Episodes

Welcome to Omni Talk's Retail Daily Minute, sponsored by R&S Logistics, ZenlineAI, and Mirakl. In today's Retail Daily Minute, Omni Talk's Chris Walton discusses: Walmart merges fashion, home and beauty into a new Style business unit led by Denise Incandela, its latest attempt to win in style. Costco gains an estimated $2.5 billion in CPG share of wallet, per Numerator, though Kirkland is slowing and lower-income shoppers are pulling back. Hy-Vee aims to cut the time to complete an online gr...

Welcome to Omni Talk's Retail Daily Minute, sponsored by R&S Logistics, ZenlineAI, and Mirakl. In today's Retail Daily Minute, Omni Talk's Chris Walton discusses: Amazon lets Multichannel Fulfillment merchants offer free Prime delivery on their own websites and adds fee discounts plus cross-channel selling tools. Starbucks closes 250 more North American stores this week, even as Brian Niccol's turnaround gains momentum and café remodels accelerate. Kroger requires nearly 400,000 store associ...

This week we come to you live from Las Vegas at Groceryshop 2026. Omni Talk contributor and the host of GrocerTalk, Ben Miller, joins me for this week's Fast Five, recorded right from the trade show floor in the Vusion podcast studio, built specifically for us by our friends there. In this week's lightning round, Chris Walton puts Ben Miller on the hot seat with questions ranging from which retailer deserves its own television drama to which words he would add to or remove from the dictionary. ...

This week we come to you live from Las Vegas at Groceryshop 2026. Omni Talk contributor and the host of GrocerTalk, Ben Miller, joins me for this week's Fast Five, recorded right from the trade show floor in the Vusion podcast studio, built specifically for us by our friends there. Meta Lab is nearly doubling its retail footprint with six new locations, alongside a plan to open 50 shop-in-shops at Best Buy by the end of the year. Is the future bright for smart glasses? Watch the full Omni Talk...

This week we come to you live from Las Vegas at Groceryshop 2026. Omni Talk contributor and the host of GrocerTalk, Ben Miller, joins me for this week's Fast Five, recorded right from the trade show floor in the Vusion podcast studio, built specifically for us by our friends there. Toys R Us is opening 120 new standalone stores this holiday season, bringing its total footprint to 160 locations. The new stores will also feature Creator Studios, cafes, and candy shops. Do you think we will see mo...

This week we come to you live from Las Vegas at Groceryshop 2026. Omni Talk contributor and the host of GrocerTalk, Ben Miller, joins me for this week's Fast Five, recorded right from the trade show floor in the Vusion podcast studio, built specifically for us by our friends there. Harps Food Stores just named its first-ever Director of AI Strategy and Innovation, promoting a homegrown meat and seafood category manager into the role. Is promoting from within the right way for a regional grocer ...

This week we come to you live from Las Vegas at Groceryshop 2026. Omni Talk contributor and the host of GrocerTalk, Ben Miller, joins me for this week's Fast Five, recorded right from the trade show floor in the Vusion podcast studio, built specifically for us by our friends there. Costco is now available nationwide on both DoorDash and Uber Eats, giving members another way to get same-day delivery from nearly all of its U.S. warehouses. Is Costco smartly meeting members where they are, or hand...

This week we come to you live from Las Vegas at Groceryshop 2026. Omni Talk contributor and the host of GrocerTalk, Ben Miller, joins me for this week's Fast Five, recorded right from the trade show floor in the Vusion podcast studio, built specifically for us by our friends there. Walmart+ just added CITGO to its Gas Savings benefit, growing the program from 13,000 to more than 17,000 participating stations nationwide while keeping the annual membership price at $98. Is fuel becoming the stick...

What a few days at Groceryshop 2026. If you weren’t in Las Vegas for the show, this conversation is about as close as you can get to catching up on what mattered. Recorded live on stage at Groceryshop 2026, Ben Miller, host of GrocerTalk, brings together Chris Walton, President and CEO of Omni Talk Retail, Deborah Weinswig, Founder and CEO of Coresight Research, and Kelly Lindenau, Content Director at Groceryshop, to break down what actually stood out from a week packed with big ideas, big anno...

Live from the Vusion podcast studio at booth 913 at Groceryshop 2026 in Las Vegas, Ben Miller connects with Katie Blackburn, Vice President - Commercial Strategy & Operations at WHSmith North America, for a GrocerTalk conversation on the evolving world of travel retail and the changing needs of airport shoppers. Katie breaks down how WHSmith North America operates roughly 300 stores across around 50 U.S. airports, using localized concepts and curated assortments to serve travelers with very dif...

Live from the Vusion podcast studio at booth 913 at Groceryshop 2026 in Las Vegas, Ben Miller sits down with Arthur Sylvestre, VP of Media & Digital at Danone North America, for a GrocerTalk conversation on the forces shaping media, digital commerce and consumer engagement across the grocery industry. Arthur brings a CPG perspective to the conversation, exploring how brands like Danone are navigating an increasingly digital retail environment and the changing ways consumers discover and engage ...

Live from the Vusion podcast studio at booth 913 at Groceryshop 2026 in Las Vegas, Ben Miller sits down with Jeremy Gosch, Chairman & CEO of Hy-Vee, following his Groceryshop keynote to unpack the biggest themes shaping the future of grocery. Jeremy and Ben revisit the ideas from his keynote and take a closer look at the challenges and opportunities facing grocery retailers today. The conversation brings the perspective of one of the industry's major regional grocers to the floor at Groceryshop...

