experience. Krepling went through Launch Accelerators 23rd Cohort and has grown nicely since then allowing us to back the company consistently. With their background as e-commerce merchants themselves, Liam and his team are uniquely positioned to build a powerful, future-forward platform for merchants.”

With the retail e-commerce industry projected to reach $8.1 trillion by 2026, merchants are focused on modernizing and integrating their workflows, such as shipping solutions and inventory management systems, to offer consumers a seamless shopping experience. However, a data bottleneck arises when basic business operations and powerful automation platforms do not communicate across different e-commerce services, ultimately holding merchants back from growing their businesses efficiently. Krepling is solving this issue for hundreds of mid-market merchants by granting control over their channel management and e-commerce tech stacks. The company’s new centralized universal builder enables merchants to have their operations all-in-one place, eliminating the need for disparate platforms, and offers enhanced data capabilities to capture customer data without coding experience.

The investment will be mostly channeled toward expanding Krepling’s team, with a primary focus on hiring new sales leads, managers, and developers. The company prioritizes nurturing a workspace that is employee-centric and harnesses the myriad of benefits in a hybrid-remote model. With Krepling nearly doubling its valuation by the end of the year, new hires will help accelerate productivity and streamline an intuitive dashboard to help brands refine the shopping experience for their customers. 

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MyFBAPrep, an e-commerce warehouse and fulfillment network, announced a strategic partnership with Blenders Eyewear, an eyewear company known for its quality sunglasses with bold designs and colorways. This partnership is set to bolster Blenders’ logistics capabilities, further boosting its hypergrowth trajectory. Effective immediately, MyFBAPrep will begin onboarding Blenders into its warehouse network.

Under this partnership, MyFBAPrep will provide Blenders with cutting-edge warehousing solutions powered by its SaaS platform Preptopia, including marketplace order fulfillment services, and logistical support tailored to their unique needs. This collaboration will empower Blenders Eyewear to focus on product innovation, marketing, and expanding their market reach.

Tom Wicky, Co-Founder and CEO of MyFBAPrep, said,  “We’re excited to partner with Blenders and support its incredible momentum with our best-in-class Amazon capabilities. Blenders has taken America by storm, and we look forward to helping their accelerating demand with our leading marketplace prep and logistics services. We believe we will be a valuable asset to Blenders as they continue their impressive journey. “

Michael Villa, Director of Operations for Blenders Eyewear, said, “We’ve seen our marketplace sales on Amazon explode with the rest of our business. We’re excited to partner with MyFBAPrep to help us scale and support our Amazon presence. This partnership will enable Blenders fans everywhere to have immediate access to our catalog of eyewear on Amazon.” 

MyFBAPrep specializes in providing e-commerce businesses with state-of-the-art warehousing, order fulfillment, and logistical support across all channels, allowing brands like Blenders to streamline their supply chain and focus on scaling their business.

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PayPal Holdings, Inc. announced six new innovations the company is piloting and bringing to market this year to revolutionize commerce through artificial intelligence (AI) driven personalization for both merchants and consumers. Alex Chriss, President and CEO, PayPal, introduced a completely new PayPal checkout experience that radically speeds up checkout for consumers and helps merchants convert transactions like never before. 

Alex Chriss, said, “PayPal is on a mission to revolutionize commerce, globally, and today we are starting the next chapter. With nearly 400 million consumer accounts, and 35 million merchant accounts, PayPal handles transactions for about a quarter of the world’s ecommerce transactions each year, but more importantly, shoppers trust PayPal to power their payments.”

“PayPal is introducing six new innovations that will not only solve real customer pain points, but we believe will change the world of payments and commerce. From new solutions for merchants to speed up checkout and personalize offers, to a new consumer app that will give our loyal customers more reasons to shop with PayPal, to the next generation of Venmo designed to be the growth platform for local small businesses, PayPal has always brought the future of money to our consumers and merchants and today marks the next revolution,” Chriss added. 

Fastlane by PayPal, a dramatically faster and smarter guest checkout experience; Smart Receipts, giving customers AI-personalized recommendations from merchants to keep them coming back; the PayPal advanced offers platform so merchants can provide relevant, personalized, real-time offers to consumers and drive more sales; a reinvented PayPal consumer app giving shoppers new ways to earn cash back and more reasons to use PayPal; and, Venmo’s enhanced business profiles, so small businesses can find and engage new customers, and grow their businesses.

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EPAM Systems, a digital transformation services and product engineering company, announced a partnership with Google Cloud, aligned with its Industry Value Network (IVN) initiative, to develop a composable suite of retail media accelerators to help retailers solve efficiency, scalability and functionality challenges. 

“We’re pleased to announce this collaboration with Google Cloud to help retailers of all sizes scale their retail media business without the need for costly capital investments,” said David Billings, VP, Global Head of Media Practice at EPAM. “Our clients often work with multiple retail media technology partners and need a comprehensive data and analytics layer that can seamlessly integrate these partners to enhance value for advertisers and reduce their operational burden.”

“Retailers are already working with Google Cloud to power their digital transformations with cloud infrastructure, data and AI,” said Pallab Deb, Managing Director, Solutions and Industry Value Networks at Google Cloud. “Our approach to Industry Value Networks helps these customers more quickly bring together and create value from multiple partner platforms on Google Cloud, and we’re pleased that EPAM will expand its work with Google Cloud and our ecosystem of partners to accelerate digital transformation in the retail industry.”

