Omni Talk Retail

Welcome to Omni Talk's Retail Daily Minute, sponsored by Duvo and Mirakl . In today's Retail Daily Minute, Omni Talk's Chris Walton discusses: Doris Fisher , co-founder of Gap Inc., passes away at 94, leaving behind a legacy that reshaped American retail from a single San Francisco storefront selling Levi's jeans into a multi-brand empire spanning Gap, Banana Republic, and Old Navy. Victoria's Sec...

Welcome to Omni Talk's Retail Daily Minute, sponsored by Duvo and Mirakl . In today's Retail Daily Minute, Omni Talk's Chris Walton discusses: GameStop stuns the market with a $56 billion cash-and-stock takeover bid for eBay, as Ryan Cohen bets on combining two collectibles-focused platforms into a resale powerhouse. Amazon officially opens its logistics infrastructure to any business in the count...

Welcome to Omni Talk's Retail Daily Minute, sponsored by Duvo and Mirakl . In today's Retail Daily Minute, Omni Talk's Chris Walton discusses: Estée Lauder raises its expected role reductions to as many as 10,000 positions, with more than 70% of the increase tied to cuts at underperforming department store and freestanding store doors, even as Q3 net sales grew 5% to $3.7 billion. Walmart , conver...

This Omni Talk Retail Fast Five Lightning Round segment closes out the show with rapid-fire questions, unexpected takes, and a few laughs. Chris Walton and Shelley Huff debate the greatest Arizona Wildcat of all time, react to Berlin’s famous Currywurst, discuss trusting AI with packing lists and payments, and swap Kentucky Derby advice along the way. ⏩ Tune in for the full episode here. #Lightni...

This Omni Talk Retail Fast Five segment explores Walmart’s reported pilot using stores as fulfillment hubs for marketplace orders. Chris Walton and Shelley Huff debate whether Walmart’s massive store footprint can truly challenge Amazon’s logistics advantage and what this could mean for retail media, marketplace growth, and same-day delivery expectations. They also unpack the operational realities...

This Omni Talk Retail Fast Five segment explores Dairy Queen’s expansion of voice AI ordering technology at the drive-thru. Chris Walton and Shelley Huff discuss why this may be one of the best real-world applications of AI in retail so far and how it could improve both customer experience and employee productivity. They also explain why this technology is only going to get better from here. ⏩ Tu...

This Omni Talk Retail Fast Five segment explores Party City’s return through a new partnership with Staples stores nationwide. Chris Walton and Shelley Huff break down the operational challenges behind the strategy, including inventory, personalization, and whether Party City can compete against Amazon and Walmart. They also debate whether this is a smart retail partnership or a difficult executio...

This Omni Talk Retail Fast Five segment explores Best Buy’s CEO transition as Corie Barry steps down and longtime executive Jason Bonfig takes over. Chris Walton and Shelley Huff discuss why operational retail experience matters more than ever and whether Best Buy’s recent strategy moves have missed the mark. They also debate where future growth opportunities really exist for the electronics retai...

This Omni Talk Retail Fast Five segment explores Luna, the AI agent now running a real retail store in San Francisco. Chris Walton and Shelley Huff break down what AI-managed retail could mean for merchandising, operations, leadership, and the future of middle management in retail. Along the way, they discuss automation, AI-driven buying decisions, and why this may be the worst AI technology will...

Welcome to Omni Talk's Retail Daily Minute, sponsored by Duvo and Mirakl . In today's Retail Daily Minute, Omni Talk's Chris Walton discusses: Starbucks delivers a second consecutive quarter of traffic growth, beating earnings and revenue estimates as its Back to Starbucks turnaround strategy gains real traction. Ahold Delhaize USA rolls out Click2Cart in partnership with SmartCommerce, letting sh...

In this Omni Talk Retail interview, recorded live from World Retail Congress 2026 in Berlin, Chris Walton sits down with Romain Roulleau, Group Digital & Ecommerce Director at Kingfisher, to unpack how one of Europe’s largest home improvement retailers plans to grow ecommerce from 21% to 30% of total sales. Romain explains why stores sit at the center of Kingfisher’s digital strategy, how mark...

In this Omni Talk Retail interview, recorded live from World Retail Congress 2026 in Berlin, Chris Walton sits down with Judith McKenna, the former CEO of Walmart International and current Board Member at Delta Air Lines and Unilever, to discuss leadership, frontline retail culture, board governance, and how AI is beginning to reshape the retail industry. Drawing from her experience overseeing Wal...

