Amazon Autos, Best Buy’s Marketplace & The Potential Target Fiddelke Faux Pas | Fast Five

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Today is August 27, 2025.

I'm one of your hosts and Mazinga.

And I'm Chris Walton and we are.

Here once again to discuss all the top headlines from the past week making waves in the world of omnichannel retailing.

Chris and I we just took in took the red eye.

Yeah, it feels like in we just took the red eye from the Walmart Sellers Conference in San Diego.

So we need to call in some reinforcements for this show, right, Chris?

Yes, we do.

Yes, we do.

My brother from another mother.

Let's do it.

Yes.

So joining us as guest host is the man, the myth, the legend, Shop Talk and Grocery Shops, VP of original content and Strategy, Ben Miller.

Ben, welcome to the show.

It's a good morning for us, a good afternoon for you.

How you doing?

Oh, really good.

Thank you again for having me back on.

This is so much fun.

Yes, we are so excited to have you.

And for those who might be new to Omni Talk or who are meeting you for the first time, Ben, maybe give us a quick background on you and about the Grocery Shop and Shop Talk fall events that we have coming up before we dig into the headlines.

Thank you, Anne.

So I have the privilege of serving as VP of content for original content for Shop Talk and Grocery Shop.

And so I work across our global portfolio of now five shows and I get to coordinate the research, coordinate insights, and I get to write new content to get to share at our platforms.

So my background is firstly as an operator.

So I worked for the Safeway company, worked in store, worked in head office, worked in investor relations.

So been hands on and then went consultancy side helping predominantly CPG sell more to grocery retailers around the world and then found myself working for the Shop Talk team.

So where it's look, we are three weeks today, we're opening our Shoptalk 4 show in Chicago.

Five weeks today, we'll be wrapping Grocery Shop in Las Vegas.

So it's busy, busy times in Shop Top Towers.

But we're looking forward to seeing everybody getting everyone together again at these two great events in the next couple of weeks.

Ben, we're so excited about it.

And also Chris, Ben forgot to mention in his bio that he's also a budding fashion designer.

We are wearing our Shop Talk jacket today that Ben personally designed.

Ben, this is a very on trend.

Did you know that the Varsity jacket is like the it jacket for fall?

You did know that, right?

I did.

I, I would say more distributor than designer distributor.

I, I know my place in, in the wholesale channel.

That's fine.

Boot salesman.

Yeah, right.

That's funny.

Oh, man.

All right, so you got, and there's, and there's promo codes too for our listeners, right, Ben?

Yeah, that's absolutely right.

So Shop Talk Fall and Grocery Shops, two different websites.

But we've got promo codes for all the Omni Talk community available to both.

They're kind of, you need to use distinct links.

So we'll put the links in the show notes and everyone can jump on.

So yeah, please, there's 20% discount codes for everybody.

Yeah, 20%.

We'll put those codes in the show notes like Ben said.

So Ben, I can't believe there's five shows now too.

You guys have five shows?

That's wild.

I was doing the math in my head.

I was like, yeah, five shows.

You know what else there's five of?

Ben, there's five headlines because you're on the fast five.

In this week's Fast Five, we've got news on Hertz Auto sales, new Amazon Autos partnership, Best Buy's Marketplace launch, Walmart Canada rolling out BNPL in stores with Klarna Fabletics going all in on rfid.

And Daniela Stropa of AWS stops by to share August's retail tech startup of the Month.

But we begin today in a place many of our fans probably expect.

And that's right, headline number one.

We teased it last week.

Chris had a big article that he put out over the weekend.

Target has named Michael Fidelke, its current Chief Operating officer, as its next CEO.

According to CNBC, Fidelke is the company's 49 year old chief operating officer and former Chief Financial officer and will succeed Brian Cornell effective February 1st of 2026.

Cornell, who took the helm of the cheap chic retailer in 2014, will transition to the role of executive chair on Target's board of directors.

Fidelke laid out three priorities.

One, re establishing Target's reputation as a retailer with stylish and unique items.

Two, providing a more consistent customer experience and three, using technology more effectively to operate an efficient business.

Chris, we're going to go to you first because this is the put you on the spot question from the A and M consumer and retail group.

They want to get this show started off right and address the elephant in the room.

CEO succession plans can be difficult regardless of credentials as a Target lifer.

Can Michael Fidelke emerge from Brian Cornell's legacy and change the trajectory of Target is especially with Brian Cornell still on the board?

