Retail Fast Five

In this week’s Omni Talk Retail Fast Five news roundup, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Ownit AI, Avalara, Mirakl, and Ocampo Capital, Shoptalk and Groceryshop VP of Original Content and Strategy, Ben Miller, stopped by to discuss with Chris and Anne:

• The four new Amazon Fresh store openings and whether Amazon Fresh still is a concept deserving of grocers’ attention (Source)
• Whether they would “buy or sell” (pun intended) IKEA’s new Preowned peer-to-peer used goods marketplace (Source)
• Netto Denmark joining the growing list of grocers rolling out electronic shelf labels chain-wide (Source)
• The veracity to Nordstrom’s reported claims that supply chain improvements led to its recent CX and sales improvements (Source)
• And they closed with a discussion on the significance of Instacart waiving its next-day delivery fees (Source)

There’s all that, plus mushy peas, Adele, and Ben Miller’s favorite Las Vegas guilty pleasure.

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

• Walmart opening up hosted U.S. fulfillment for Chinese goods (Source)
• Chick-fil-A opening a new “elevated” store with not 1, not 2, not 3, but 4 drive thru lanes! (Source)
• Amazon allowing its FBA sellers to ditch taking physical returns (Source)
• The ongoing subscription wars between Amazon and Walmart, prompted by Amazon’s new grocery delivery subscription and Walmart+’s new Burger King perk (Amazon Source and Walmart Source)
• And they closed, as one always should, with ice cream, and a look at Unilever’s unique use of AI inside the freezer (Source)

There’s all that, plus at-home remedies they regret trying, their favorite Oasis songs, and the meaning of the word, “skibidi.”

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In this week’s Omni Talk Retail Fast Five news roundup, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Ownit AI, Avalara, Mirakl, and Ocampo Capital, A&M’s Chad Lusk and Adam Thompson, joined Chris and Anne to discuss:

• The “tall” order that awaits Starbucks’ new CEO (Source)
• Victoria’s Secret’s new CEO Hillary Super and what her first-year priorities should be (Source)
• Whether we should all buy or sell Best Buy’s new up-to-the-minute delivery monitoring as a point of differentiation (Source)
• If forced to pick just one, would they rather have the DashPass or Amazon Prime (Source)
• And closed with a look at Walmart’s decision to pull drones out of three states and if it signals the end of all the drone delivery hype (Source)

And, the Global Head of Digital Commerce at AWS even stopped by for 5 Insightful Minutes on how and where retailers should make investments in AI!

There’s all that, plus this month’s OmniStar (congrats Tony Costanzo of Torrid), dating deal breakers, Greek delicacies, and whether Adam is Team Alfie or Team Gabriel.

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In this week’s Omni Talk Retail Fast Five news roundup, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Ownit AI, Avalara, Mirakl, and Sezzle, Chris and Anne discussed:

• If Target’s new in-store chatbot is really the “sh*tbot” Forbes makes it out to be (Source: Forbes)
• Best Buy’s push into video (Source: Chain Store Age)
• Simbe Robotics’ new remote planogram monitoring solution (Source: Grocery Dive)
• Google’s big Chrome cookie pivot (Source: WSJ)
• And closed with a look at whether any retailers should let Amazombies, aka Amazon package returners, into their stores (Source: Yahoo News)

There’s all that, plus A&M’s John Clear stopped by to give us 5 Insightful Minutes on what retailers can do to combat shrinkage, along with teenage dirtbags, french fries, and how much Anne and Chris both despise putting fitted sheets on their beds.

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In this week’s Omni Talk Retail Fast Five news roundup, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Ownit AI, Avalara, Mirakl, and Sezzle, A&M’s Mohit Mohal and Chris Disa, joined Chris and Anne to discuss:

• Amazon rolling outs it generative AI assistant, “Rufus,” to all shoppers (Source: Chain Store Age)
• Walmart’s wide lead in retail media (Source: Marketing Dive)
• Macy’s ending its acquisition talks (Source: Retail Dive)
• Hy-Vee rolling out ESLs with the VusionGroup (Source: Progressive Grocer)
• And closed with a look at Petaluma, California’s new city-wide reusable cup pilot with Starbucks and many others (Source: Chain Store Age)

There’s all that, plus how AI could have improved our college dating lives, the inconsistent weights of Chipotle’s burrito bowls, and even more reasons to be scared about facial recognition.

And, to get The Cappy, head here!

