Episodes

In the latest edition of the Omni Talk Fast Five, sponsored by the A&M Consumer & Retail Group, Takeoff, and Manhattan Associates, Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga talk: – The reportedly leaked memo that confirms our long held suspicions surrounding Walmart's tenuous hold on its grocery market share in the face of third-party marketplaces and Amazon. – Why in the hell it is that eBay suddenly seems cool again. – The long legs of Dick's Sporting Goods new off-price concept. – Tanger Outlets and it...

If you’ve ever considered a career in management consulting or had a question about the consulting industry, this interview is a must-listen. Anne Mezzenga sits down with Patrica Hong, a 20-year management consultant veteran and Partner at the Alvarez & Marsal Consumer and Retail Group. Patricia got into consulting thinking she’d get some early career experience and the opportunity to move to the US to get her MBA and then move onto other career opportunities. Little did she know, several year...

Anne Mezzenga is joined by CEO and President of Athleta, Mary Beth Laughton. Since Mary Beth became CEO of Athleta, Athleta has become a billion-dollar brand, rolled out inclusive sizing chain-wide, and made several pivots to provide a full omnichannel experience for their customers as they worked and worked out from home during the pandemic. Mary Beth’s career in retail started early on at the Tasty Freeze in Chicago, where she went above and beyond at an early age, asking to re-configure men...

In the latest edition of the Omni Talk Fast Five, sponsored by the A&M Consumer & Retail Group, Takeoff, and Manhattan Associates, Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga head to the Kellogg School of Management to talk: – This year's list of the Top 10 Online Retailers and what it tells us about the future of retail. – Walmart's "ladder theory" defense against a $15 minimum wage. – The Macy's kerfuffle over its scan-and-go mobile app and what it says about Jeff Gennette's leadership and technology over...

In the latest edition of the Omni Talk Fast Five, sponsored by the A&M Consumer & Retail Group, Takeoff, and Manhattan Associates, Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga talk: – Walmart removing its in-store pickup towers and how the announcement, despite the headlines, is about way more than robotics. – Gopuff nabbing a 20 year Amazon veteran to head up operations after its latest $1 billion financing round. – The hilarious Amazon vs. Walmart battle over cool sounding in-home delivery PR. For the reco...

In the latest edition of the Omni Talk Fast Five, sponsored by the A&M Consumer & Retail Group and Takeoff, Chris Walton, Anne Mezzenga, and Emma the Intern go back to the 1990s and talk: – Lululemon getting into resale (and some of the watch outs it should consider) – Why Amazon's new hair salons are about way more than hair - What Taco Bell's digital-only store in NYC means for our ever-growing fear of a WALL-E future - AiFi's new camera-only checkout free implementation with Choice Market - ...

NielsenIQ recently unveiled its new Omnishopper solution to enhance the industry’s understanding of omnishopping consumer behavior across the U.S. marketplace. In the latest edition of their Omni Talk Spotlight Series, Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga discuss the launch with Liz Buchanan and Natalie Williams of NielsenIQ and learn how the new Omnishopper solution works, what it does, and why it enhances the overall insights retailers and CPGs can glean from how today's shopper is actually shoppin...

In the latest edition of the Omni Talk Fast Five, sponsored by the A&M Consumer & Retail Group and Takeoff, Chris Walton, Anne Mezzenga, and Emma the Intern, along with special guest hosts Kristin Kohler Burrows and David Ritter: – Discuss what Harry's $155 million investment round means for its future and the future of CPGs. – Exchange barbs about Best Buy's new subscription program, Best Buy Beta. – Grade Starbucks' new reusable cup pilot on a scale only Starbucks drinkers will love. – Highli...

In the latest Omni Talk Live Production -- You Can't Spell Autonomous Shopping Without AI -- Chris Walton goes deep on the subject of AI and autonomous shopping with executives from NVIDIA, Dell Technologies, and AWM Smart Shelf who know their stuff as well as anyone. Azita Matin (NVIDIA's VP & GM, AI for Retail & CPG), Trey McMillian (Dell Technology's GM for Retail), and Kevin Howard (AWM Smart Shelf CEO) all join Chris for a lively and frank discussion on what we can all expect in the world ...

In the latest edition of the Omni Talk Fast Five, sponsored by the A&M Consumer & Retail Group and Takeoff, Chris Walton, Anne Mezzenga, and Emma the Intern: – Take sides on the landlord vs. retailer sales calculation debate – Discuss how far is too far in Nike's distribution pullback efforts – Forecast out the impact on retail workers of increased demand for warehousing space – Fantasize about other Restoration Hardware-like retail and hospitality mashups – And, go in some of the strangest dir...

In the latest edition of the Omni Talk Fast Five, sponsored by the A&M Consumer & Retail Group and Takeoff, Chris Walton, Anne Mezzenga, and Emma the Intern talk: – Albertsons rolling out more microfulfillment centers – Fabletics' store expansion plans and its unique position in the athleisure market – Dollar General's new Popshelf concept and some mind blowing statistics from Nielsen that might make you think the concept is going to be quite successful – Amazon's new NFL deal, its push to sell...

For the latest episode of Omni Talk’s new Ask An Expert Interview Series for 2021, Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga interview Kristin Kohler Burrows and David Ritter of the A&M Consumer and Retail Group. David and Kristin love retail, have great backgrounds as both operators and consultants (Kristin in shoes and David in the Army), and both share our Omni Talk passion for great debate as a path to the right answers. Every week they put us on the spot with tough questions about the future of retai...