Or should the next CEO have been from outside the company to kickstart a fresh perspective on Target strategy?

Oh, wow, that's a great question, candidly.

And I said in my article over the weekend, you know, I, I think it's, I think it's the wrong move, you know, and I, I, I'm kind of more excited to hear what you guys have to say because I feel like I penned my thoughts pretty, pretty diligently and robustly in the article I put forward on the weekend like you said, Ann, but, you know, I'm going, so I'll make this quick, but I think what I'm.

I'm going to coin the phrase here that this is going to be the Fidelki faux pas.

That's the new term I'm going to use, because I think in the long run, this whole move could be embarrassing for every single party involved.

It could be embarrassing for Fidelki, it could be embarrassing for the board, and it's definitely going to be embarrassing for Canel, I think, because not only is it the wrong move, but it's also a move to me that says far more about Cornell than it does about Fidelki.

So, you know, Cornell I've been talking about ad nauseam on this show for the past three years.

His track record is subpar, you know, excluding the.

The two years of the pandemic, particularly, what has he really accomplished?

When you look at the numbers, why is Target better positioned to succeed than when he took over in the long run?

Where are the growth strategies?

I still can't name them.

I looked through the earnings report again this week.

I still can't find them.

And what worries me is that Cornell is also not going anywhere.

He's still the executive chairman.

And this didn't strike me until, you know, preparing for this, too.

He doesn't even leave until February.

He's still enrolled until February 1st.

That's a half year away, which is just the holiday.

Yeah.

That's the big thing, right?

Yeah.

Yeah.

You got to still go through the crux of the retail season here, too.

So I don't know.

So then you got to ask yourself, why would Cornell do this?

And I think the only answer I can come up with is, and people may not like it, or they may, but I think it's protected to protect his legacy.

The last thing he wants.

The last thing Cornell wants is someone external coming in and showing him up, because then he can't write the memoir like all his CEO friends.

And this avoids that.

It also gives him someone now to share accountability with.

So, you know, is Fidelke the best internal candidate?

Probably, but he runs operations.

Operations haven't been going well.

And what worries me the most, and this is something I didn't put in the article overtly, which I probably should have, is that is that we could put as many pictures of stores and empty shelves as we want on social media, and people have been doing that till the cows come home.

But I think the more important mark on this regime is actually their digital performance.

The fact that Their digital performance in the last quarter was only 4%.

That is not even keeping pace with the market.

And it's the same cast of characters, particularly with Fidelki at the helm, that are.

That have been responsible for that and seemingly still are responsible for that.

So that's why I question this move.

It just doesn't seem to make sense.

And I 100% agree, or I don't know if I agree, but to answer A and M's question, I think they should have gone external.

Sure.

Ben, what are you hearing?

And you know, Chris and I are obviously very close to Target, having worked there, both of us.

But what are your perspectives and what are you.

What else are you hearing in the industry?

Oh, thanks, Anne.

And it's been, you know, it's been nice to have a week since this story broke to on it and, and to read a lot of commentary.

You know, there's been an awful lot published.

I thought if people haven't read Chris's blog, it's a great read.

It's very well written.

Whether you agree or not, it's very well written and very.

And really insightful.

So well done, Chris.

Thank you for taking the time to, to put your thoughts.

And, you know, I think the first reflection I've had is the sheer volume reflects the passion that exists around the retailer.

You know, it's really clear that Target is a brand that means a lot to a lot of people.

Everybody's got a view, everybody wants to have a view.

And, you know, I think I'm kind of one of those, you know, when Target's good, it's great, it was exciting.

It brings design to mass.

It's been an incredible platform for exciting brands to launch and to scale.

So first off, I wish the team all the best in.

In the turnaround, however that takes place on Fidelka.

I've only met him once.

That was a shop Talk Spring in 23.

When he spoke, he was a pleasure to deal with.

He was great on stage, if any, if you or any of the listeners can remember.

The room was absolutely packed.

It was clear he was the nominated successor.

So, look, I had nothing but positive perceptions from that one engagement.

But that doesn't make it look.

That's absolutely no foundation for me to choose whether it'll be a good CEO or not.

And so, yeah, I'm not gonna.

I, I think it's important to not underestimate the difference between being an executive and being a CEO.

It's a completely different job and sometimes you just don't know until the person's enrolled, you just don't know, Right.