In this Omni Talk Retail interview, recorded live from World Retail Congress 2026 in Berlin, Chris Walton speaks with Brian Tilzer, former CTO and CDO of Best Buy and current Board Member at Signet Jewelers, about why AI represents retail’s “third major technology wave” and what retailers can learn from the ecommerce and mobile revolutions that came before it. Drawing on leadership experience acro...

In this Omni Talk Retail interview, recorded live from World Retail Congress 2026 in Berlin, Chris Walton connects with Tim Steiner, CEO of Ocado, to discuss the rapidly evolving future of grocery ecommerce, fulfillment, and retail automation. Drawing from Ocado’s work with retailers across global markets, Tim explains why grocery ecommerce continues to operate so differently market by market, fro...

In this Omni Talk Retail interview, recorded live from World Retail Congress 2026 in Berlin, Chris Walton reconnects with Jose Gomez, Chief Development Officer at ETAM, to discuss how the global lingerie and fashion retailer approaches international expansion, franchise strategy, and navigating today’s nonstop retail disruption. With nearly two decades of World Retail Congress experience, Gomez br...

In this Omni Talk Retail interview, recorded live from World Retail Congress 2026 in Berlin, Chris Walton speaks with Malin Andrée, Global Retail Industry Leader at EY, and Steven Bailey, Americas Retail Leader at EY Studio+, about how AI could fundamentally reshape the future of retail over the next decade. Drawing from EY’s latest retail futures report, the conversation explores four possible sc...

In this Omni Talk Retail interview, recorded live from day two of World Retail Congress 2026 in Berlin, Chris Walton talks with Andreas von Paleske, CEO of Naivas, about scaling one of East Africa’s fastest-growing grocery retailers while balancing operational discipline, employee development, and technology transformation. Drawing from his background in private equity, Andreas shares how Naivas g...

In this week’s Omni Talk Retail Fast Five sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group , Mirakl , Ocampo Capital , Infios , Quorso and Veloq , Chris Walton and special guest Shelley Huff, former CEO of Serta Simmons Bedding, former Walmart executive, and current co-founder of The Interval community, discussed: • An AI-powered retail store in San Francisco run by “Luna,” an AI agent managing...

In this Omni Talk Retail interview, recorded live from World Retail Congress 2026 in Berlin, Chris Walton speaks with Scott Price, Group Chief Executive of DFI Retail Group, about how one of Asia’s largest retail groups is driving omnichannel growth, loyalty innovation, and AI transformation across its business. Scott explains how DFI has doubled online order volumes, increased ecommerce penetrati...

Welcome to Omni Talk's Retail Daily Minute, sponsored by Duvo and Mirakl . In today's Retail Daily Minute, Omni Talk's Chris Walton discusses: Target asks 150 remote merchandising employees to relocate to its Minneapolis headquarters or accept severance, as new CEO Michael Fiddelke bets on in-person collaboration to rebuild the retailer's merchandising authority and execute its turnaround strategy...

In this Omni Talk Retail interview, recorded live from World Retail Congress 2026 in Berlin, Chris Walton chats with Paolo Bonsignore, Commercial and Marketing Director at Coop Italian Food, to discuss why private label can no longer compete on price alone. Paolo shares how Coop Italian Food has evolved private label into a true point of differentiation by building emotionally driven brands, categ...

In this Omni Talk Retail interview, recorded live from World Retail Congress 2026 in Berlin, Chris Walton connects with Kristin Wolf, Chief Strategy & Growth Officer at Ulta Beauty, to discuss how one of beauty retail’s biggest players is thinking about long-term growth, AI, and global expansion. Kristin shares how her newly created executive role reflects Ulta’s focus on balancing core busine...

In this Omni Talk Retail episode, recorded live at World Retail Congress 2026 in Berlin, Chris Walton sits down with David Boynton, Managing Director of Northern Europe at Pandora, for a conversation on the evolving intersection of AI, physical retail, and emotional commerce. Drawing from leadership roles across brands including The Body Shop, L'Occitane, and Charles Tyrwhitt, David shares why sto...

Welcome to Omni Talk's Retail Daily Minute, sponsored by Duvo and Mirakl . In today's Retail Daily Minute, Omni Talk's Chris Walton discusses: Walmart's 2026 Annual Report reveals $713 billion in revenue and 24% global e-commerce growth to $150.4 billion, as new CEO John Furner leans hard into AI and Supercenters make a meaningful comeback. Lowe's expands its partnership with Relex Solutions to un...

Welcome to Omni Talk's Retail Daily Minute, sponsored by Duvo and Mirakl . In today's Retail Daily Minute, Omni Talk's Chris Walton discusses: Home Depot i s rolling out an AI voice agent phone system to all U.S. stores after a 50-store pilot showed the technology resolves customer calls four times faster than traditional phone menus, while keeping human associates in the loop for complex inquirie...