Retail Fast Five

In this week’s Omni Talk Retail Fast Five news roundup, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Simbe, Mirakl, Ocampo Capital, Infios, and ClearDemand, Chris and Anne discussed:

• Walmart’s gas station expansion strategy (Source)
• Quorso’s intelligent store management platform rollout with Circle K Europe (Source)
• Target’s new floral owned brand (Source)
• Trove’s acquisition of reverse.supply (Source)
• And closed with a look at why Walmart’s 40 store beauty bar test could herald even more sales growth in Walmart’s future (Source)

There’s all that, plus pasta shapes, Papal naming, and the latest spectator sport, sperm racing.

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In this week’s Omni Talk Retail Fast Five news roundup, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Simbe, Mirakl, Ocampo Capital, Infios, and ClearDemand, Chris and Anne discussed:

• Ulta Beauty’s decision to pause its Target shop-in-shop expansion (Source)
• Walmart’s new Trend-to-Product AI tool to speed up product development (Source)
• Sam’s Club’s expansion plans (Source)
• DoorDash’s AI enhancements to help its quick-service restaurant partners (Source)
• And closed with a look at what Hy-Vee’s decision to close its bars and to end its full-service dining offering means for the “experiential” retail trend (Source)

There’s all that, plus faceplants, crosswalk hacks, and Anne also asks Chris to design his very own Omni Talk uniform.

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In this week’s Omni Talk Retail Fast Five news roundup, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Simbe, Mirakl, Ocampo Capital, Infios, and ClearDemand, Chris and Anne discussed:

• Best Buy storefronts and where influencer commerce will go next (Source)
• Instacart’s introduction of “Will Call” Delivery (Source)
• Old Navy rolling out Radar’s RFID solution to 1,200 stores (Source)
• San Diego banning digital-only grocery store coupons (Source)
• And closed with a look at just how game-changing Amazon’s implementation of AI agents to shop third-party sites could be (Source)

There’s all that, plus David Dorf of AWS stops by for 5 Insightful Minutes on Agentic AI, and Chris and Anne also discuss tariff stockpiling, soggy doggy burritos and which animal species Anne would most like to see brought back from extinction.

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🎧 Retail Fast Five | March 26, 2025 – Live from Shoptalk 2025

This week, Chris and Anne are back together live at Shoptalk 2025, bringing you exclusive insight and on-the-ground energy. This week's episode, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Simbe, Mirakl, Ocampo Capital and Infios, kicks off with a behind-the-scenes look at their interviews with CVS, Wayfair, and Purina (03:15), followed by their five big retail stories of the week:

• Best Buy Launches Social Plus – A new retail media/social ad hybrid (06:23)
• Amazon Haul Gets a Spring Sale Boost – But is it bold enough? (12:23)
• Klarna x DoorDash Partnership – BNPL comes to food delivery (16:46)
• Edible Arrangements Launches Edibles.com – Game-changing move into hemp products (20:54)
• Target Tests Brown Box Delivery – Efficiency play or PR puff? Or both? (24:43)

They also talk Christina Aguilera workout songs (28:47), bad airport snacks (30:14), socks and sleep debates (31:53), and whether Minneapolis should host dating shows (33:03).

💥 A must-listen for anyone following the ever-changing retail landscape.

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#RetailFastFive #OmniTalk #RetailNews #BestBuy #AmazonHaul #ShopTalk2025 #RetailMedia #Klarna #DoorDash #Edibles #TargetRetail #Ecommerce #RetailTrends #BNPL #RetailInnovation

In this week’s Omni Talk Retail Fast Five news roundup, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Simbe, Mirakl, Ocampo Capital and Infios, Chris and Anne discussed:

• Kroger’s surprising decision to create a standalone e-commerce unit (Source)
• Ulta’s launch of a digital marketplace with Mirakl (Source)
• Wayfair’s plans to open a second large format store in Atlanta (Source)
• Klarna becoming Walmart’s exclusive BNPL provider (Source)
• And closed with a look at Wonder’s acquisition spree and if its “super app for mealtime” is just bad branding of what is actually a good idea (Source)

There’s all that, plus Mariah Carey, Irish names, and our rankings of the best Adam Sandler movies of all-time.

