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Ace Hardware says RedVest Media, its vendor-funded advertising network launched in 2025, has influenced more than $100 million in Ace retail sales after its first year. The company has added social, influencer, weather-triggered and DoorDash advertising, while expanding tools that connect ad exposure with purchases.
Ace Hardware says its RedVest Media network has influenced more than $100 million in Ace retail sales in its first year, as the cooperative adds advertising formats and measurement tools for participating vendors. More than 100 vendors have joined since the network launched in 2025, according to Molly Hjelm, Ace’s corporate vice president and head of RedVest Media.
RedVest is a vendor-funded advertising program that lets brands promote products sold through Ace across the retailer’s digital channels. Placements include Acehardware.com, email and push messages, as well as offsite display, video, connected TV and mobile advertising. Ace uses data from its Ace Rewards loyalty program to connect advertising exposure with later purchases, the company says.
Ace added capabilities this summer after receiving feedback from participating vendors. Additions announced at the network’s inaugural Upfront event in August include social and influencer marketing, ads triggered by local weather conditions and advertising in Ace’s DoorDash storefront. The weather placements can align promotions with conditions such as rain or snow; DoorDash gives vendors access to customers ordering Ace products through the delivery platform.
The network also offers RetailerReach, which allows eligible vendors to contact Ace and Emery Jensen retailers through banners, emails and educational content. Ace says vendors can use reporting to review sales among customers exposed to campaigns, return on advertising spend, new-to-brand buyers and performance across products, placements and creative. RedVest has added incrementality measurement for offsite advertising, designed to estimate whether campaigns generated sales that would not otherwise have occurred.
A Central Route to Ace Shoppers
RedVest gives vendors a centralized way to reach Ace customers across a cooperative made up of independently owned stores. That matters because brands seeking broad visibility have traditionally had to work through buying shows, corporate promotions and relationships with individual retailers. The network combines advertising access with purchase data, offering vendors another way to judge whether marketing is linked to sales.
Ace says the program can benefit local stores when vendor-funded campaigns raise awareness and bring customers toward products available through the cooperative. Hjelm said individual retailers do not have to build RedVest campaigns or manage advertising buys. The reported $100 million in influenced sales signals the scale Ace attributes to the program, though the source report does not provide a measurement period breakdown or detail on how much of those sales were incremental.
From 2025 Launch to Expansion
Ace introduced RedVest to vendors at its 2025 Fall Convention in Chicago and formally launched the network days later. The company’s next annual convention took place in Orlando in 2026; the report on the network’s first year followed that event and a recent expansion of the program.
The model addresses the cooperative’s scale: Hjelm described it as a 5,300-store network that can be challenging for brands to navigate. RedVest provides a centralized channel for reaching Ace customers, alongside a retailer-facing option for eligible vendors seeking to build awareness among Ace and Emery Jensen businesses.
“RedVest streamlines the process for brands to communicate with Ace customers and retailers at scale.”
— Molly Hjelm, Ace corporate vice president and head of RedVest Media
How Much Sales Were Incremental
Ace’s figure of more than $100 million in influenced sales is reported without a detailed methodology, campaign-by-campaign breakdown or a stated comparison baseline. The source report does not say how much of that total RedVest caused, how the sales were distributed among stores, or what share came from repeat customers versus new buyers. Incrementality measurement is intended to address whether offsite ads drove additional sales, but no results from that analysis are provided.
It is also unclear how many of the more than 100 vendors use each new advertising format, or how much business has come through DoorDash placements and RetailerReach. The report provides no spending totals or independent assessment of the network’s sales impact.
RedVest’s Three-Year Growth Aim
Hjelm said RedVest’s development will continue to follow vendor feedback and efforts to reach Ace customers across the channels they use. She also described a three-year goal for the network, but the source report’s account ends before specifying what that goal is. Ace has not provided a timeline or targets for adoption of the new formats in the material cited here.
Further updates may clarify the network’s growth target and provide more detail on campaign spending, incremental sales and results by advertising channel. For now, Ace’s first-year figure and vendor count are the clearest measures of the program’s reported scale.
Key Questions
What is Ace Hardware’s RedVest Media?
RedVest Media is a vendor-funded advertising network that promotes products sold through Ace across Ace’s digital channels and other placements. Ace says it uses Ace Rewards data to connect ad exposure with purchases.
How much sales has RedVest Media influenced?
Ace says the network has influenced more than $100 million in Ace retail sales in its first year. The report does not give a detailed methodology or say what portion was incremental.
How many vendors have joined RedVest?
More than 100 vendors have joined since RedVest launched in 2025, according to Molly Hjelm, Ace’s corporate vice president and head of the network.
What new advertising options did Ace add?
Ace added social and influencer marketing, weather-triggered programmatic advertising and ads within Ace’s DoorDash storefront. RedVest also offers retailer-facing outreach through its RetailerReach capability.
What remains unknown about RedVest’s results?
The report does not break down the $100 million sales figure by channel, campaign or store, or explain how much was additional sales caused by advertising. It also does not specify the network’s stated three-year goal.
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