While some retailers have been hip to the possibilities of augmented reality for years, commercial applications have remained limited to a handful of pioneering brands. With the release of the Apple Vision Pro earlier this month, however, more companies are embracing the tech.

One such recent adopter is Wayfair. The online retailer of furniture and other home decor launched its AI-powered app Decorify on the Vision Pro last week, with a promise to help users “experience their new spaces in an immersive environment.”

Users upload a picture of their space to create a 3D re-creation to test out different layouts and designs using Wayfair products, theoretically taking some of the guesswork out of shopping.

“Apple Vision Pro represents an innovative new way for shoppers to style their rooms and experience our catalog directly in their homes,” Wayfair Chief Technology Officer Fiona Tan said in a news release.

Keep reading here.—AV

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The 42.2 million Americans who get food assistance through the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) were dealt a blow last March, when they lost an average benefit of $82 a month when pandemic-related enhanced benefits expired.

A year later, the cuts are still reverberating. Kraft Heinz Co. CEO Carlos Abrams-Rivera revealed on a recent earnings call that sales of its mac-and-cheese products have suffered because “it’s a business that is driven disproportionately by our SNAP exposure.”

On a brighter note, for the first time, SNAP recipients across the lower 48 will be able to use the benefit with an online-only grocer, Thrive Market, using electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards. While other e-commerce merchants, including FreshDirect, accept SNAP benefits in certain states or regions under USDA pilot programs, Thrive Market is the first to be greenlighted nationwide.

Keep reading here.—AAN

On Wednesdays, we wear pink spotlight Retail Brew’s readers. Want to be featured in an upcoming edition? Click here to introduce yourself.

Lindsey Kracum is VP of marketing at skin care brand Versed.

How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in retail? I make stellar skin care products that consumers love and help convince them to purchase those products (time and time again) by telling and showing them how incredible and high-performance said products are.

One thing we can’t guess about your job from your LinkedIn profile? I spend a lot of time in Excel. I have always loved data (statistics was one of my favorite classes in B-school). I am a big believer that to be a powerful marketer, you have to understand data and what drives the brand, whether its retail sales or social media engagement metrics. Even if I am not building the reports at this stage in my career, I still like to dig into the data in my spare time.

What’s your favorite project you’ve worked on? I am working on something very exciting for Versed right now to come to life in early 2025—but we’ll have to wait a bit longer to talk about that.

Keep reading here.—EC