I guess what I probably would share is a personal reflection and that I talked a little bit in my introduction about my career.

I've spent most of my career traveling backwards and forwards across the Atlantic, being in and out of stores in both the US and Europe, with one notable exception, and that was I was in New York in February 2020.

I was meeting retailers, I was meeting with brands I had coffee with coffee with Joe Laszlo and then bang, I didn't, I wasn't in the US again until grocery shop in 22.

That was just shy of, just shy of three years.

So I didn't live through the pandemic in the U.S. i got this view of the world before and then suddenly the world after.

And when I, when I came flew out to Vegas for grocery shop in 20, the first thing I did was go out and see some stores.

And there was two operators that shocked me about how much worse their customer experience had got during that period from having that before and after contrast.

One was Target and the other was Starbucks.

Wow.

And the in store standards of both had really deteriorated.

And then from there they got worse.

And I thought rather than being part of a gradual change, I got to see this quite upfront.

And I guess what I'm pleased about is that both those retailers have recognized that they weren't serving their customers well enough.

The situation had to get worse from there, but they're both turning around.

So I guess to come back to the A and M question, I think Starbucks is a cautionary tale for us all about getting too excited too early about an external hire.

Turnarounds like this, right, Huge brands take time.

They need a huge amount of patience and they need a huge amount of goodwill.

And if Fidelki can get that goodwill going and can get his team on side, then he's got a chance.

But he's got a phenomenal amount to right connect.

I don't underestimate the challenge that lies ahead.

So I think obviously time will tell if he's the right hire or not.

I don't think there is a playbook of whether it should be external or internal.

It comes down to individual and you've got to find out.

I mean, the final thing I'll say is it will come as probably no surprise to you both that we have got cobbles in with both the Target team and the Starbucks team inviting both Brian and Michael to keynote at Shop Talk next year.

So yes, if any of their personal teams are listening and that invite hasn't hit their desks yet, then just ping me on LinkedIn.

But I think we all want to know what is the strategy?

Because there has to be more than those three big bullet points he put out on that video on social media.

Right?

I. I agree.

And I appreciate your perspective, both of you.

And, and Ben, I think you called out a lot of really good points there.

There is a big turnaround at hand, and I'm gonna just offer a slightly different perspective because I think it's easy to throw this decision under the bus, to throw Fidelki under the bus, to dismiss him as the media has been because he's an internal candidate.

But let me just play devil devil's advocate here and say, what if Fidelke is the only person who can care, who can turn this brand around?

Not to mention he's boots on the ground in Minneapolis.

The same couldn't have been said for Cornell.

Fidelke has been there his entire career.

And it's not the decision that people wanted or expected.

It's not going to be easy.

He's going to have to say some hard things and make some hard decisions when with peers that he's grown up with within the organization.

Which is a big question mark, as a former Targeteer and mentor of mine said to me this week.

But I just wonder if, if you brought in an external candidate, would they give Target their.

Their entire selves to make this transformation?

I don't know.

I don't know that I could see that happening.

And so my question and my hope for Target and for fidelity is that he's seen Targets good, he's seen what it can be.

And now he's in a position still with Cornell at the head of the board.

But he's in the position to start making some of these decisions.

And I really, truly hope for the sake of all of those people still at Target, all the people who love shopping the brand, that he's the one person who has the experience to make the brand what great again and what it really can be.

And especially, especially if he can focus on bringing that design perspective and point of view that Target has lost throughout the years.

Ben, what do you think on that?

I mean, I have a lot of thoughts on what Ann just said.

What do you think there before I.

Before I.

No, I think a lot of what Ann says makes a lot of sense.

A lot of sense.

And you can believe in that.

I think the point about you've seen Target when it's good and how to get back to this, because when I did those store visits that first day in Vegas, the one retailer that stood out to me that was so much better coming out the pandemic in terms of in store standards, in terms of operations, in terms of proposition was Walmart.

So what happened during that time is Walmart went one way and Target went the other.

Target's opportunity now is to be the best target it can be, not try and copy Walmart or try and copy Amy.

And how can it find the best Target?

Because there's a, there's a gap in the market for that.

Is it just about chasing the right things and you know, a leader who understands that could be well placed.

But I, I have my reservations.

I think the city and the street haven't been excited but you know, post three 4% comms in the next quarterlies and they'll be fine.

So, you know, I think, I mean, you've just got to see what he can do and how he can bring the team along in the way you say.

