Episodes

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: OpenAI shuts down its Sora video generation app ahead of its anticipated IPO, simultaneously dissolving its $1 billion partnership with Disney that was announced just three months ago. Walmart debuts its commerce agent Sparky inside ChatGPT as OpenAI pivots away from Instant Checkout and refocuses on product discovery through its expanded Agentic Commer...

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 and returning guest Carter Jensen — now of The Uncommon Business and one of the original co-creators of this very podcast — discussed: Amazon expanding its Shop Direct feature to accept third-party product feeds (Source) Ulta Beauty launching on TikTok Shop (Source) Walmart and Vizio unveiling new content-to-commerce integrations at the 2026 IAB 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: Gap becomes the first major fashion retailer to offer direct checkout inside Google's Gemini AI platform, using the Universal Commerce Protocol to give shoppers a seamless “agentic” commerce experience, without ever leaving the app. Dollar General names JJ Fleeman, current CEO of Ahold Delhaize USA and a 35-year grocery veteran, as its next Chief Execut...

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 is requiring store workers to wear plain red shirts with blue jeans or khakis starting this summer. UNFI's Endless Aisle program is connecting food retailers with nearly 4,000 SKUs from emerging suppliers through a drop-ship model with no minimum order quantities, giving smaller brands a low-risk path to national distribution. Babylist is openin...

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 partners with Moloco to launch Reserve Display, a personalized onsite ad format functioning as a "digital end cap," targeting members with AI-driven recommendations at the moment of product selection. Ingka Group, the world's largest IKEA franchisee, plans to cut around 800 corporate jobs as new CEO Juvencio Maeztu moves to simplify an organizati...

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 beats Q4 expectations but issues a cautious 2026 outlook, as CEO Tony Spring flags tariff headwinds, macro uncertainty, and the ongoing investment costs of its namesake store transformation. Family Dollar unveils plans to pilot an extra small box store format targeting dense urban markets, alongside strong 2025 results and an ambitious multi-year...

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: Amazon rolls out new 1-hour and 3-hour delivery options across hundreds of U.S. cities, giving customers access to 90,000+ products with Prime-discounted fees and plans to expand throughout 2026. Build-A-Bear makes its first-ever wholesale debut at Walmart, launching Mini Beans, Micro Mini Beans blind-bag collectibles, and the Build-A-Bear x Bluey colle...

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 Tree posts a solid Q4 with net sales up 9% to $5.45 billion, but back-to-back traffic declines raise deeper questions about its consumables assortment. Walmart pilots a "rapid remodel" process that condenses months of store renovation into just four weeks, with tests kicking off in April across Neighborhood Markets in six states. DoorDash expand...

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 a strong Q4 with net sales up 5.9% to $10.9 billion and same-store sales jumping 4.3%, while unveiling plans for a new treasure-hunt store format and a subscription loyalty pilot in 2026. Dick's Sporting Goods pulls back on Foot Locker closures after its Fast Break store pilot delivers standout comps exceeding Dick's own business,...

This Lightning Round segment of the Omni Talk Retail Fast Five, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Ocampo Capital, Infios, Quorso, and Veloq, closes out the show with rapid fire takes on nihilist penguins, Friday the 13th superstition, and March Madness predictions. Chris Walton and Jenn Hahn prove once again that retail conversations always find their way into pop culture and the internet’s strangest trends. ⏩ Tune in for the full episode here. #LightningRound #RetailFast...

This Omni Talk Retail Fast Five segment, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Ocampo Capital, Infios, Quorso, and Veloq, looks at how Dick’s Sporting Goods unexpectedly surged up the Apple App Store rankings. Chris Walton and Jenn Hahn break down how the retailer’s Move fitness rewards app is driving engagement and why gamifying fitness could be a powerful retail loyalty strategy. ⏩ Tune in for the full episode here. #RetailNews #DicksSportingGoods #RetailApps #RetailEngagem...

This Omni Talk Retail Fast Five segment, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Ocampo Capital, Infios, Quorso, and Veloq, explores Kroger’s use of autonomous drones inside sub freezing distribution centers. Chris Walton and Jenn Hahn discuss how drone technology could transform warehouse inventory management and eliminate some of the most difficult cold chain tasks. ⏩ Tune in for the full episode here. #RetailNews #Kroger #WarehouseAutomation #RetailLogistics #SupplyChain #Om...

This Omni Talk Retail Fast Five segment, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Ocampo Capital, Infios, Quorso, and Veloq, looks at Kroger’s decision to create a Chief Data and AI Officer role. Chris Walton and Jenn Hahn discuss what elevating the leader of 84.51 means for Kroger’s long term AI strategy and how data leadership is becoming central to retail. ⏩ Tune in for the full episode here. #RetailNews #Kroger #AIinRetail #RetailTechnology #RetailInnovation #OmniTalk #Retai...

