Episodes

In the latest edition of the Omni Talk Fast Five, sponsored by the A&M Consumer & Retail Group, and Takeoff Anne Mezzenga and guest host Forrester VP and Principal Analyst Sucharita Kodali discuss: -Instacart’s powerhouse move, bringing over yet another Facebook Exec, Fidji Simo, to be the company’s CEO and what this indicates for the direction company may be headed in. -Why Sam’s Club adding Scan & Ship is so much more than a new app feature and may open them up to an entirely new consumer. ...

In the latest edition of the Omni Talk Fast Five, sponsored by the A&M Consumer & Retail Group, and Takeoff Anne Mezzenga and returning guest host Steve Dennis: -Dive into Dollar General’s big announcements they’re getting into healthcare and expanding fresh produce to 10,000+ stores including many in USDA-deemed food deserts. -Tap Steve’s luxury retail experience for his analysis on Bloomingdale’s new off-mall concept, Bloomie’s. -Discuss Brookfield’s and Simon Property Group’s investments i...

In this Omni Talk Ask An Expert Interview, Anne Mezzenga sits down with Yair Holtzer VP of Business Development at Trigo to talk about Artificial Intelligence Computer Vision (AICV). The AICV space is heating up with retailers across the globe piloting checkout-free retail stores of all sizes and in this interview, Anne gets Yair’s expert opinion on how retailers can best approach scaling this technology. Trigo has learned this strategy first hand over the course of the last three years as one...

In the latest edition of the Omni Talk Fast Five, sponsored by the A&M Consumer & Retail Group, Takeoff, and BrightSign, Anne Mezzenga and returning guest host Oliver Banks: -Recap rather muted Prime Day results, how the event compares to Singles Day, and what Amazon can do to keep their holiday hopping. -Laud Nordstrom and Indochino for making one of the smartest partnership moves to bring GenZ and Millennials back to the department store. -Geek out over the expansion of Alibaba’s Store X co...

"You know great omnichannel retailing when you don’t see it." Omni Talk’s Chris Walton is joined by Sam’s Club Chief Technology Officer Vinod Bidarkoppa in this special edition of the Omni Talk Ask An Expert Series to share how his team has triumphed during this pandemic year, consistently putting out best-in-class examples of true omnichannel retailing. Vinod was brought on to the Walmart team to lead a “$65 billion dollar startup” also known as Sam’s Club, and in just under two years, has le...

In the latest edition of the Omni Talk Fast Five, sponsored by the A&M Consumer & Retail Group, Takeoff, and BrightSign, Anne Mezzenga and guest hosts David Ritter and Mohit Mohal of the Alvarez & Marsal Consumer & Retail Group: -Debate, that’s right, I said debate, the significance of Amazon opening a full-size Amazon Fresh autonomous grocery store. -Discuss the required execution necessary for Lowes Foods office locker delivery to be as successful as Anne wants it to be. -Determine just how...

Sepideh Burkett knew at an early age that she was ready to take on big things. At 17, she left her family in Dubai with a one-way ticket to the US to start work on her engineering degree. After being "beaten into submission" by calculus, those plans changed and she followed in the family's footsteps and decided to make the pivot to pharmacy school. Now, you're probably thinking, this is a retail podcast, right? Yes. That's what makes Sepideh's story so unique. After years of running the pharma...

In the latest edition of the Omni Talk Fast Five, sponsored by the A&M Consumer & Retail Group, Takeoff, and BrightSign, Anne Mezzenga and guest host Carl Boutet: -Discuss their admiration for Walmart’s newest plan to plus up Walmart+ with free prescriptions for members. -Talk GNC making ultra Ulta moves setting up shop in 4,000+ Walmart stores and on Walmart.com. Remember to scan-and-go that protein, bro! -Discover Carl Boutet’s love of bin shopping for beans, now available at Quicklotz. -L...

Did you know 58% of consumers never return after making an initial purchase? And that is because loyalty is fast and fleeting, especially in today’s complex and competitive eCommerce environment. Only focusing on a consumer's linear path-to-purchase risks losing sight of all the activity that happens after a purchase is made. The best predictors of what a consumer may do next lie within his or her online activity, not just from search to purchase but also in what happens beyond the purchase as ...

In the latest edition of the Omni Talk Fast Five, sponsored by the A&M Consumer & Retail Group, Takeoff, and BrightSign, Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga: - Discuss what the new Walmart and Gap partnership means for a brand they both love so much (and would come out of retirement for). - Explain why there is so much more nuance to the long-term discussion about Instacart than what the pundits are relaying with all their pithy comments on social media. - Debate whether Sheetz taking Bitcoin is a s...

As NetElixir CEO and Founder Udayan Bose says, Chief Marketing Officers and e-commerce marketing teams have been running on a treadmill at 10 mph since the pandemic began. And, now just when they don't need another wrench thrown into things, iOS updates have eliminated third-party cookies, turning up the heat and forcing them to come up with new ways to attract customers. In fact, according to a NetElixir study, 80% of the brands and retailers they surveyed were so busy trying to stay on top of...

In the latest edition of the Omni Talk Fast Five, sponsored by the A&M Consumer & Retail Group, Takeoff, and Manhattan Associates, A&M's Kristin Kohler Burrows and Chad Lusk stop by to discuss all the week's top retail news with Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga. Together they debate: - The likely impacts of Amazon's MGM acquisition. - The first-ever antitrust suit brought against Amazon and why it feels like the Attorney General of Washington, D.C. may have a case. - 10 minute delivery and the n...

A few years ago, Adam Siegel came to Omni Talk and said he was leaving his position at RILA to found a startup he believed could revolutionize resale by giving brands a new way for their existing customers to resell the products they had previously purchased from them online and in an intuitive way. Intrigued by the simplicity of the idea as Adam described it, Anne and Chris asked that Adam keep in touch, and lo and behold almost two years later that startup, Recurate, has just secured $3.25 mi...

In the latest Omni Talk Ask An Expert Series interview, Chris Walton speaks with Quorso Founder and CEO Julian Mills about the latest trends in agile store management theory and practice. Agile store management, first introduced to the Omni Talk audience back in the summer of 2020, is the idea that retail operations, particularly at the store level, can be managed similar to how software is created, i.e. with a quick, iterative mindset that is all about coordinated testing and learning to deliv...

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 debate: - Target's billion dollar plus move into alcohol delivery and what CEO Brian Cornell likely wears to the gym twice a day. - Amazon Go Grocery's rebranding to Amazon Fresh and what it heralds for the future (hint: it's more than you think). - Google and Shopify's new partnership and whether it will amount to a hill of beans. - T...

In 2020, Adeptmind made headlines with plans to make Centennial Mall properties fully shoppable online, and just last month this plan became a reality. Consumers can now shop over 2.0 million skus across a bevy of retailers at Centennial’s MainPlace mall for both delivery and pickup. That's 2.0 million plus skus online, from a mall, for delivery and pickup -- a massive milestone and achievement in mall-based retailing. We first spotlighted Adeptmind in a podcast interview last year, and now Ch...

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...