Episodes

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...

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: – The latest statistics on and the now burning platform that is Walmart+ – Victoria's Secret getting back into swimwear – Poshmark getting into the pets business – Amazon's acquisition of Selz – And, P&G's off-the-wall plans to open Old Spice barbershops (seriously, WTF?) It's another podcast for the ages and one chock-full of 80's re...

For the latest episode of Omni Talk’s new Ask An Expert Interview Series for 2021, Chris Walton interviews Kevin Swanwick, Vice President Store Solutions at Manhattan Associates. The correlative relationship between service and margin is a fundamental axiom in business, and yet retail companies often overlook this relationship in evaluating what technologies are right for them. The flashiest answers may not be the best answers and could depend on whether your business is designed to move many ...

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: -- Instacart's ever-growing dominance across 25,000+ stores across America -- Target coyly and quietly building out its own same-day marketplace with brands that neither Amazon nor Walmart may carry -- Walmart hitting another snag on its quest for TikTok -- Walgreens and Uber's new partnership on free rides for vaccinations -- And, wha...

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: – Asos purchasing TopShop – Imagr's new checkout-free implementation in Japan and the ongoing debate on smart carts – The latest last-mile developments from Instacart and Uber – Lego making its own version of Tik Tok for kids – And, Jeff Bezos leaving Amazon and his legacies that will endure All that, plus Chris shares his latest Gins...

In the latest episode of the Omni Talk Spotlight Series, Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga interview Marshall Kay and JP Kamel, or as those in the know call them, the RFID Sherpas. RFID is a topic that is rightly back en vogue of late as retailers race to meet the rapidly changing needs of the consumer amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Together in this podcast, Chris, Anne, and the Sherpas discuss all the ways RFID can unlock value across retail, including how it can deliver ROI through better inventor...

In the latest episode of Omni Talk’s new Ask An Expert Interview Series for 2021, Chris Walton interviews Ross Sabolcik, VP & GM Industrial & Commercial IoT Products at Silicon Labs. The episode marks what is the first interview in a multi-episode arc, in which Chris and Silicon Labs will delve deep into the smart retail technologies that will change physical retail experiences the most in 2021. Chris and Ross begin their discussion high level and then discuss five key areas on which their upc...

In the latest edition of the Omni Talk Fast Five, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group and Takeoff, Chris Walton, Anne Mezzenga, and Emma the Intern: – Laud Walgreens' new CEO choice, Roz Brewer – Explore the deep meaning behind Walmart's large-scale push this week into microfulfillment – Discuss what Godiva's store closings say about the state of "experiential" retail – Highlight Centennial reaching Phase II of its plan to make malls shoppable online with one consistent checkout expe...

Kristin started her retail career in the Macy's training program and in no time at all, began heading up the handbags and hosiery department. Now, Kristin is CEO at JOOR and is taking that company all the way to the top as they reinvent the traditions, events, and systems retailers, brands, and designers have leaned on to run their businesses. Join Anne Mezzenga as she gleans advice from Kristin's experience as a VP for the XO Group (The Knot, The Bump, etc.), where she helped to launch many si...