This Omni Talk Retail Fast Five segment, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Ocampo Capital, Infios, Quorso, and Veloq, examines Costco’s pledge to return any tariff refunds directly to members. Chris Walton and Jenn Hahn debate whether this move reflects Costco’s long standing value promise or a strategic messaging play during a complicated economic moment. ⏩ Tune in for the full episode here. #RetailNews #Costco #RetailEconomics #RetailStrategy #RetailIndustry #OmniTalk #...

This Omni Talk Retail Fast Five segment, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Ocampo Capital, Infios, Quorso, and Veloq, explores Walmart’s plan to expand digital shelf labels across all 4,600 U.S. stores. Chris Walton and Jenn Hahn discuss what this massive technology rollout means for pricing accuracy, store operations, and the future of in store retail technology. ⏩ Tune in for the full episode here. #RetailNews #Walmart #DigitalShelfLabels #RetailTech #RetailInnovation #...

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: A federal court temporarily blocked Perplexity AI's Comet browser agent from making purchases on Amazon, putting agentic commerce on a collision course with Amazon's $68.6 billion advertising business. Amazon opened its Shop Direct program to third-party product feeds from Feedonomics, Salsify, and CEDCommerce, taking a major step toward becoming a univ...

In this week’s Omni Talk Retail Fast Five, A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Ocampo Capital, Infios, Quorso, and Veloq, Chris and guest host Jenn Hahn of J Recruiting Services discussed: Walmart expanding its digital shelf label technology to all 4,600 of its US stores, completing what is likely the single largest ESL rollout in retail history (Source) Costco CEO Ron Vachris is publicly pledging to return any tariff refunds directly to members through lower prices (Source) Kroger creatin...

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: Kroger's new permanent CEO Greg Foran outlines his five growth priorities. Retail and grocery brands are already dominating ChatGPT's early ad ecosystem, with Sensor Tower tracking more than 100 individual brand promotions in OpenAI's first four weeks of advertising. Fabletics launches its first-ever denim collection, signaling a broader athleisure slo...

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's Q2 2026 earnings reveal that AI-powered personalized product recommendation carousels drove more than $470 million in e-commerce sales in a single quarter, as digitally-enabled comparable sales surged 22.6%. Albertsons launches a month-long Stock Up Sale running March 6 through April 2 across nearly all its banners, offering hot prices, expande...

In this episode of Confessions of Supply Chain Executives, host Chris Walton sits down with Omar Akilah, SVP of Product at Infios, and Aadil Kazmi, Head of AI Product Development at Infios, to tackle one of the biggest questions facing retail leaders today: Are retailers actually ready for agentic AI? While AI dominated the conversation at NRF, the reality inside many retail organizations is far more complicated. Many companies are still struggling with fragmented systems, unclear strategies, a...

This Lightning Round segment of the Omni Talk Retail Fast Five, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Ocampo Capital, Infios, Quorso, and Veloq, closes out the show with rapid fire takes on McDonald’s Big Arch taste test backlash, the surprising Scrubs reboot generation gap, the never-ending daylight saving time debate, and Jane Fonda’s viral breakfast burrito “sandwich” comment. Chris Walton and guests Cassie Ryding and Joanna Rangarajan prove once again that retail, culture,...

This Omni Talk Retail Fast Five segment, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Ocampo Capital, Infios, Quorso, and Veloq, dives into IKEA testing a store-in-store concept with sporting goods retailer Decathlon. Chris Walton and guests Cassie Ryding and Joanna Rangarajan discuss what this collaboration could mean for the future of retail partnerships, experiential stores, and how retailers rethink physical space. ⏩ Watch the full episode here. #IKEA #Decathlon #RetailPartnersh...

This Omni Talk Retail Fast Five segment, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Ocampo Capital, Infios, Quorso, and Veloq, examines Walgreens’ pilot of a new hybrid pharmacist role. Chris Walton and guests Cassie Ryding and Joanna Rangarajan discuss whether this approach could ease pharmacist burnout, improve store operations, and help Walgreens adapt to the evolving healthcare retail landscape. ⏩ Watch the full episode here. #Walgreens #PharmacyRetail #RetailOperations #OmniT...

This Omni Talk Retail Fast Five segment, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Ocampo Capital, Infios, Quorso, and Veloq, explores Schlotzsky's new brand strategy and redesigned store model. Chris Walton and guests Cassie Ryding and Joanna Rangarajan break down whether the beloved sandwich chain can modernize its concept, attract new customers, and compete in an increasingly crowded quick service restaurant market. ⏩ Watch the full episode here. #RestaurantIndustry #QSR #Reta...