Episodes

Welcome to Omni Talk's Retail Daily Minute, sponsored by Duvo and Mirakl. In today's Retail Daily Minute, Omni Talk's Chris Walton discusses: McCormick acquires Unilever's food business in a nearly $45 billion deal, as Unilever sharpens its focus on faster-growing personal care. Macy's formally launches Ask Macy's, an AI conversational shopping assistant powered by Google Gemini, with early beta data showing revenue per visit nearly 5x higher among users. Allbirds agrees to sell its assets a...

Welcome to Omni Talk's Retail Daily Minute, sponsored by Duvo and Mirakl. In today's Retail Daily Minute, Omni Talk's Chris Walton discusses: Sephora pilots its consumer app inside ChatGPT in the U.S. ALDI U.S. launches a redesigned website and mobile app fully powered by Instacart's Storefront Pro, naming Instacart its exclusive fulfillment partner across all owned digital channels. U.S. fashion brand Edikted opens its first European flagship on London's Carnaby Street, spanning 4,800 squar...

In this Retail Technology Spotlight Series episode, Chris Walton sits down with duvo.ai CEO Tomáš Čupr to explore one of the most mind-bending ideas in AI today: not just how AI can improve retail operations, but how it can actually identify what in your operations should be improved in the first place. Drawing on Tomáš Čupr’s experience building Rohlik Group, a $1.5B+ pan-European e-grocer, and now leading duvo.ai, the conversation dives deep into the messy reality of retail operations, includi...

Welcome to Omni Talk's Retail Daily Minute, sponsored by Duvo and Mirakl. In today's Retail Daily Minute, Omni Talk's Chris Walton discusses: Henkel agrees to acquire U.S. premium hair care brand Olaplex for $1.4 billion. The REI Union authorizes a boycott of the retailer's high-stakes anniversary sale, with a final decision expected by May 1st. DoorDash expands its growing apparel delivery category by adding Urban Outfitters, Steve Madden, Dolce Vita, and Rally House to its platform ahead o...

This Lightning Round segment of the Omni Talk Retail Fast Five, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Ocampo Capital, Infios, Quorso, and Veloq, closes out the show with rapid fire takes on Superman movie nostalgia and National Puppy Day. Chris Walton and returning guest Carter Jensen debate their lack of Superman viewing credentials and reflect on whether they did their dogs justice on National Puppy Day. Because sometimes the best conversations have nothing to do with retai...

This Omni Talk Retail Fast Five segment, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Ocampo Capital, Infios, Quorso, and Veloq, explores Amazon’s expanding grocery partnerships and its push into one-hour delivery. Chris Walton and returning guest Carter Jensen discuss how Amazon is leveraging logistics to partner with regional grocers and whether these partnerships are a short-term win or long-term risk. They also debate who really wins as Amazon tightens its grip on the final mile...

This Omni Talk Retail Fast Five segment, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Ocampo Capital, Infios, Quorso, and Veloq, dives into Instacart’s latest AI-powered Caper Cart update using NVIDIA technology. Chris Walton and returning guest Carter Jensen debate whether smart carts actually solve real consumer problems or if this is another overhyped investment. From high costs to low adoption, the conversation challenges whether AI is being applied in the right places in retail...

This Omni Talk Retail Fast Five segment, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Ocampo Capital, Infios, Quorso, and Veloq, breaks down Walmart’s deeper integration with Vizio and what it means for retail media. Chris Walton and returning guest Carter Jensen discuss how connecting TV viewing data with shopping behavior could unlock powerful new advertising capabilities and help Walmart compete more directly with Amazon. They also explore what unified logins and cross-device tra...

This Omni Talk Retail Fast Five segment, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Ocampo Capital, Infios, Quorso, and Veloq, breaks down Walmart’s deeper integration with Vizio and what it means for retail media. Chris Walton and returning guest Carter Jensen discuss how connecting TV viewing data with shopping behavior could unlock powerful new advertising capabilities and help Walmart compete more directly with Amazon. They also explore what unified logins and cross-device tra...

This Omni Talk Retail Fast Five segment, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Ocampo Capital, Infios, Quorso, and Veloq, dives into Amazon’s expansion of its Shop Direct feature. Chris Walton and returning guest Carter Jensen discuss what it means for brands as Amazon begins pulling in third-party product feeds, allowing customers to shop outside of its marketplace while still staying inside its ecosystem. The duo debates whether this is a win for consumers, a risk for brands...

In this special live episode, Chris Walton is joined on stage at Shoptalk Spring 2026 by Ben Miller, VP of Original Content at Shoptalk; Sarah Engel, President of January Digital; and Joe Laszlo, Head of Content and Insights for Shoptalk US, for a rapid-fire recap of the biggest themes, stats, and moments from the week. From AI hype vs. reality to the rise of agentic commerce, the panel breaks down what actually moved the needle at one of retail's biggest annual gatherings and what it all means...

Welcome to Omni Talk's Retail Daily Minute, sponsored by Duvo and Mirakl. In today's Retail Daily Minute, Omni Talk's Chris Walton discusses: OpenAI shuts down its Sora video generation app ahead of its anticipated IPO, simultaneously dissolving its $1 billion partnership with Disney that was announced just three months ago. Walmart debuts its commerce agent Sparky inside ChatGPT as OpenAI pivots away from Instant Checkout and refocuses on product discovery through its expanded Agentic Commer...