I'm.

My only caveat with what you said though, Ann, is like, I think, I think we're lowering the bar of expectations.

If it's just based on who cares about getting the job, like, and who cares about the brand, like, there's a lot of people that meet that qualification and I can name X people at Target that are now at other companies that are doing well, that have more merchandising and digital experience than Fidelki does.

And I'm curious if they got a sniff at by the board.

I'm curious.

There's been a lot of comments on social media about how long this external search actually happened, if it did in fact happen.

So like that's where I'm like, yeah, I can see what you're saying, but like that bar is really, really low.

If that's all we're basing this judgment on.

Again with the other point being what's been happening at the company with the people in the roles that they've been in, they've been the ones in charge of this.

And so I don't know, that's, that's just my one, my one caveat with what you said.

But you, I give you the last word and then we'll move on.

Yeah, I think meaning the only, the only counterpoint I'd say is, you know, Fidelke wasn't the CEO, you know, it was a, it was, he was part of the executive team, but he wasn't the one making the final decision.

And so my, my hope is again, like, if he's in role, he has a big, big task ahead of him and I don't want to diminish the point of like he's grown up with all the other people who are in the executive roles right now at Target.

Like it's not going to be easy to tell those people in merchandising, in marketing, in you know, ops and supply chain the hard truths to get Target to where it's not going to, it's going, it's got to be.

But you know, can, can he do that?

And if he can, hopefully it, it's a, it's the last hope for the brand.

But again, if we're giving dispensation for that conversation, that's a, that's a red flag to me too because every CEO should be able to have that conversation which another mentor mindset.

Like the other point would be is this a job that's just too big for a first time CEO like that?

That's a legitimate question too.

I think Ford should be asking as well, like you need to know how to be a CEO to run Target given the challenges that are in front of it, especially from a growth standpoint.

That's another thing that I think needs to be looked at.

But all right, Headline number two Hertz Car Sales Launched on Amazon Autos According to Hertz press release, Hertz Car Sales has joined Amazon Autos allowing shoppers to browse, finance and purchase from a selection of thousands of high quality pre owned vehicles as Amazon Auto's first fleet dealer.

Man, there's a lot of alliteration in this headline.

Hertz Car Sales is expanding the available inventory on Amazon Autos to offer a wider selection of well maintained vehicles from trusted brands like Ford, Toyota, Chevrolet, Nissan and more.

Customers can now browse Hertz Car Sales listings on Amazon Autos complete with their purchase online and pick up their vehicle at Hertz Car Sales locations.

This will initially begin in Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles and Seattle with plans to expand to hertz car sales 45 locations nationwide.

Quote Our goal is to reimagine the car buying experience and meet customers where they are, whether online or in person with convenience, confidence and scale, little ccs, said Jeff Adams, Executive Vice President of Herz Car Sales.

Question for you Ben.

Are you buying or selling?

Buying a used car from Amazon.

Oh, I'm buying this.

I'm, I'm buying.

Yeah, this is, this is a win win or, or it could be a win win win.

So look for her.

They've got a, they have these rental cars have got a large number of cars they have to Shift they have to get as good a price as they can for them.

So for them they just want to.

This is an opportunity to build off Amazon's traffic rather than doing at the moment they send them into auction houses or backdoor into dealers networks, often at reduced prices.

So this is, could be a lovely outlet for them.

For Amazon this is classic marketplace building in action.

It's building a whole volume of inventory.

Drive the search results, drive awareness, drive traffic, create opportunities for selling more accessories and supplies.

You already automated a really big business for the marketplace in Amazon and then I think for the consumer it's huge potential.

Secondhand car sales is a market absolutely ripe for disruption and Amazon Hertz proposition is strong.

If you go onto the website, yeah, it's a, it's a strong, there's inventory there.

It's really simple to navigate.

The finance options are really clear.

I mean hire cars look high.

Cars get driven unpredictably but they are maintained really well.

Rental companies have to look after their fleet.

So you're probably going to get a car that's been maintained and cleaned a lot more than your average secondhand car.

You probably at a lower price and then Amazon is offering with a discount.

So meets the Amazon value prop.

Really clear financing.

Super easy for Amazon, super easy for the clients.

Amazon probably taking a cut.

It feels really good.

And then look, I'm buying it.

If Amazon could go one step further and just disrupt the actual higher car business itself, God, I'd be really happy about that.

