Proven retail leader to champion the world’s most innovative merchants and build the community powering what’s next
NEW YORK, May 12, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Forter, the AI decisioning Platform for the future of commerce, today announced the appointment of Jennifer Howard as the company’s first Chief Merchant. In this role, Howard will serve as the authentic voice of the merchant, deepening Forter’s connection to its global customer base and accelerating product development tied to real-world retail and consumer challenges.
Howard brings more than two decades of experience leading digital commerce, product and merchandising functions at top global retail and consumer brands, including Levi Strauss, Gap, Williams-Sonoma, and e.l.f. Cosmetics. She joins Forter from Balsam Brands, where she most recently served as the Vice President of Digital Experience, spearheading initiatives to transform the end-to-end customer journey and drive measurable revenue growth.
“The brands I’ve admired most are the ones that treat commerce as a craft, obsessing over the consumer experience and defining the commerce moments that truly matter,” said Howard. “Forter is already the platform of choice for those businesses – delivering a core technology for frictionless experiences from sign-up to checkout and returns. I’m joining to deepen these relationships even more and to ensure Forter maintains its place at the center of the most exciting commerce stories being written right now.”
As Chief Merchant, Howard will engage and scale Forter’s vibrant merchant community of nearly one million businesses that serve more than two billion shoppers, strengthen executive relationships, and embed real-time customer insight into the company’s operations across research and development and go-to-market strategy.
“Forter was built for the businesses pushing commerce forward and those that demand partners who are one step ahead,” said Michael Reitblat, CEO and co-founder, Forter. “Creating the Chief Merchant role embeds our merchant obsession into our corporate structure. Jennifer has lived and breathed the challenges our customers face. Her ability to translate merchant reality into action, and to amplify their voices across everything we build, is exactly what this moment in commerce calls for.”
Howard has a track record of delivering transformational growth, leading large cross-functional teams across marketing, product, UX/UI, and technology, and is known for modernizing digital platforms, driving innovation, and building high-performing organizations.
For more information about Forter, visit: https://www.forter.com.
About Forter
Forter delivers AI decisions built for the commerce moments that matter. Powered by a network of 2 billion shoppers, our AI makes instant trust decisions from sign-up to checkout to returns — so every good customer always gets the experience they deserve. Nordstrom, Instacart, Priceline, and nearly 1 million businesses trust Forter to keep the right customers coming back. Zero friction for the customers who matter. No revenue left behind. Learn more at Forter.com.
SOURCE Forter, Inc.
