Omni Talk Retail

In this week's Omni Talk Retail Fast Five, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group , Mirakl , Ocampo Capital , Quorso and Veloq , Chris Walton and special guest Chap Achen, Senior Director, Analyst for Digital Commerce and Supply Chain at Gartner, discussed: • Walmart partnering with Subway to deliver made-to-order restaurant meals alongside groceries and household essentials through it...

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: Bed Bath & Beyond announces the all-stock acquisition of Installed Right and SFV Services, adding installation and renovation capabilities to its rapidly expanding Beyond Home Services portfolio. Starship Technologies winds down U.S. campus robot operat...

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: Best Buy is rolling out immersive 900-sq.-ft. "Meta Lab @ Best Buy" spaces in 50 stores this summer, giving customers hands-on access to Meta's full lineup of AI glasses and VR headsets through interactive demos, smart mirrors, and personalized fittings. Ne...

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 announces 30-minute delivery from 1,400 in-store Subway locations by midsummer, the opening move in a direct push into restaurant delivery that puts it on a collision course with DoorDash and Uber. Lululemon cuts its full-year revenue guidance to fl...

This Omni Talk Retail Fast Five Lightning Round segment closes out the show with Arizona travel recommendations, European retail innovations, retail leadership discussions, and a hilarious attempt to predict what The Rock's new cologne actually smells like. Chris Walton and Shelley Huff discuss must-see destinations in Arizona, why European grocery stores may have the best scan-and-go experiences...

This Omni Talk Retail Fast Five segment explores Amazon Web Services' new Agentic Shopping Assistant and the growing battle for control of customer relationships in retail. Chris Walton and Shelley Huff discuss whether retailers should trust Amazon to power their AI shopping experiences, why customer data remains one of retail's most valuable assets, and what brands must protect as commerce become...

This Omni Talk Retail Fast Five segment explores Walmart's growing delivery network, expanding drone operations, and rapid rise in store-fulfilled orders. Chris Walton and Shelley Huff discuss why speed is becoming one of retail's strongest competitive advantages, how Walmart is increasing customer loyalty through convenience, and why repeat usage may be the most important metric to watch. The con...

This Omni Talk Retail Fast Five segment explores SPAR Austria's decision to expand its shelf-scanning robot program and what it means for the future of retail operations. Chris Walton and Shelley Huff discuss how robotics can improve inventory visibility, reduce labor-intensive tasks, and help employees focus more on serving customers. The discussion also highlights why successful adoption among E...

This Omni Talk Retail Fast Five segment examines Walmart's new prepaid consolidation program and why it could simplify logistics for thousands of suppliers. Chris Walton and Shelley Huff discuss how Walmart is helping vendors reduce operational complexity while improving inventory flow, replenishment speed, and distribution efficiency across its network. They also debate whether the initiative str...

This Omni Talk Retail Fast Five segment explores Google's new Universal Cart, which allows shoppers to add products from Search, Gemini, YouTube, and Gmail into a single AI-powered shopping experience. Chris Walton and Shelley Huff discuss why Google has pursued this vision for years, how AI-powered shopping could reshape customer behavior, and whether Google's latest move represents the biggest c...

In this 5 Insightful Minutes episode, Spencer Hewett, CEO and Founder of Radar, joins Omni Talk to discuss the company's recent funding milestone, rapid retail expansion, and how real-time inventory intelligence is transforming store operations. Spencer shares how Radar has grown from 500 to 1,500 stores in just one year, helping retailers achieve greater inventory accuracy, reduce shrink, improve...

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: Macy's reports Q1 net sales of $4.7B, up 1.8% YoY, with comps rising 3% overall and 2.4% at its 200 reimagined stores. Ulta Beauty beats top and bottom line estimates with EPS of $7.74 vs. $6.86 expected and revenue of $3.16B, raises full-year EPS guidance,...

