Episodes

Welcome to Omni Talk's Retail Daily Minute, sponsored by ZenlineAI and Mirakl. In today's Retail Daily Minute, Omni Talk's Chris Walton discusses: Uber agrees to acquire workplace catering platform ezCater in a $2.3 billion all-cash deal, adding $400-plus average orders to Uber Eats and Uber for Business. Walmart launches Ship with Walmart, giving Marketplace sellers Walmart-negotiated shipping rates and up to $100 in lost-item protection directly inside ShipStation. The Giant Company rolls ...

Chris Walton is back on GrocerTalk this week, joining Ben Miller for a show all about growth, loyalty and the changing grocery shopping experience. Sponsored by Instacart Enterprise, Portager, Vusion, and Sifter Solutions, they dig into Costco’s growth machine, Morrisons’ latest Click & Collect experiment, and a Kroger double-header on rewards and 24-hour stores. Plus, TCC Global CMO Seb Hill joins for Five Insightful Minutes on loyalty in the age of agentic commerce. This week, they discuss: ...

Welcome to Omni Talk's Retail Daily Minute, sponsored by ZenlineAI and Mirakl. In today's Retail Daily Minute, Omni Talk's Chris Walton discusses: Gap Inc. launches AI-powered shopping tools across all four of its brands, 30 years after the Gap brand's first e-commerce website. Walmart expands its 30-minute Wing drone delivery service to the Seattle and Denver metro areas. Staples adds roughly 120 more Party City shop-in-shops across 27 states ahead of the holiday season. The Retail Daily M...

In this Retail Technology Spotlight Series, Chris Walton sits down with Brian Kinsella, Chief Product Officer at Manhattan Associates, to explore one of the biggest technology dilemmas facing growing retailers and brands: Do you start small and risk outgrowing your systems, or invest in enterprise technology before you have the size, resources, or complexity to justify it? Brian breaks down why that tradeoff may finally be changing. As customer expectations rise and growing brands take on marke...

Welcome to Omni Talk's Retail Daily Minute, sponsored by ZenlineAI and Mirakl. In today's Retail Daily Minute, Omni Talk's Chris Walton discusses: Nike posts a 4% revenue decline and unveils "Pace," its third restructuring since fiscal 2024, with more layoffs coming next year. Walmart rolls out light-up digital shelf labels to help shoppers find products and associates pick and stock faster. Ikea closes three small-format plan and order stores in the Washington, D.C. area, including one that...

Producer Ella puts Chris Walton on the hot seat for a solo Fast Five lightning round. What’s the greatest retail employee uniform of all time? Vegas or Nashville for one night only? What’s the one thing Chris wants delivered to his backyard by drone in 20 minutes? And could camera-free smart glasses finally convince him to buy in? Watch the full Fast Five episode here: https://youtu.be/YTVMA7yS7-g This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.co...

Lowe’s is taking to the skies, becoming the first home improvement retailer to launch drone delivery through partnerships with DoorDash and Wing. Customers can get more than 100 project essentials delivered in as fast as 20 minutes. Chris Walton explains why forgotten painter’s tape, caulk, batteries and other last-minute essentials could make home improvement one of the strongest use cases for drone delivery. Watch the full Fast Five episode here: https://youtu.be/YTVMA7yS7-g This podcast us...

Amazon is letting merchants using its Multichannel Fulfillment service offer Prime delivery directly on their own websites, with no added cost to retailers or shoppers. Is Prime on your own site a gift for mid-sized retailers or a Trojan horse that makes them even more dependent on Amazon? Chris Walton argues it might actually be a little bit of both. Watch the full Fast Five episode here: https://youtu.be/YTVMA7yS7-g This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn...

Kroger just updated its store dress code for the first time in a decade, putting nearly 400,000 associates across 21 chains in company-issued shirts after shoppers said they were having trouble finding employees. Can something as simple as a new uniform actually improve the store experience? Chris Walton explains why the move could signal something much bigger about Kroger’s expectations for its stores. Watch the full Fast Five episode here: https://youtu.be/YTVMA7yS7-g This podcast uses the ...

Tapestry is making Coach and Kate Spade products purchasable directly inside Google’s Gemini app and AI Mode, complete with Google Pay checkout and no website redirect. Chris Walton breaks down why he likes the experiment, but also why brands shouldn’t overinvest in someone else’s AI experience at the expense of building agentic search on their own sites. Watch the full Fast Five episode here: https://youtu.be/YTVMA7yS7-g This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Pod...

Amazon just cut off Meta’s new Muse AI agent from shopping on Amazon.com, citing data security concerns. But as AI shopping agents continue to gain traction, Chris Walton asks the bigger question: Can Amazon really keep the agents out, or will consumer demand ultimately force its hand? Watch the full Fast Five episode here: https://youtu.be/YTVMA7yS7-g This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy

Chris Niesen is back for episode 2 of Making Space Real Time, presented by the Association of Retail Consumer Professionals (aka ARC) in partnership with Omni Talk. Omni Talk CEO Chris Walton returns as guest host, and this time both Chrises walked all three stores before hitting record. In this episode Meta Lab at Best Buy. The AI glasses and VR headset shop-in-shop launched in June and is now in 50 stores, while Meta takes its standalone labs from 8 to 14. Chris Niesen breaks down placement, ...

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 launches the McDonald's Media Network, piloting third-party ads on drive-thru menu boards with its sights set on a $1 billion ad business. DoorDash adds Macy's, Anthropologie, The North Face, Vans, and Timberland to its marketplace and launches $7.99 Dasher Returns. Shopify opens checkout to browser-based AI agents, goin...

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 trying something he’s never done before: going solo. Coming to you from a hotel room in Nashville after a whirlwind stretch of conference travel, Chris takes on all five headlines himself, with Producer Ella stepping in to put him on the spot with the questions from the A&M Consumer and Retail Group. And this week, there’s a pretty ...

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 faces scrutiny over a Reuters report that it uses AI to set location-by-location menu prices, with franchisees saying they feel pressured to comply. Marks & Spencer and Sephora partner to open Sephora at M&S shop-in-shops in 100 UK stores and online starting spring 2027. Toast launches Toast Fuel, putting pump payments, ...

In this episode, sponsored by Instacart Enterprise, Portager, Vusion, and Sifter Solutions, Ben Miller is joined by Jordan Berke, Founder & CEO of retail consultancy TOMORROW, for his first time on GrocerTalk. Jordan shares a little about his retail background and the work he’s doing at TOMORROW before he and Ben jump into surveillance pricing, the realities of rapid delivery, AI hype becoming reality, and whether retailers are actually listening to their shoppers. This week, they discuss: • S...

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...