In this week's Omni Talk Retail Fast Five, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Ocampo Capital, Infios, Quorso and Veloq, Chris and returning guest Carter Jensen — now of The Uncommon Business and one of the original co-creators of this very podcast — discussed: Amazon expanding its Shop Direct feature to accept third-party product feeds (Source) Ulta Beauty launching on TikTok Shop (Source) Walmart and Vizio unveiling new content-to-commerce integrations at the 2026 IAB Ne...

Welcome to Omni Talk's Retail Daily Minute, sponsored by Duvo and Mirakl. In today's Retail Daily Minute, Omni Talk's Chris Walton discusses: Gap becomes the first major fashion retailer to offer direct checkout inside Google's Gemini AI platform, using the Universal Commerce Protocol to give shoppers a seamless “agentic” commerce experience, without ever leaving the app. Dollar General names JJ Fleeman, current CEO of Ahold Delhaize USA and a 35-year grocery veteran, as its next Chief Execut...

Welcome to Omni Talk's Retail Daily Minute, sponsored by Duvo and Mirakl. In today's Retail Daily Minute, Omni Talk's Chris Walton discusses: Target is requiring store workers to wear plain red shirts with blue jeans or khakis starting this summer. UNFI's Endless Aisle program is connecting food retailers with nearly 4,000 SKUs from emerging suppliers through a drop-ship model with no minimum order quantities, giving smaller brands a low-risk path to national distribution. Babylist is openin...

Welcome to Omni Talk's Retail Daily Minute, sponsored by Duvo and Mirakl. In today's Retail Daily Minute, Omni Talk's Chris Walton discusses: Costco partners with Moloco to launch Reserve Display, a personalized onsite ad format functioning as a "digital end cap," targeting members with AI-driven recommendations at the moment of product selection. Ingka Group, the world's largest IKEA franchisee, plans to cut around 800 corporate jobs as new CEO Juvencio Maeztu moves to simplify an organizati...

Welcome to Omni Talk's Retail Daily Minute, sponsored by Duvo and Mirakl. In today's Retail Daily Minute, Omni Talk's Chris Walton discusses: Macy's beats Q4 expectations but issues a cautious 2026 outlook, as CEO Tony Spring flags tariff headwinds, macro uncertainty, and the ongoing investment costs of its namesake store transformation. Family Dollar unveils plans to pilot an extra small box store format targeting dense urban markets, alongside strong 2025 results and an ambitious multi-year...

Welcome to Omni Talk's Retail Daily Minute, sponsored by Duvo and Mirakl. In today's Retail Daily Minute, Omni Talk's Chris Walton discusses: Amazon rolls out new 1-hour and 3-hour delivery options across hundreds of U.S. cities, giving customers access to 90,000+ products with Prime-discounted fees and plans to expand throughout 2026. Build-A-Bear makes its first-ever wholesale debut at Walmart, launching Mini Beans, Micro Mini Beans blind-bag collectibles, and the Build-A-Bear x Bluey colle...

Welcome to Omni Talk's Retail Daily Minute, sponsored by Duvo and Mirakl. In today's Retail Daily Minute, Omni Talk's Chris Walton discusses: Dollar Tree posts a solid Q4 with net sales up 9% to $5.45 billion, but back-to-back traffic declines raise deeper questions about its consumables assortment. Walmart pilots a "rapid remodel" process that condenses months of store renovation into just four weeks, with tests kicking off in April across Neighborhood Markets in six states. DoorDash expand...

Welcome to Omni Talk's Retail Daily Minute, sponsored by Duvo and Mirakl. In today's Retail Daily Minute, Omni Talk's Chris Walton discusses: Dollar General reports a strong Q4 with net sales up 5.9% to $10.9 billion and same-store sales jumping 4.3%, while unveiling plans for a new treasure-hunt store format and a subscription loyalty pilot in 2026. Dick's Sporting Goods pulls back on Foot Locker closures after its Fast Break store pilot delivers standout comps exceeding Dick's own business,...

This Lightning Round segment of the Omni Talk Retail Fast Five, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Ocampo Capital, Infios, Quorso, and Veloq, closes out the show with rapid fire takes on nihilist penguins, Friday the 13th superstition, and March Madness predictions. Chris Walton and Jenn Hahn prove once again that retail conversations always find their way into pop culture and the internet’s strangest trends. ⏩ Tune in for the full episode here. #LightningRound #RetailFast...

This Omni Talk Retail Fast Five segment, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Ocampo Capital, Infios, Quorso, and Veloq, looks at how Dick’s Sporting Goods unexpectedly surged up the Apple App Store rankings. Chris Walton and Jenn Hahn break down how the retailer’s Move fitness rewards app is driving engagement and why gamifying fitness could be a powerful retail loyalty strategy. ⏩ Tune in for the full episode here. #RetailNews #DicksSportingGoods #RetailApps #RetailEngagem...

This Omni Talk Retail Fast Five segment, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Ocampo Capital, Infios, Quorso, and Veloq, explores Kroger’s use of autonomous drones inside sub freezing distribution centers. Chris Walton and Jenn Hahn discuss how drone technology could transform warehouse inventory management and eliminate some of the most difficult cold chain tasks. ⏩ Tune in for the full episode here. #RetailNews #Kroger #WarehouseAutomation #RetailLogistics #SupplyChain #Om...

This Omni Talk Retail Fast Five segment, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Ocampo Capital, Infios, Quorso, and Veloq, looks at Kroger’s decision to create a Chief Data and AI Officer role. Chris Walton and Jenn Hahn discuss what elevating the leader of 84.51 means for Kroger’s long term AI strategy and how data leadership is becoming central to retail. ⏩ Tune in for the full episode here. #RetailNews #Kroger #AIinRetail #RetailTechnology #RetailInnovation #OmniTalk #Retai...