In this week’s Omni Talk Retail Fast Five sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group , Mirakl , Ocampo Capital , Quorso and Veloq , Chris Walton and special guest Shelley Huff, former CEO of Serta Simmons Bedding and co-founder of The Interval, discussed: • Google unveiling its new Universal Cart that allows shoppers to add products across retailers and channels into a single AI-powered sh...

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: Dollar General reports Q1 net sales up 3.4% to $10.8 billion as CEO Todd Vasos says trade-down activity is accelerating, with rural customers cutting back on household expenses amid rising gas prices. Walmart has capped employee usage of its in-house AI too...

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: J.C. Penney's turnaround stalls as Q4 net sales fall 8% and net losses widen 77%, raising fresh questions about whether the department store can regain relevance under the Catalyst Brands structure. Whole Foods Market launches a three-city Supper Club event...

In this episode of Investor Perspectives on Retail & the Consumer, Chris Walton sits down with Furhaan Khan, Managing Director and Head of Internet & Digital Commerce Investment Banking at UBS, to explore one of the biggest questions facing retail and technology today: Who actually wins in an AI-driven future? As AI rapidly transforms how consumers discover, shop for, and purchase products...

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: Costco posts an 11.6% sales increase to $69.15 billion in Q3, driven by "unprecedented" gas demand that drew first-time fuel station users and deepened member loyalty. Walmart reports more than 36% of store-fulfilled deliveries now arrive in three hours or...

This Omni Talk Retail Fast Five Lightning Round segment closes out the show with Midwest road trip recommendations, Indy 500 energy, Spielberg nostalgia, Star Wars fandom, and a surprisingly passionate debate about whether Jurassic Park is secretly terrifying. Chris Walton and Laura Kennedy discuss underrated summer destinations, hiking avoidance strategies, Red River Gorge, southwest Michigan bea...

This Omni Talk Retail Fast Five segment explores Ross Stores’ historic 17% comp sales growth and why off-price retail continues to dominate during uncertain economic conditions. Chris Walton and Laura Kennedy discuss why treasure hunt shopping experiences still resonate with consumers, why Ross may be gaining share even within the off-price category itself, and how retailers are adapting to shifti...

This Omni Talk Retail Fast Five segment explores Klarna launching shopping directly inside ChatGPT and what it signals about the future of agentic commerce. Chris Walton and Laura Kennedy discuss whether consumers truly want AI-powered shopping assistants, why payments and trust may matter more than AI itself, and which companies actually “have the right to win” in the next generation of digital c...

This Omni Talk Retail Fast Five segment explores Google’s largest search overhaul in 25 years and what it could mean for retailers, ecommerce, and consumer shopping behavior. Chris Walton and Laura Kennedy discuss how AI-generated answers may fundamentally change product discovery online, why retailers could lose visibility inside traditional search funnels, and how consumer trust will shape the n...

This Omni Talk Retail Fast Five segment explores Radar reaching unicorn status and why RFID-powered inventory intelligence may finally be having its breakthrough moment in retail. Chris Walton and Laura Kennedy discuss why inventory visibility remains one of retail’s biggest unsolved operational challenges, why RFID adoption has historically moved slowly, and how physical AI may reshape store oper...

This Omni Talk Retail Fast Five segment explores why Starbucks shut down its AI-powered inventory counting tool after major counting inaccuracies inside stores. Chris Walton and Laura Kennedy discuss why predictability matters so much in retail AI deployment, why store-level execution is still incredibly difficult, and how even small operational inconsistencies can completely break trust in automa...

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: AWS launches the Agentic Shopping Assistant (aka ASA), packaging the technology and learnings behind Amazon's Alexa for Shopping so third-party retailers can deploy their own conversational AI shopping experiences in roughly 60 days. Dick's Sporting Goods b...

In this week’s Omni Talk Retail Fast Five sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group , Mirakl , Ocampo Capital , Quorso and Veloq , Chris Walton and special guest Laura Kennedy, retail strategist formerly of CB Insights and Kantar, discussed: • Starbucks shutting down its AI-powered inventory counting tool after widespread accuracy issues and what the failure reveals about the challenges o...