But for now, for the actual secondhand sales, yeah, I think this is a great move for both parties.

Well, so tell them what they won, Bob.

Yeah, so yeah, so yeah, and they were, and they've been trying to do that with Hyundai too.

If I don't, if I'm not mistaken early on based on some of the things they're doing early in the year.

But yeah, this is overtly into the used car sales.

And do you agree with Ben on this one?

I do, I'm, I'm buying this 100%.

I've said for years the retail experience that I would most like to be disrupted is car buying.

And this is another smart move towards making it happen.

I also, I think the consumer now with Things like Carvana, CarMax and Amazon Autos and now Hertz being part of that.

I think they're, they're finally getting over the hump and they're kind of getting into mass adoption of actually shopping for a car this way.

Like people are more comfortable doing the, the selection of the kind of car that they want, the research at home and then this very easy possibility of going to a Hertz test driving and leaving.

I have one of the listeners reached out and told me that she bought a car off of CarMax with a test drive in 45 minutes.

Like that is giving people time back, precious time.

And I think that the convenience angle here that Amazon and Hertz are offering car shopping customers is, is something that on a platform like Amazon that they're very comfortable with already is what I really love about this and I think has the most potential to see success with, with a campaign like this.

But where, what do you think Chris?

Are you, are you buying it?

Yeah, I like it too.

I think it's, I think it's so smart and I think, you know, some, some retail listers might be like why you guys covering this story?

This isn't applicable to most retail, but it actually is because if you think about it, it's not that dissimilar to what Abercrombie Kids is doing with now was Macy's a couple weeks ago.

Now they said it's Nordstrom's and it's even I think Dick Sporting Goods.

Not mistaken.

Right.

But they're doing that in store.

But they could also be doing it through their digital marketplaces because marketplaces are important because they give you access to more people who like me, I didn't even think I could go to Hertz to buy a car.

Like I never even.

That Hertz never even entered my consideration set.

Right.

And now it does.

So I can easily sort through the inventory on Amazon.

Like Ben said, I trust Amazon, right.

Implicitly.

I think that's one of the best things about shopping on Amazon.

And then the other question too that I got going as we were at the Walmart seller conference this week because they're always trying to one up each other is how long before we start seeing Walmart auto sales?

You know, like they're already doing all the automotive angles with everything they do with their.

What are those called?

The, you know, the tires, the change.

The auto centers in their stores.

So like yeah, why isn't this become part of that experience in some way, shape or form?

I don't know.

But yeah, yeah, it's just so smart.

My favorite thing is that I'm still being served up bananas when I go look for the car.

Like the Amazon fresh cart is still popping up from our story last week about last minute delivery.

Like what do you need a rental car and some bananas and maybe some toilet paper.

We don't know but it's all there and it's all on one platform.

Cue Gwen Stefani.

All right, all right.

Headline number three.

Best Buy officially launched its third party marketplace.

According to cnbc.

Again starting last Tuesday, shoppers who go to Best Buy's website and app will see products and brands that weren't available there before, including more tech related accessories like custom video game controllers and some non tech items including seasonal decor, core and sports collectibles.

At launch, Best Buy's marketplace will have about 500 sellers.

The company reportedly vetted applicants and whittled them down to the ones who can provide a high quality customer experience.

And the sellers much must match Best Buy's return policy.

All right, question, Ben, we're going to go to you first.

What does Best Buy have to do right to make this marketplace successful?

Oh, great, great question.

I think I like this for two reasons.

Why is advertising I'll come back to, but the other is sort of stepping back and thinking about what Best Buy is doing or could do with its merchandising strategy.

So back in April it launched its creator storefront program and that was working with influencers to curate products that they could drive commission of.

So I went back and had a look and in the Q1 results they talked about having already having 60 of those storefronts set up and working with over 400 influencers.

So it that's moving and look forward to kind of more news on how that is scaling financially.

But if you add the marketplace in, we potentially got is kind of a model where you've got the influencer as the merchant, the Best Buy team as the merchant or the marketplace, which is your endless aisle and you are the merchant.

And it's kind of almost like create your own adventure.

And that could be a load of fun because if your Best Buy you could lean into who do you want to shop with?

You can make more of their team, make more of their merchants.

The Blue Jackets have already got this reputation for customer service.

You build that up and then you say, oh, actually we've got this incredible marketplace where you can go and people who love their technology, who love their gaming, who love their can go find a niche product or can go find the latest launches that they can bring to market quicker than trying to bring them into the full Best Buy infrastructure.

