STOCKHOLM — Cloetta Group, a confectionery company based out of Northern Europe, is bringing Ahlgrens bilar, a Swedish foam candy, to the United States.

The car-shaped candy is available in four varieties: original, sour, Fruity Duo (raspberry, lemon and tutti-frutti) and Sour and Fruity (raspberry, pineapple and peach).

“Launching Sweden’s most sold candy bag exclusively at Target is an important step in our ongoing US expansion,” said Niklas Truedsson, area president growth and chief pick and mix officer at Cloetta Group. “Target has a proven track record of introducing exciting new products to shoppers, and we are proud to now partner with them as we continue to bring Cloetta’s iconic Swedish candy to North America.”

The candy cars may be purchased at Target retailers nationwide. 

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Lowe’s is launching a drone delivery service in partnership with DoorDash and Alphabet‘s Wing, CNBC has learned exclusively.

The company said the new drone delivery service — a first in the home improvement retail space — will give customers access to over 100 products in a delivery window as fast as 20 minutes. A pilot program is already live in North Carolina, with plans for expansion.

Customers can order products directly through DoorDash, which will have drone delivery listed as an option for eligible customers. The drones currently transport orders of roughly 2.5 pounds per flight and operate within a 5-mile radius of the store in Matthews, North Carolina, according to the company.

Seemantini Godbole, chief information and artificial intelligence officer at Lowe’s, said shoppers often tell the company they realize halfway through a project that they’re missing a crucial item.

“Drone delivery fits perfectly because this was one of the friction points, like you’re doing a project, and you’re getting interrupted,” Godbole said. “[But] you never left your home, you never left your job site, and then you just continued with the project. That’s the whole premise.”

She said the company is still testing the service, but if it’s successful, Lowe’s may expand the drone program beyond the North Carolina store.

“We wanted our tech teams to be positioned. … We literally are going to the store every day,” she said. “We are observing. We are listening to the feedback from our store associates and from DoorDash, and we could make changes as needed and be really agile, and so that’s why we started here.”

Godbole added that the drone delivery is not “technology for the sake of tech,” but rather is a move to keep up with the changing needs of the Lowe’s customer as part of the company’s overall technology strategy.

With the announcement, Lowe’s joins a growing cohort of retailers adding drone delivery to their options to optimize convenience and technology for customers in an effort to lift sales. Amazon, Walmart and Uber Eats already use drones to offer fast delivery to customers.

Godbole said the distinction for Lowe’s is that it’s the first home improvement retailer to offer drone delivery.

But drone technology has also faced criticism across the country from people concerned about noise and privacy issues, especially in states like New Jersey. Navigating more crowded airspace also requires regulatory approval.

Godbole said Lowe’s is working to ensure its drones meet all standards and is leaning on the expertise of both DoorDash and Wing.

Godbole said while the drones are an important milestone in the company’s technological advances, Lowe’s is still focusing on improving its express same-day delivery and innovation for its shoppers while also incorporating AI into its internal processes for store associates.

“When associates and customers are interacting with Lowe’s, I really want the technology to disappear, and I want the experience to shine through,” Godbole said. “I want them to remember the projects they are doing, the items they are buying, the fulfillment experience they got, and all our technology efforts are geared towards that.”

Banks are warning that using artificial intelligence (AI) agents for online shopping could increase the risk of scams, fraud and data privacy breaches affecting consumers.

The warning was issued in a report by a group of banks including Bank of America, Capital One, the UK’s NatWest, New Zealand’s ASB Bank, and Commonwealth Bank of Australia and cautioned that despite enthusiasm about the potential for AI shopping agents, the tech risks outpacing consumer protections and industry standards.

“Consumers are unclear if AI will act in their interests,” the report said. “They are concerned that AI agents may buy the wrong thing or spend too much – or even worse, lose their money to scams and fraud. They are not sure whether they will be protected or who they will need to go to if things go wrong.”

Tech companies are rolling out increasingly capable AI agents to consumers, who can use them as shopping tools to track products and even make purchases on their behalf.

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A man looks at bills next to a computer in his home. (Getty Images)

British retailer John Lewis said in September that searches from AI agents rose from 0.3% last year to 2.5% this year, with the AI agent share of traffic rising.

The banks’ report warned about risks involving AI agents, including requesting customers’ card details and entering them directly into websites, or steering consumers to payment methods with weaker protections.

The banks are planning to discuss proposals with policymakers aimed at protecting consumers, like requiring disclosure when an AI agent is involved with a transaction, increased transparency over how AI agents make decisions, and safeguards to protect customer data.

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Banks warned that agentic AI could create risks for consumers if not held in check. (iStock)

The report also said that consumers and merchants should be free to choose which AI-powered e-commerce services they use, while different systems should be interoperable.

Agentic AI systems are able to take actions and interact with other systems with a measure of autonomy granted by the user. They differ from conversational AI chatbots in that they can perform tasks, rather than simply respond to a user’s prompt by performing research.

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Agentic AI apps can make purchases and fill out forms at the direction of their user. (Getty )

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Reuters contributed to this report.

Cat owners are spending on their feline friends in a bright spot for pet food makers and sellers. 

Though consumers are watching their wallets as the prices of fuel and groceries rise, sales for cat food and other cat-related products are climbing, according to sellers of those products. General Mills, Chewy and Petco Health and Wellness Co. all called out the segment as a strength in their businesses during their most recent quarterly earnings calls.

Sales of dog products, on the other hand, continue to soften. The rise in sales of cat items comes as the American Pet Products Association found a 5% increase in cat ownership in 2025, with an estimated 53 million households having cats. The modest rise last year came after cat ownership surged 23% in 2024.

Factors driving the increase in cat ownership could include the ease and affordability of care relative to dogs, along with their ability to live in smaller enclosed spaces like apartments, according to executives in the space.