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In this week’s Omni Talk Retail Fast Five news roundup, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Ownit AI, Avalara, Mirakl, and Sezzle, Chris and Anne discussed:

• The Saks and Neiman Marcus merger and what to expect from Amazon’s involvement in it (Source: NPR)
• Co-op opting to use “Store Assist” from Walmart Commerce Technologies (Source: PYMNTS)
• Circle K gamifying employee training via iPads (Source: Chain Store Age)
• Hy-Vee enabling its online shoppers to pay for their groceries with Venmo (Source: Chain Store Age)
• And closed with a “love it or leave it” discussion about Walmart and McDonald’s working to secure college credit for the hours their employees work in their stores (Source: NPR)

There’s all that, plus Taco Bell retirement communities, drone mishaps, and the best way to toast a marshmallow before putting it into a s’more.

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In this week’s Omni Talk Retail Fast Five news roundup, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Ownit AI, Avalara, Mirakl, and Sezzle, Chris and Anne discussed:

• Amazon’s plans to copycat Shein and Temu (Source: CNBC)
• Target lowering its in-store theft threshold from $100 to $50 (Source: Bloomberg)
• Tesco piloting on-pack, scannable QR codes (Source: Grocery Gazette)
• Tiptop adding the new wrinkle of trade-ins to its BNPL offering (Source: Digital Transaction)
• And we closed with yet another look at the future of smart carts through the lens of Shoprite’s further expansion of its Instacart Caper Cart pilot to more stores (Source: Retail Dive)

There’s all that, plus this month’s OmniStar (congrats Diana Marshall of Sam’s Club), how Chris would improve the Delta Sky Club, dating app wingmen, and who Anne would most want to call the play-by-play of a 10-minute recap video of her life.

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In this week’s Omni Talk Retail Fast Five news roundup, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Ownit AI, Avalara, Mirakl, and Sezzle, A&M’s Kelly Carey and Jeff Dwyer joined Chris and Anne to discuss:

• Whether Target is making a smart move in rolling out generative AI so quickly across its store base (Source: Target Press Release)
• What Netflix has to get right for its “Netflix House” concept to work (Source: The Verve)
• Unilever’s new partnership with Microsoft to expand its use of quantum computing (Consumer Goods Technology)
• The long-term value and viability of a generative AI Amazon Alexa (Source: Reuters)
• And we closed with a discussion of whether we should buy or sell Target’s new partnership with Shopify (Source: CNBC)

There’s all that, plus Ovative’s Chuck Anderson-Weir stops by to give us 5 Insightful Minutes on his company’s latest Enterprise Marketing Return Power Rankings, along with a lighting round filled with questions about postage stamps, Tom Brady, and spicy romance novels.

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In this week’s Omni Talk Retail Fast Five news roundup, recorded live from the lovely Marriott in Salt Lake City, and sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Ownit AI, Avalara, Mirakl, and Sezzle, Chris and Anne discussed:

• Whether Kohl’s new return drop is a sign of an ongoing identity crisis within the retailer (Source: Retail Dive)
• TikTok going after Google (and Amazon before it) with image search (Source: TechCrunch)
• Instacart plugging into YouTube shopping ads (Source: Grocery Dive)
• McDonalds calling it quits, for now, on automated order taking at the drive-thru (Source: Restaurant Business)
• And closed with a story on how adults are buying more toys for themselves than they are for pre-schoolers (Source: Retail Dive)

There’s all that, plus Microsoft’s Rajen Raval of Microsoft stops by to give us 5 Insightful Minutes on improving supply chains with AI, and Anne and Chris get absolutely wacky with taxes in honor of Avalara and our upcoming work at the Outdoor Retailer conference.

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In this week’s Omni Talk Retail Fast Five news roundup, recorded live from CommerceNext 2024, and sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Ownit AI, Avalara, Mirakl, and Sezzle, Chris and Anne discussed:

• Walmart rolling out electronic shelf labels to nearly half its U.S. stores (Source: Retail Dive)
• TJX asking its sales associates to wear body cameras (Source: CNN)
• Tesco building its own third-party digital marketplace (Source: Retail Gazette)
• IKEA hiring employees to work inside of Roblox (Source: Marketing Dive)
• And closed with a look at Starbucks’ decision to open its own in-house production studio (Source: Adweek)

There’s all that, plus Capri Suns, Dr. Pepper, and some really spicy enchiladas.

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