So it gives them pace, it gives them speed.

So what I love to see to make this successful is that love to see how they could bring this idea of these three different routes of merchandising and curation onto the website at the moment curators aren't even on.

You have to find them through the creator.

And it's quite hard just navigating the website to know what is marketplace versus what is their stock.

So call it out, make a plus of it.

And if you do that, okay, you've then got an opportunity to drive some ad revenue because you can build new brand partnerships.

And if you think about core retail media is all about paying for sponsored search.

But if you did a great job as a merchant and curated your products beautifully, you don't need brands to paint the search because the great stuff will come up.

That's why you need a marketplace where you flooded with sellers who won't sell anything unless you actually pay.

So they've created a model for exciting merchandising and the model to drive ad revenue as well.

If they're brave enough to not just list everything on one website and say go for it.

Right, right.

Well.

And Chris, you and I saw at the Walmart sellers conference this week just how important tools like helping the sellers with, you know, advertising and making sure that they can get to the right consumers and tools like support services and things like that to make sure that they can quickly onboard products like all of those, that toolkit that they're able to provide their sellers is what's helping them get as many sellers as they have.

But, but Chris, what do you think they need to be successful?

Yeah, I got a couple thoughts on this one.

You know, and I think there's actually a constituency that, that, that Ben hasn't addressed here that could benefit from this in the Best Buy organization.

And that's Geek Squad.

I think the marketplace creates an incredible upsell opportunity for the Geek Squad because you know, you can carry higher price things that you're going to want in a very highly consultive sale when you're in the, in someone's house.

And I had the best geek, Geek Squad experience of my life this weekend and I was talking about it on our trip, like shout out to TJ Shea of Geek Squad because I hope the Best Buy executives are listening because this guy needs accommodation.

He was so top notch.

And I could immediately, as he was doing things with the app, sending me, texting me things, different things I could purchase, I could immediately see where this goes with Marketplace.

And so that was really, really powerful.

So I love that.

But on the other hand, there's another thing I would say they need to be successful.

And that is, it's, it's, they can't go too slow.

500 vendors seems really really slow to me.

And I don't want them to make the same mistakes.

Targets made.

I talked about the top 4% growth.

Not enough.

And that's coming from the lack of growth in marketplace.

And the big thing that I've learned over the years with marketplaces, you can't overthink it.

You gotta draft your criteria, you gotta get moving, you gotta refine it as you go and then you learn more.

And when you think about it from the perspective of Walmart, we just spent a lot of time with a half a billion SKUs.

So if you aren't at least at an exponential amount more than 500 by next year, like 5,000, 10,000.

My point, my hunch is that you're probably going too slow.

But.

But who knows, Maybe I'm wrong.

Best Buy executives come and tell me, but I think, I think I'm a little worried you're going too slow to start.

You can go faster.

You just got to keep the criteria tight in terms of what you're going to allow in and then evaluate your performance from there.

All right, so yeah.

So let's bring Danella onto the show.

Let's give a big Omni Talk welcome back to AWS's Danil Estropa.

Danielle is here to hand out this month's Retail Tech Startup of the Month award.

Danielle, for those that may not remember, is the worldwide technical lead for AWS Partners in Retail at Amazon Web Services where he drives a technical strategy for AWS Partners in Digital Commerce, Customer engagement and Generative AI.

Daniela, we're three months in to handing out this award and our first two Retail Startups of the Month have been blowing up on YouTube, both with over 30,000 views so far.

So let's not make the audience wait any longer.

Let's not keep them in suspense.

Who is August Retail Tech Startup of the Month, please?

This month peak is Vodi and they are one of our partners.

We've been working with them for, for bit over a year now and they are pioneering making E commerce data ready for AI and AI agents by building these intelligent data infrastructure solution.

And the reason I picked them this month is because everything starts with data, right?

And we know that good data in means good data out and good results, good conversions for our customers.

Danelli, what, what was it about this company that really like made you pause and be like, this has to be part of our ecosystem.

What, what kind of set them apart from others that you're seeing in the space?

The way we look at it is customers, customer needs, right?

And when Looking at some of the customers challenges is product discoverability is, is one of those, one of those challenges.

I'm sure we, we've all have been in that situation where we're trying to look for, for something, to buy something and we cannot quite find the right thing that we have in our head.

