Omni Talk Retail

It’s lightning round time, and Chris Walton and Shelley Huff are making some very important decisions, from their Super Bowl picks to choosing between Genie and Samantha and naming the Adam Sandler movie they’d keep forever. Plus, one very specific wish involving a dog that may or may not be possible. ▶️ Watch the full Fast Five episode here: https://youtu.be/x4hGqvRTilY This podcast uses the foll...

Sprouts has named Nick Konat as its next CEO, with the leadership transition set to take effect in January 2027. Chris Walton and Shelley Huff discuss what Konat should focus on as he takes the reins, from staying disciplined on the retailer’s existing strategy to executing the roadmap already in motion. The big question: Does Sprouts need a new strategy, or simply a new leader to execute the one...

Sephora is testing monthly exclusive product drops on TikTok Shop, giving the beauty retailer another way to create demand and build community around new products. Chris Walton and Shelley Huff discuss how TikTok Shop differs from Amazon, and why the platform may be more valuable for creating demand than simply capturing it. The big question: Can TikTok Shop turn product drops into a repeatable re...

Costco has quietly shut down Costco Next, its member-only online marketplace that connected shoppers with products from outside brands. Chris Walton and Shelley Huff discuss why Costco’s club model may not translate neatly to a marketplace business, and what the move says about where Costco wants to focus its digital strategy. The big question: Does Costco really need a marketplace when its core m...

Ulta is facing backlash over its use of Flock Safety’s automated license plate reader technology, raising bigger questions about transparency, communication, and how retailers handle technology that can impact their customers. Chris Walton and Shelley Huff discuss whether the bigger problem is the technology itself or the way Ulta communicated its use of it. The big question: When retailers use co...

Amazon is bringing back its digital grocery pop-up for Labor Day, but the bigger question is what these short-term grocery pushes actually accomplish for the retailer. Chris Walton and Shelley Huff discuss whether Amazon’s grocery pop-ups are a smart way to build share and stay top of mind, or just another temporary promotion in an increasingly crowded grocery market. The big question: Is Amazon b...

Welcome to Omni Talk's Retail Daily Minute, sponsored by R&S Logistics , ZenlineAI , Duvo and Mirakl . In today's Retail Daily Minute, Omni Talk's Chris Walton discusses: Petco's relaunched loyalty program backfires as redemption volumes blow past projections, costing the company millions in net sales. Neighborhood Intelligence , the parent of Bed Bath & Beyond and Overstock, cancels its p...

In this week’s Omni Talk Retail Fast Five, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group , Mirakl , Ocampo Capital , Quorso , Veloq , and R&S Logistics , Shelley Huff is back again, joining Chris Walton for another round of Fast Five fun. The former Serta Simmons CEO and Walmart executive, now CEO and Co-Founder of the Interval, joins Chris to discuss: • Amazon’s latest limited-time groce...

Welcome to Omni Talk's Retail Daily Minute, sponsored by R&S Logistics , ZenlineAI , Duvo and Mirakl . In today's Retail Daily Minute, Omni Talk's Chris Walton discusses: SKIMS partners with DoorDash for its first on-demand delivery integration, bringing its full U.S. store footprint onto the platform. Walgreens rolls out in-store advertising screens from Looma to 1,200 locations by early 2027...

In this episode, sponsored by Instacart Enterprise , Portager , Vusion , and Sifter Solutions , Ben Miller is joined by Sarah Engel , President of digital marketing agency and consultancy January Digital and one of Adweek’s 50 most influential marketing executives, to take stock of the latest developments in Agentic Commerce and unpack the global grocery news stories from this week that we believe...

Welcome to Omni Talk's Retail Daily Minute, sponsored by R&S Logistics , ZenlineAI , Duvo and Mirakl . In today's Retail Daily Minute, Omni Talk's Chris Walton discusses: Ulta Beauty faces a social media backlash over its use of Flock's license plate reader technology, with the retailer and vendor both staying quiet even as Flock's own chatbot confirms the partnership. Costco quietly shuts dow...

In this Retail Technology Spotlight series, Chris Walton sits down with Julian Sellan, Senior Supply Chain Engineer at Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits, and Nick Cianfarani, Senior Account Manager at Dematic, to explore one of the biggest questions facing supply chain leaders today: How do you decide when it's time to upgrade your logistics network and when is it smarter to start over? Through...

Chris Walton and Ben Miller put Michael Prendergast and Ken Davidson on the Fast Five lightning round hot seat, covering everything from Super Bowl predictions and favorite types of pie to the return of Cole Trickle in a Days of Thunder sequel. Plus, Ken reveals the one and only tattoo he would ever get. ▶️ Watch the full Fast Five episode here: https://youtu.be/NXUUmuwrX2Q This podcast uses the f...