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In this week’s Omni Talk Retail Fast Five news roundup, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Simbe, Mirakl, Ocampo Capital and Infios, A&M’s David Schneidman and Chris Creyts joined Chris and Anne to discuss:

• CVS Health’s rollout of “mini-stores,” i.e. smaller stores with pharmacies but a limited retail selection (Source)
• Loblaw identifying U.S. made products at shelf with a new tariff symbol (Source)
• Google Shopping’s new AI search features (Source)
• Reckitt’s claims that it has reduced product development lead times by over 60% with generative AI (Source)
• And closed with an examination of Portillo’s launch of its new loyalty program, not through an app, but through a digital wallet (Source)

There’s all that, plus Blue Steel, airline preferences, and moonlighting as social media influencers.

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In this week’s Omni Talk Retail Fast Five news roundup, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Simbe, Mirakl, and Ocampo Capital, Chris and Anne discussed:

• All the wrinkles surrounding Target and Warby Parker’s new partnership (Source)
• The launch of Alexa+ (Source)
• The deceptive pricing lawsuit against Publix (Source)
• Furniture.com’s unique take on omnichannel commerce (Source)
• And closed with an examination of Walmart Unlimited, Walmart’s new video game shopping experience (Source)

There’s all that, plus “airport theory,” stuffed crust pizza, and what style of pancakes reigns supreme.

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In this week’s Omni Talk Retail Fast Five news roundup, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Simbe, Mirakl, and Ocampo Capital, Anne remoted in from eTail West, Chris was back home in Minneapolis, and together they discussed:

• Adidas offering Amazon Buy with Prime via its website and app (Source)
• Joann no longer being in the fabric of our lives (Source)
• Sprouts launching its first-ever loyalty program (Source)
• Kroger and Schnucks enhancing their quick delivery offerings via Instacart (Source)
• And closed with a discussion of Walmart’s new AI tool for merchants, aka “Wally” (Source)

There’s all that, plus nightly news anchors, Joann memories, and Anne’s favorite Savage.

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In this week’s Omni Talk Retail Fast Five news roundup, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Simbe, Mirakl, and Ocampo Capital, A&M’s David Brown and Lisa Collier joined Chris and Anne to discuss:

• Amazon’s new beauty store in Italy (Source)
• Scheels adding 460 and $11 million worth of digital screens into its stores (Source)
• Dick’s new varsity influencer program (Source)
• Wayfair’s new AI-powered shopping tool, Muse (Source)
• And closed with a look at why in the world Amazon would test letting consumers purchase items within its mobile app from other brands’ websites (Source)

There’s all that, plus David ranks his favorite sodas, Lisa picks her favorite SNL cast member of all-time, and we all discuss if the price of wish has gone up with inflation.

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In this week’s Omni Talk Retail Fast Five news roundup, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Simbe, Mirakl, Ocampo Capital, and Scratch Event DJs, Chris and Anne discussed:

• The many angles to Aldi’s decision to sell back some of the stores it previously purchased from Southeastern Grocers (Source)
• How bullish they both are on Gap’s new vintage clothing play (Source)
• Why EG America’s new partnership with Quorso heralds a new age of store management technology (Source)
• If Save A Lot should be on everyone’s retailer to watch lists (Source)
• And closed with an examination of Instacart’s decision to pilot CPG brand tasks for its workers (Source)

There’s all that, plus Simbe's Caitlin Allen stopped by for 5 Insightful Minutes on how to deploy AI and automation successfully at scale, and also Chunk Light Tuna, Ozempic blindness, and how big of a creeper Chris would have been if he had asked his flight attendant what perfume she was wearing on his flight to Vegas this week.

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