Right.

Whether because we're using different type of keywords or different search terms.

And many companies are tackling these by building a chatbot or investing in search technologies.

However, what VOD is doing is really tackling this issue at the root.

So at the data we know that bad data means bad results.

So by tackling that we know that we can improve on many of these results.

What they are building is quite a sophisticated system that takes a messy product catalog in different shapes and forms and transforms that into an AI optimized data using state of the art multimodal large language model that they are specifically fine tuned for retail.

And they achieve this in two ways.

The first one is that data extraction, structuring of data from different sources, whether it's PDFs, spreadsheets and different sources.

And they're extracting that data to build these solid data foundation.

On top of that then they are injecting real world context to make this data optimized and available to AI agents and what will come in the future.

Right.

So their data will understand different trends like Balletcore for example, or what makes a good Father's Day gift, for example.

Right, right.

And I think what's quite unique or what's quite impressive about what they're doing is the kind of results that they are, that they're already driving and that some of their customers are seeing, their customers are seeing 10% improvements in conversion rates, which is huge.

Right.

You know what's interesting to me too, what you're saying is like, you know, we've talked to a lot of companies in the, in the past who are using computer vision AI to get the right data to attribute to the products.

But you're saying this is a different approach.

You're saying like let's take the data that's being ingested from the foundation, understand it and then clean it.

And you know, whatever you take, whatever you want to call it, reformat it to then put it back out into the e commerce sphere, so to speak, for the now, but also for the future of AI.

So explain that in closing to us too in terms of why is this such an important startup to be aware of for the average retail executive, particularly in terms of how the future is.

Going to play out data is at the foundation of everything or many different aspects when it comes to retail and E commerce.

Whether it's search, functionalities, product recommendations, marketing decisions, merchandising, planning, there's lots of different aspects that could leverage from having good data, right?

So tackling this issue at the root of the foundation would really drive these benefits in many different areas of a retailer.

And I think one thing that also sets Vodi apart here is the way that they work with customer the fact that as a customer, you don't need to go through expensive migrations to be able to leverage this kind of system to be able to benefit from what they're building.

Vodi will just take whatever data you have and work with it.

But also the fact that by fine tuning or constantly fine tuning their models, they're also able to stay on top of trends, to stay on top of what's happening in the industry, what's happening in general in the world.

And this gives an advantage to retailers as well because they can always be that one step ahead, one step ahead of their customers.

Thanks Daniele.

Thanks Danieli.

And congrats to Vaati for being named August Retail Tech Startup of the Month.

And if you want to learn more, you can check them out@vadi voddy.comvod y.com headline number four Klarna is set to debut in more than 400 Walmart Canada stores according to Digital Transactions.

You're a trusted news source for all things transactions.

Don't you dare think about transacting without first reading digital transactions.

According to Digital Transactions, consumers can choose to pay in full or via installment payments at assisted checkout lanes for purchases of more than $50 Canadian, which is the equivalent of about one pound sterling, isn't it Ben?

I think right?

Just kidding.

All you Canadians, you know I love you to use card in one of the stores, consumers can scan a QR code displayed on the point of sale screen at checkout with their mobile phone.

However, Klarta is not available at self checkout lanes at this time.

And finally, let's not forget, in another bid to extend its reach inside stores because as of the end of the second quarter, 83.7% of all US retail sales are made in stores.

According to the US Census Bureau.

Klarna in June launched the Klarna card, a debit card to aid with in store purchases.

Ben, as our resident resident from across the pond, I guess I would say are you over or under on 3 years of BNPL becoming the ubiquitous form of payments in stores?

Yeah, I can't see why not.

It's almost ubiquitous online.

So I think this is the latest development in what needs to happen which is to raise awareness that it can happen in store.

I mean this is an awareness action.

So I mean firstly look, I think it's a big signal that the Clara Partnership in the US is working well and I think it's smart by Walmart because it's kind of gaining credit in their shoppers eyes for helping them live better for less by ultimately helping them do something that, that can kind of already do.

So it's already pretty straightforward to use Karna install.

If you've got the app, you just create a one time card, you drop into your Apple Wallet and you use the Apple Wallet to pay for the product.

That's probably two steps of CX too many for most shoppers but actually you can kind of do it.

So what Walmart is saying is we're just going to make it really easy for you and the more people that do that, the more awareness it will become and the more it will spread to be common behavior as it already is for millions of shoppers online.