General Mills on Wednesday reported double-digit percentage growth in cat food sales, which includes the brand Tiki Cat. At the same time, sales of dog food fell by a high-single-digit percentage. Those contrasting trends led in part to General Mills’ North American pet segment posting net sales that were roughly in line with the year-ago period.

CEO Jeff Harmening said on an earnings call on Wednesday that the sales trend was related to the fact that Americans are adopting more cats and fewer dogs.

Chief Operating Officer Dana McNabb said, however, that struggles in the company’s dog food business could not be blamed entirely on trends in pet ownership.

“We really have to relook at the entire proposition of the product, the packaging, the marketing, the communication, we have work to do,” she said. “And we had the same challenge on our cat Tastefuls business a few years ago, and it took us about 18 to 24 months to improve it, and that business is back to growth now.”

Other pet retail companies have called out similar trends in cat and dog products.

On a Sept. 9 earnings call, Chewy CEO Sumit Singh said of the company’s pet segments: “dog seems to be worsening; cat seems to be strengthening.”

Petco reported strong sales of cat products in its second quarter, highlighting the launch of its cat treat brand Candy Shop on a Sept. 2 earnings call.

“In the second quarter, we introduced new high-impact brands that resonate strongly with cat parents, generating nice gains across consumables, supplements, bedding and furniture,” CEO Joel D. Anderson said on the company’s earnings call.

Anderson said that the company’s second-quarter growth came after the company focused on improving its cat segment based on industry trends.

“The dog business is still soft. Adoptions are down slightly,” Anderson said. “It just shows for you why it’s so important to be diversified. And with us having great trends in cat, really growing companion animal, our services business is growing. We’ve got a lot of diversification to not rely solely on dog.”

Lowe’s announced Thursday that it is rolling out a drone delivery pilot in North Carolina, saying it is the first home improvement retailer to offer shoppers the service.

The pilot is now live at a Lowe’s store in Matthews, North Carolina, where eligible customers can order select products through the DoorDash app for delivery by Alphabet-owned Wing drones in as little as 20 minutes, according to an announcement from the company.

“At Lowe’s, our mission is to solve problems and fulfill dreams for the home,” Seemantini Godbole, chief information and AI officer at Lowe’s, said in a statement. 

“To achieve this mission, we’re removing friction from home improvement and making it easier for customers to enjoy their home. Any technology we implement is designed to eliminate that friction so our customers can complete their projects quickly.”

LOWE’S LAUNCHES MAJOR EFFORT TO HELP CLOSE AMERICA’S SKILLED TRADES GAP

The pilot is now live at a Lowe’s store in Matthews, North Carolina. (Nell Redmond/AP Content Services for Lowe’s Companies, Inc.)

The service expands Lowe’s same-day fulfillment options, which already include buy online, pick up in store, curbside pickup and same-day delivery.

The initial rollout focuses on lightweight items that the company said are often “easily forgotten yet critical to finishing any home improvement task.” 

These include items like hand tools, paint products, soap, tape, batteries and all-purpose cleaner.

Wing drones can currently carry orders weighing about 2.5 pounds.

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Wing drones can currently carry orders weighing about 2.5 pounds. (Nell Redmond/AP Content Services for Lowe’s Companies, Inc.)

Customers within the eligible delivery area will automatically see a drone delivery option in the DoorDash app, where they can shop through the dedicated “Lowe’s by Drone” storefront and place qualifying orders.

The pilot builds on Wing and DoorDash’s existing drone delivery network in the Charlotte area and is part of Lowe’s broader effort to use technology to improve the shopping experience.

The company said its AI-powered tools, including the Mylow customer assistant and Mylow Companion for store associates, have answered more than 25 million questions since launching last year.

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The initial rollout focuses on lightweight items that the company said are often “easily forgotten yet critical to finishing any home improvement task.” (Nell Redmond/AP Content Services for Lowe’s Companies, Inc.)

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“By piloting drone delivery, we’re addressing a real project pain point with an innovative solution that is integrated into the retail journey, giving our hometown customers next-generation fulfillment right when they need it,” Godbole said.

Inflation “remains stubbornly elevated,” Paulson said in remarks at a regional Fed bank event. “Returning inflation to 2% is a top priority, and I will support the policy path that gets us there while carefully weighing risks to the labour market along the way.”

Paulson, who is also a voting member of the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee, indicated that additional tightening could be appropriate. “Looking ahead, if conditions evolve as I expect, some modest further tightening may be warranted” to bring inflation back to the desired level, she said.

These comments were the first since the Fed raised its benchmark overnight interest rate by a quarter-percentage point last week, taking it to a range of 3.75%-4.00% as part of its effort to curb inflation.

Paulson added that she further supported the increase, noting that “the balance of risks had shifted” ahead of last week’s meeting and that “underlying inflation showed little to no progress.”

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Policymakers’ projections released after the meeting indicated one additional rate increase before the end of the year, although futures markets are pricing in significantly more hikes.
The Fed is seeking to control inflation as several factors continue to exert pressure, including President Donald Trump’s import tariffs and surging energy prices stemming from the US-Israeli war with Iran, Reuters reported.Paulson said robust investment in the technology sector was also contributing to inflationary pressure.

“Underlying inflation is running in a range of about 2.5 to 3%” and “the best I can say about underlying inflation this year is that it hasn’t gotten worse,” she said.

Paulson characterised the US economy as relatively strong.

“I see a resilient economy that is showing some signs of increased momentum,” she said. “Despite shocks from tariffs and the conflict in the Middle East, recent consumption growth has been strong, the AI buildout is driving investment, and the labour market is stable.”

(Disclaimer: This article is based on inputs from agencies. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

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