Episodes

Meta made big headlines back in April when it opened its first physical retail store. So Eduardo Cruz, Director Meta Store Global Operations, joins Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga for the latest installment of their Omni Talk Ask An Expert Series to give his insider perspective on what the Meta Store is really all about. Collectively the three of them go deep on: - The design and layout of the store - The overarching goal of the store itself - Consumer reception thus far - And, most importantl...

In this latest episode of the Omni Talk Retail Spotlight Series, 1010data's VP of Marketing Frank Riva gives Chris and Anne a sneak peek into their soon-to-be-released report on Instacart’s performance for the first half of 2022 and the data will blow your mind! You'll hear: Estimates of Instacart's total growth so far in 2022 How Instacart's share at big retailers like H-E-B, Sam's Club, and Costco has shifted What Instacart's relative basket size is compared to a direct e-commerce order from...

In this special OmniStars edition of the Omni Talk Retail Spotlight Series, brought to you in partnership with Quorso, Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga sit down with Tractor Supply Company EVP and Chief Supply Chain Officer Colin Yankee to discuss how his company continues to deliver great omnichannel results and financial returns that far outpace its peers. Together they discuss: - How he defines omnichannel retailing - His lessons learned around supply chain coming out of the pandemic - How he...

In this latest episode of the Omni Talk Retail Spotlight Series, Accelerate360's Chief Data Officer Liz Roche joins Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga to discuss the keys to differentiating content across a Retail Media Network. Together the three of them discuss: - How to unlock additional advertising inventory in one's Retail Media Network - A first-party data approach to content creation - And why "content authority" will always win out in the long-run Music by hooksounds.com *Sponsored Conte...

In today’s Omni Talk Retail Fast Five Podcast, sponsored by Microsoft, the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Takeoff, Sezzle, and Silk, Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga discuss: - All their lessons learned from the many months of turmoil at Bed Bath & Beyond - The reports of Instagram moving away from social commerce - Disney+ going the other direction and getting into in-app commerce by the end of 2022 - The big push into resale events by Dick’s Sporting Goods - And Instacart’s utterly perplexing a...

In this latest episode of the Omni Talk Retail Spotlight Series, Cleveron Co-Founder Indrek Oolup returns to discuss with Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga the ins and outs of installing a fully functional parcel robot for package pickup at one of Zara's busiest locations -- it's new flagship store in Madrid. Together the three of them discuss: - The skinny on the 402 robot (i.e. the official name of the robot) - What it took to coordinate the robot into the architectural design of the building -...

Quorso CEO Julian Mills joins Chris and Anne to kickoff this year's OmniStars Spotlight Podcast Series. Together they discuss: - Why Quorso and Omni Talk Retail created the award - What inspires Julian and the team at Quorso in recognizing great omnichannel operations - And, perhaps most importantly, how the idea of asking our OmniStars to "pay it forward" in their podcast interviews came to be. Music by hooksounds.com This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podco...

In this special OmniStars of the Omni Talk Retail Spotlight Series, brought to you in partnership with Quorso, Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga sit down with Best Buy's EVP and Chief Customer Officer Allison Peterson to discuss what her role entails and how she aims to keep Best Buy on the cutting edge of omnichannel retailing. Together they discuss: - The premise behind the role of Chief Customer Officer - Digital vs. physical store innovation - The role of field and store leaders in helping Be...

In this special OmniStars of the Omni Talk Retail Spotlight Series, brought to you in partnership with Quorso, Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga sit down with Walgreens VP of Digital Commerce and Omnichannel Stefanie Kruse to discuss what it takes to help a pharmacy retailer like Walgreens continue to meet rising consumer expectations around service. Together they discuss: - The rollout of nationwide 2 hr delivery from Walgreens - The unique omnichannel dynamics of pharmacy operations - The evolv...

In the latest edition of the Omni Talk Spotlight Series, Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga discuss next generation warehouse fulfillment and automation with KNAPP VP Sales Consultancy, Bill Stenger. Together they discuss: - KNAPP's role in Walmart's new next generation fulfillment center plans - The market for centralized vs. decentralized automated warehousing solutions - The changing consumer preferences coming out of the pandemic and how they are shaping last mile innovation. Music by hooksou...

In today’s Omni Talk Retail Fast Five Podcast, sponsored by Microsoft, the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Takeoff, Sezzle, and Groceryshop, Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga: - Shared mutual distaste for Walmart’s new rewards program for Walmart+ members - Were somewhat split on Bloomingdales second “Bloomie’s” store - Discussed what the Meta and Jio WhatsApp partnership in India could mean for the future of text commerce in the U.S. - Questioned what again seems like a desperate IPO-incented move...

In today’s Omni Talk Retail Fast Five Podcast, sponsored by Microsoft, the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Takeoff, Sezzle, and Groceryshop, Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga: - Did some massive Peloton pontification around their recent Amazon news - Looked long and hard at whether Apple is talking out of both sides of its mouth when it comes to advertising and privacy - Praised Gap for its own “frenemy” supplier platform approach - Discussed Walmart’s latest acquisition of gig delivery management ...