EPAM’s Retail Media Orchestration Toolkit, developed on Google Cloud, is a set of composable cloud accelerators that allow retailers to work more effectively with multiple technology vendors via a single, integrated platform while reducing dependence on third parties and optimizing cost. Retailers can leverage the scalability and analytical capabilities of native Google Cloud components, along with a network of retail media software vendors, eliminating the need to build their own in-house solution.

With more consumers shopping online than ever before, retail media is the fastest-growing segment in the advertising industry, with the potential to generate billions of dollars of annual revenue. In a currently heavily fragmented space, EPAM’s Retail Media Orchestration Toolkit provides a solution for creating higher-quality advertising experiences with greater measurement and targeting capabilities.

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Pair Eyewear, a direct-to-consumer customizable eyewear brand reimagining the eyewear industry, announced a new partnership with National Vision, Inc., an optical retailer in America. The partnership, which will introduce affordable bundles including Pair’s customizable, stylish, and accessible eyewear and a comprehensive eye exam, launched in 110 America’s Best Contacts & Eyeglasses stores nationwide, making Pair Eyewear’s fashionable eyewear even more accessible to customers across the country. 

“We are thrilled to partner with National Vision. This collaboration allows us to expand our reach and provide customers with a sensorial shopping experience that combines style, affordability, and expert guidance,” said Pair Eyewear Co-CEO and Co-Founder Nathan Kondamuri. “Through this partnership, we aim to establish Pair as a household name. We’re eager to bring our fun, fresh frame style to consumers across the country.”

“Pair’s vision for a cutting-edge style- and personality-driven future of eyewear is inspiring,” said Megan Molony, Chief Merchandising and Managed Care Officer of National Vision. “We look forward to combining our strengths to offer customers an unmatched selection of affordable eyewear while delivering exceptional service.”

In October, Pair Eyewear announced a move to keep investing in research and development on the heels of its fully integrated U.S. manufacturing facility. Since inception, the brand has developed a family of patents around customizable technology, further pushing innovation in the traditional optical industry.

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Mystore, an ONDC-connected marketplace, launches comprehensive enterprise ecommerce solutions to facilitate Enterprise brands in harnessing the full potential of the ONDC Network and expanding their reach to new markets and diverse buyer segments.

The ONDC Network aims to foster a comprehensive digital ecosystem that brings SMEs and brands on a level playing field and connects them to the booming Indian markets beyond Tier- I and II cities. Mystore’s Enterprise Ecommerce Solutions is an initiative to enable and empower enterprises in digitizing and scaling their business with cutting-edge ecommerce solutions built in compliance with the ONDC Protocol.

T.Koshy, CEO, ONDC said, “In a digital landscape where adaptability is key, Mystore’s innovative enterprise solutions, integrated with the ONDC Network, redefines growth opportunities for brands of all sizes. We are joining our efforts to create a seamless bridge for enterprises to harness the full potential of digital commerce, extending their reach to diverse markets and buyer segments”.

Ms. Kriti Aggarwal, Co-Founder, Mystore said, ” Enterprises can no longer stay tethered to traditional selling through single or binary channels. Indian Ecommerce will be worth $200 billion catering to 400-450 million users by 2027. Enterprise brands need to be present on the channels these buyers are. Mystore’s Enterprise Ecommerce Solutions have enabled enterprises with lakhs of sellers-dealers across India to digitize their business, optimize costs, innovate, and experiment with market-buyer-product mixes for better profit margins.”

By signing up on the Mystore Seller App, Enterprises can take their complete business online, including their dealer-distributor network without investing months or millions in building tailored ecommerce solutions. Through Mystore, brands can add a new sales channel to their existing digital presence. They can also use Mystore’s comprehensive ecosystem as their primary ecommerce channel.

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Revyrie announces its acquisition of New York agency Myntr, an e-commerce solutions provider, in an all-cash deal. This acquisition bolsters Revyrie’s Digital Commerce portfolio and expands its delivery footprint as a leading provider of retail services and solutions.

Revyrie’s Founder and CEO, Dan Faiman, said, “We are thrilled to welcome Myntr along with their valued customers and partners to Revyrie. For almost a decade, Revyrie has endeavored to sit at the forefront of technological innovation and high growth, while always prioritizing people and culture. Myntr is a strong, strategic fit for Revyrie. We are excited about the enhanced capabilities and increased value to clients that will result from this collaboration.”

Luke Steinberger, Revyrie’s Chief Operating Officer, will help oversee the transition for Revyrie. Frank Weil, Myntr’s Founder, will continue to serve as Myntr’s CEO. “We are pleased to be joining such a fantastic organization, and are excited to work with Revyrie’s global product engineering and strategic resources, which will open Myntr’s access to a broad spectrum of cross-technology expertise, delivering a superior experience for our brands and their customers,” said Mr. Weil.

The acquisition marks a new chapter in Revyrie’s commitment to providing strategic and technological solutions across all tech stacks and industries. Founded by Dan Faiman, Revyrie leverages its global resources to help launch and incubate cutting-edge brands and technologies. Revyrie’s venture studio model allows it to partner with early-stage companies by building world-class technologies and scaling with them as they grow. In 2022, Revyrie announced Clarity as a stand-alone full-service digital agency, with services including e-com development, optimization, and performance marketing. Together, the Revyrie and Clarity portfolio achieves well over 500 million in annual revenue. 

The acquisition will enhance the depth and breadth of Revyrie’s suite of digital solutions and will be focused on positioning both companies to deliver strategic transformative platforms that not only provide a competitive edge, but also make a significant impact on the global IT landscape. 

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