“Be Mission Driven.” That's the theme of this podcast. Chris Rupp’s mission is to use technology to make life more convenient for people, and you’ll hear all about how she achieves that goal in this latest episode of the Women's Retail Collective podcast with Anne Mezzenga. You may know Chris from her time leading the development of Amazon Prime or her current role as the Chief Digital and Customer Officer of Albertsons Companies, but did you know that she is also responsible for tractors havi...

In the latest edition of the Omni Talk Fast Five, sponsored by A&M Consumer & Retail Group and Takeoff, Chris Walton, Anne Mezzenga, and Emma the Intern discuss: – Amazon's plan to rollout Amazon Fresh to 28 more stores, while also testing "Just Walk Out" tech at full scale – Walmart's curbside sampling program and all the amazing ways to think about the value it creates – The decision by Adidas to cut back wholesale distribution, open bigger stores, and push its business to 50% DTC – Whether W...

In the latest edition of the Omni Talk Fast Five, sponsored by A&M Consumer & Retail Group and Takeoff, Chris Walton, Anne Mezzenga, and Emma the Intern talk: – Walmart's brilliant one-stop strategy move to roll out ghost kitchens in Canada – Costco's appallingly slow rollout of curbside pickup – Bed Bath & Beyond's risky private label strategy – The long-term implications of Drest, the new fashion styling game – And, why Disney's decision to close down stores is a shrewd omnichannel move To l...

In the latest Groceryshop edition of the Omni Talk Spotlight Series, sponsored by 1010data, Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga interview Wes Schroll, Founder and CEO Fetch Rewards. "Adulting," as Wes puts it, and living on his own during college, Wes couldn't understand why retailers and brands asked consumers to jump through so many hoops to earn loyalty rewards. So, he set out to do something about it. For his final business school assignment in his Sophomore year at the University of Wisconsin,...

In the latest Groceryshop edition of the Omni Talk Spotlight Series, sponsored by 1010data, Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga interview Caper CEO Lindon Gao hot off his company's new smart cart pilot implementation with Kroger (see video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=burdDUj6f6w). Much has been said over the great smart cart debate of 2021, with Chris at one time even calling it the dashboard GPS of the retail industry, but is he now warming up to the idea? Maybe. Just maybe . . . at leas...

In the latest Groceryshop edition of the Omni Talk Spotlight Series, sponsored by 1010data, Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga interview Eric Tribe, Chief Marketplace Officer Flashfood. Did you know 30-40% of all food ends up in a landfill? That is the origin story behind Flashfood, the fast growing startup whose technology helps to solve the problems of food waste and of getting affordable food to people who need it the most. Eric discusses with Chris and Anne how the Flashfood app works as a ma...

In the latest Groceryshop edition of the Omni Talk Spotlight Series, sponsored by 1010data, Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga interview Tim Rowland, CEO of Badger Technologies, and Peter Veloz, CEO UltraViolet Devices Inc. (or UVDI for short). Coming off the success of its robotics implementations with Stop & Shop, the Giant Company, and Woodman's last year, Tim and Badger Technologies have now set their sights on developing robots that can also disinfect store shelves and products in response to ...

In the latest edition of the Omni Talk Fast Five, sponsored by A&M Consumer & Retail Group and Takeoff, Chris Walton, Anne Mezzenga, and Emma the Intern talk: – Target's murky yet still enviable competitive position heading into 2021 – One of the all-time biggest exec gaffes in history at Nike – Amazon Go coming to London – Albertsons actually going away from owned online deliveries in favor of third-parties – And, a fun story about a robot named Smiley that sells candy while you shop. To lear...

In the latest episode of Omni Talk’s Ask An Expert Interview Series for 2021, Chris Walton interviews Jonah Ellin, Chief Product Officer at 1010data. There is no question that 2020 was a transformative year for grocery. Consumer behavior changed, and retailers changed in response, but which of these changes are here to stay is still an important and outstanding question. So, with all that said, Chris went right to the data and asked Jonah to share his company's latest report on the state of t...

"Take The Leap" is the theme of this podcast, and no one has done that better than Kelly Kowal, Chief Platform Officer at Farfetch. Kelly didn't casually enter into a retail career, she dove into one. With courage and a "can-do" attitude, she began a journey in e-commerce running digital marketing at eBags.com. At the time, e-commerce was new to Kelly, so when she didn't know the acronyms people were using in the weekly status meetings, she showed up to the office at 5 AM before anyone else ar...

In the latest edition of the Omni Talk Fast Five, sponsored by A&M Consumer & Retail Group and Takeoff, Chris Walton, Anne Mezzenga, and Emma the Intern talk: – The absolute explosion in online grocery, particularly curbside pickup and third-party delivery – What to make of the rumor that Instacart is investigating warehouse automation (hint: it is not as nefarious as many people would want you to believe) – TikTok's new seller marketplace – Why Walmart's new BigCommerce partnership sounds cool...

In the latest episode of the Omni Talk Spotlight Series, Indy Guha, Chief Marketing Officer at Signifyd, joins Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga to discuss the topic of fraud prevention and how to think about it not as a cost reduction activity but as a revenue generating opportunity. Together, Chris, Anne, and Indy go deep on all the ways fraud can impact the consumer shopping experience across the entire purchase funnel, from e-commerce transactions to even the final proof point in the buy onlin...