Supply chain. Supply chain. Supply chain. The topic is certainly top of mind of late, but what about it is really on the minds of your average retail executive? So Omni Talk is pleased to announce that Microsoft’s Director of Retail & Consumer Insights Paula Beckel and Blue Yonder’s Corporate VP of Global Retail Industry Strategies Shannon Wu-Lebron joined Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga for the latest installment of the Omni Talk Retail Ask An Expert Series to answer that very question. Is it ...

In today’s Omni Talk Retail Fast Five Podcast, sponsored by Microsoft, the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Takeoff, Sezzle, and Groceryshop, A&M’s David Brown and Abhinav Chandra joined Anne and Chris to discuss: - Their big takeaways from this week’s earnings announcements - Whether Walmart executives were boasting way too much about their new - Paramount+ streaming partnership - The rumors of Ahold Delhaize acquiring Albertsons and its two private jets - Facebook partnering up with DoorDash fo...

Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga sit down with Alviere CEO Yuval Brisker to understand why it is only a matter of time before embedded finance, i.e. the idea of retailers becoming their own banks, takes the retail industry by storm. Music by HookSounds.com *Sponsored Content* This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy

In today’s Omni Talk Retail Fast Five Podcast, sponsored by Microsoft, the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Takeoff, Sezzle, and Groceryshop, Chris Walton and Mezzenga: - Question whether Walmart partnering with a streaming service will do anything to boost Walmart+ subscriptions (short answer: no) - Blast Kohl’s for the hubris it is showing in its new self-pickup rollout - Debate the merits of mall-based retailers using Amazon to fulfill same-day orders - Call for an immediate halt to Walmart’s ...

Omni Talk Retail, in partnership with Talkdesk, welcomed Chris McShane, the Senior Vice President of Customer Experience at Serta Simmons, and Amber Scott, the VP of Customer Experience at Serta Simmons, to provide their expert opinions on how to think about the future of customer service and loyalty. Collectively the four of them go deep on: – How changing consumer expectations around service have impacted retail and, particularly, the mattress industry. – What they each think are the key in...

Signifyd's SVP of Operations and Corporate Development, Bennett, gets hit with the tough questions from Omni Talk Retail, as he shares the most important insights from his company's newly released State of Commerce Report for 2022 in just five minutes! For more information on Signifyd, and to get the report, head here: https://www.signifyd.com/state-of-commerce-report-2022/?utm_channel=Paid&utm_medium=content_syndication&utm_source=Red-Archer&utm_campaign=WW_WEB_State-of-Commerce-Report-2022 M...

In today's Omni Talk Retail Fast Five Podcast, sponsored by Microsoft, the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Takeoff, Sezzle, and Groceryshop, A&M’s Hemant Kalbag and Jonathan Sharp joined Anne and Chris to discuss - All the stats and figures from Prime Day - Whether Macy’s taking Toys R Us to all stores will have any real long-term significance - Kroger’s plans to expand its Boost membership program nationwide - The big (some might say massive) revelation from a Google exec that 40% of young peop...

In today's Omni Talk Retail Fast Five Podcast, sponsored by Microsoft, the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Takeoff, Sezzle, and Groceryshop, Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga: - Praised Walmart for their purchase of 4,500 electric delivery vehicles from Canoo. - Examined all the reasons why Amazon is still investing in smart carts and is now planning to roll out the Dash Cart to Whole Foods. - Discussed why retailers, like Walmart and others, should and should not participate in Prime Day. - Gave C...

Inflation is impacting retail business across the board, from gasoline to groceries, and historically the go-to solution has been to cut costs wherever you can, but perhaps there’s an alternative? In Omni Talk Retail’s latest Spotlight Series, Anne Mezzenga explores with Upside’s VP of Retail Tyler Renaghan how retailers should take this time as an opportunity to grow revenue, instead of cutting costs to battle inflationary pressures. In this interview Anne and Tyler discuss: - How retailers ...

In today's Omni Talk Retail Fast Five Podcast, sponsored by Microsoft, the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Takeoff, and Sezzle, Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga discussed: - The aftermath of Kohl’s proposed deal with the Franchise Group falling through - The curious case of what look like egregious share buybacks at Bed Bath & Beyond - TikTok reportedly getting out of livestream commerce in the U.S. and the U.K. - Ulta Beauty’s new pop-up inside of Allure’s SoHo store - And closed with a look at A...

In today's Omni Talk Retail Fast Five Podcast, sponsored by Microsoft, the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Takeoff, and Sezzle, Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga: - Took another victory lap on their long held position that Mark Tritton’s tenure at Bed Bath & Beyond would be short-lived. - Highlighted the importance of Trigo’s second autonomous grocery store implementation with Rewe in Berlin, which places it squarely in the lead as the “non-Amazon” option in the battle for checkout-free grocery re...

Cannes, one of the biggest events for marketers around the world, just held its annual festival doling out awards to the best and brightest in the industry and Omni Talk Retail is bringing you a full recap, minus the super yachts, of course. Omni Talk Retail asked Firework’s Chief Revenue Officer Jeff Lucas to provide a recap, and more importantly, his advice for retail marketers on making Cannes-worthy creative for the latest installment of our Live Ask An Expert Series on LinkedIn. Chris Wal...