Amazon is reportedly exploring Project Tetromino, an internal initiative aimed at building fully automated delivery stations and bringing even more robotics into the last mile. The Fast Five crew discusses whether full automation is inevitable, how quickly Amazon could make it happen, and why the company appears hesitant to publicly own its automation ambitions. Because when Amazon already has mor...

Stripe believes the traditional online checkout page is on its way out as AI agents and agentic commerce begin to reshape how consumers shop. Michael Prendergast, Ken Davidson, Ben Miller, and Chris Walton discuss what happens when the purchasing process becomes increasingly machine-led, from eliminating friction and clicks to completely rethinking promotions, pricing, and how retailers compete fo...

Sur La Table has entered the resale game with Second Servings, a new peer-to-peer marketplace for kitchenware, home goods, and dining products. The Fast Five crew debates whether the marketplace is a smart, low-lift opportunity or simply a distraction that won't generate enough traffic to move the needle. And after taking a closer look at the platform, Ben Miller raises another interesting questio...

Target is launching Target Beauty Studio with more than 1,600 products from 90 brands, including more than two-thirds that are brand new to Target. But can this new beauty destination successfully fill the space left behind by Ulta? Chris Walton, Ben Miller, Michael Prendergast, and Ken Davidson debate whether Target's future in beauty depends on finding the next big brands, creating the right ass...

Walmart is expanding its restaurant delivery ambitions beyond the Subway locations inside its stores, and the Fast Five crew thinks this could become much more than just a grocery delivery add-on. Ken Davidson sees it primarily as a logical bolt-on, while Michael Prendergast, Ben Miller, and Chris Walton argue Walmart's massive store footprint, delivery density, and potential drone capabilities co...

What will define the next chapter of grocery and CPG innovation? In this edition of 5 Insightful Minutes, Rocquan Lucas, VP of Content at Groceryshop, joins Omni Talk to preview what attendees can expect when Groceryshop returns to Las Vegas this September. From AI-powered shopping experiences and retail media to evolving consumer behavior, unified commerce, and the technology transforming retail’...

Welcome to Omni Talk's Retail Daily Minute, sponsored by R&S Logistics , ZenlineAI , Duvo and Mirakl . In today's Retail Daily Minute, Omni Talk's Chris Walton discusses: Anthropic launches a blueprint for building AI shopping agents on Claude, touting big cart-size and conversion gains from early retail partners. Sephora debuts a TikTok Shop storefront with exclusive monthly product drops sta...

In this week’s Omni Talk Retail Fast Five, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group , Mirakl , Ocampo Capital , Quorso , Veloq , and R&S Logistics , Chris Walton was joined by Michael Prendergast and Ken Davidson of the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, along with Ben Miller, Founder & Editor-in-Chief of GrocerTalk, to discuss: • Walmart’s plans to expand restaurant delivery bey...

Welcome to Omni Talk's Retail Daily Minute, sponsored by R&S Logistics , ZenlineAI , Duvo and Mirakl . In today's Retail Daily Minute, Omni Talk's Chris Walton discusses: The FTC and 22 states sue Amazon , alleging it secretly inflated ad auction prices for advertisers over seven-plus years. YouTube adds Amazon as an affiliate partner in YouTube Shopping, letting creators tag Amazon products i...

In this episode, sponsored by Instacart Enterprise , Portager , and Vusion , Ben Miller is joined by Stewart Samuel , Director of Retail Futures at IGD and a leading grocery retail analyst and industry expert, to unpack the global grocery news stories from this week that we believe are worth paying attention to. This week, they discuss: • Whether weak US consumer confidence is finally translating...

Welcome to Omni Talk's Retail Daily Minute, sponsored by R&S Logistics , ZenlineAI , Duvo and Mirakl . In today's Retail Daily Minute, Omni Talk's Chris Walton discusses: Urban Outfitters Inc. posts record Q2 sales as Nuuly subscriptions surge, with nearly half of Nuuly's inventory coming from its own sister brands. Anthropologie brings Nike to its shelves for the first time as its sneaker-buy...

In this Retail Technology Spotlight series, Chris Walton sits down with Antons Sapriko, Founder and CEO of scandiweb, to explore just how far AI has already gone in running the operational layers behind retail and what happens when employees shift from doing the work to supervising the systems doing it for them. Antons breaks down the evolution from AI assistance to what scandiweb calls "supervise...