In this edition of 5 Insightful Minutes, Chad Lusk, Partner and Managing Director at A&M Consumer and Retail Group, joins Omni Talk live from Groceryshop 2026 to unpack how changing consumer expectations are reshaping food and beverage, from wellness and functional nutrition to value and premiumization. Chad explains why GLP-1s are not creating these trends, but accelerating shifts that have been building for years. As consumers become more intentional about what they eat, he explores the rise ...

Welcome to Omni Talk's Retail Daily Minute, sponsored by R&S Logistics, ZenlineAI, and Mirakl. In today's Retail Daily Minute, Omni Talk's Chris Walton discusses: McDonald's commits roughly $8.5 billion to franchisees through 2036 to fund remodels, new equipment, and its AI-powered ArchIQ operating system. Instacart takes its Airbnb grocery integration nationwide, extending Instacart Ads' reach along the way. Sam's Club rolls out InComm's personalized, SKU-level digital offers, redeemed and ...

Live from the Vusion podcast studio at booth 913 at Groceryshop 2026 in Las Vegas, Ben Miller welcomes Jim Trahanas, Chief Technology Officer at Fruitist, to explore how a fruit company is using technology, data and AI across its entire value chain. Jim breaks down what it actually means to apply AI and machine learning across the business, from the underlying data and technology foundations to the culture required to support innovation. He also discusses Fruitist’s recognition as one of Fast C...

Live from the Vusion podcast studio at Groceryshop 2026 in Las Vegas, Ben Miller welcomes Andrew Lederman, VP of Global Digital Commerce at Mondelēz International, to explore how grocery shopping is evolving online and what that means for one of the world’s major consumer packaged goods companies. Andrew discusses the global shift toward digital grocery, changing shopping behaviors and the growing expectation for speed across markets. He also looks at the challenge of bringing impulse products ...

Live from the Vusion podcast studio at booth 913 at Groceryshop 2026 in Las Vegas, Ben Miller connects with Sjoerd Holleman, Chief Product and AI Officer at Albert Heijn, to explore how AI is reshaping the shopping experience. Sjoerd shares lessons from Albert Heijn’s AI shopping assistant Steijn, including what shoppers are using and how those learnings can translate beyond the Dutch market. The conversation also looks at the growing role of personal AI agents, the future of customer experienc...

Live from the Vusion podcast studio at booth 913 at Groceryshop 2026 in Las Vegas, Ben Miller sits down with Bobby Watts, SVP and Executive Lead of AD Retail Media at Ahold Delhaize USA, to explore how retail media is evolving and where the industry goes next. Bobby explains the scope of AD Retail Media across Ahold Delhaize USA’s banners and shares his perspective on the priorities shaping retail media today. The conversation covers the opportunity within physical store portfolios, what advert...

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 is joined by Omni Talk contributor and GrocerTalk host Ben Miller for another round of Fast Five fun, recorded live from the Vusion podcast studio at Groceryshop 2026 in Las Vegas. This week, Walmart fills up, Costco delivers, Harps gets AI, Toys R Us gets bigger, and Meta gets its glasses on. Chris and Ben dig into five of the biggest...

Live from the Vusion podcast studio at Groceryshop 2026 in Las Vegas, Chris Walton sits down with Myron Frazier, Chief Merchandising Officer at Sam’s Club, to explore what value means for today’s increasingly deliberate consumer and how Sam’s Club builds its assortment around that idea. Myron discusses the history behind Sam’s Club, the role of Member’s Mark, and why a curated assortment can be an advantage even when consumers have access to virtually unlimited choice. He also dives into the te...

Welcome to Omni Talk's Retail Daily Minute, sponsored by R&S Logistics, ZenlineAI, and Mirakl. In today's Retail Daily Minute, Omni Talk's Chris Walton discusses: Amazon cuts off Meta's Muse AI agent, citing undisclosed access and credential-storage concerns amid the broader agentic-shopping turf war. Best Buy launches a TikTok Shop storefront in late October, offering nearly 10,000 products with creator and retail-media tie-ins ahead of the holidays. Sam's Club Connect debuts AI-powered Pre...

Breaking news from Groceryshop 2026: Dollar General is joining the Instacart Marketplace, a new partnership exclusively revealed to Omni Talk Retail by Ryan Hamburger, Chief Commercial Officer at Instacart, during a live conversation with Ben Miller from the Vusion podcast studio at booth 913 in Las Vegas. Ben and Ryan also unpack Instacart CEO Chris Rogers’ opening Mainstage Keynote, including the potential impact of AI agents and assistants on grocery, the continued affordability imperative, ...

Live from the Vusion podcast studio at Groceryshop 2026 in Las Vegas, Chris Walton catches up with Mark Williamson, AVP of Retail Media at Costco, to discuss the evolution of Costco’s retail media capabilities and how the business is balancing advertising with its core membership experience. Mark looks at Costco’s rebuilt ad server, clean room, offsite measurement and search integrations, while explaining how retail media connects to a business where much of the shopping still happens inside th...

Fresh off the Groceryshop 2026 mainstage, Ben Miller sits down with Yael Cosset, EVP & Chief Digital Officer at Kroger, live from the Vusion podcast studio at booth 913 in Las Vegas, to unpack Kroger’s AI strategy and what comes next as the company moves from experimentation toward more advanced AI applications. Yael discusses the foundations behind Kroger’s AI strategy, the launch of its AI Shopping Assistant and how the company is thinking about the progression from assisted to augmented to a...