So yeah, I think it's a smart move by Amazon, it's a smart move by Walmart especially when you consider the.

Younger generations too, they have a greater proclivity to use these types of services to the BNPLs.

And what about you?

Are you equally bullish?

Are you taking the under as well?

Are you going over here?

I'm doing the over.

You are?

I'm, I'm, I may be completely wrong.

I get that there's millions of people who've signed up or who have used this a time or two but it's just taking too long to reach like the adoption that I think it needs to.

And the point that I find really interesting is many credit card companies are taking on the same approach where you can pay in installments with a credit card that's accepted at more places.

You don't have to question whether or not most places that you do your shopping today take visa, American Express, MasterCard, Discover, what have you or a debit card.

And I think that that to me is the real interesting point.

You, you still can't use Klarna every single place that you shop.

And so for me I'm, I'm curious to see if people start going the route of doing this within their credit card companies where they're still doing the, you know, pay in four installments.

But I just think it's another thing for people to download another Thing that.

Not people.

People haven't done before and aren't familiar with.

And I think credit cards are just too ubiquitous and the credit card companies are still going to try to capture that, that, that revenue.

Well, I make sure I'm clear.

So you're saying, you're saying the credit cards are going to get the BNPL customer in store?

Yeah, I do.

So then, so okay, but the question was not if Klarna will be.

The question was if BNPL will be over and under three years.

So, so do you.

Does that change your answer at all?

I'm surprised you didn't hedge, honestly.

I'm surprised you didn't just say, yeah, three years, because you always hedge on this show, you know, you always.

No, I don't.

Over or the under.

I, I'm gonna, I'm still, I don't know.

I feel like.

Still over.

I still, I still don't know.

I still don't know about.

I don't know.

It, it still isn't BNPL payment to me because you're paying with a credit card and then you're deciding after the fact that.

So I still would draw a distinction there, but I don't know.

But, but I'm guessing that I'm, I'm alone in this, in this sentiment and that's fine.

I could be very wrong.

But what, why, what are, what are your thoughts?

Are you taking the over, the under?

I don't know.

I was.

You know, when I, when I first started writing my thoughts on this, I was taking the over.

I was, I was taking the over because I thought like you.

I was like, this is taking too long.

But then I got, then I went back and I thought about.

We first heard about bmpo.

I'll never forget where I was.

I was in LA at a conference and I ran to the folks from SE and they told me what it was.

I was like, this is the greatest thing I've ever heard of.

And that was in 2017.

So that's only eight years.

And for me, the cycles of innovation, like in retail, from the moment I see them to like when they actually happen.

Now, putting all generative AI aside, because that's just crazy town right now, but it's like 10 years.

So like, you know, three years, that puts me in 2028.

So that would be 11 years from when I first saw it.

So anyway, you do the math.

I'm taking the under and that's what I'm taking.

The one caveat I have is I think there's some financial dynamics to the model, too, in terms of how, how the whole thing works and on what categories it works too, for the profitability of the BNPL providers as well.

That's something that has to be taken into account, which I don't know that everyone's cracked the code on yet.

Walmart probably has the ability to do that because it can.

You know, it has the entire swath of general merchandise in which it can afford this differently than others can, say grocers.

But I'm still, I'm still taking the under.

Especially now that you gave me this whole thing about the credit cards getting into it.

Yeah, why not?

I'm taking under.

All right.

Riding and dying with under.

Not surprised.

Yesterday on the plane, we had a bet because we flew for, for those listening, we flew from la.

No, we flew from San Diego to la.

Shortest flight I've ever taken.

The guy next to me, we had a bet on how long it would be from wheels up to touchdown.

24 minutes.

That's how long it was.

24 minutes.

I took the under.

He took the over.

I lost that one, too, so.

Oh, my gosh.

All right, well, let's wrap this show up with headline number five.

Fabletics is going all in on rfid.

According to our friends over at Retail Touchpoints, Fabletics has launched the G Store software as a service retail solution from Gray orange in over 100 stores.

The G Store app store integrated analytics powered by overhead and handheld RFID readers can identify items abandoned in dressing rooms, placed in the wrong section, or simply running low on the sales floor.

In the stores where the solution has been deployed, Fabletics has achieved 95 to 97% fill rates, completely eliminated manual cycle counts, and boosted per location sales by up to 20%.

Fabletics is adding the solution to 20 locations per month.

And in the next phase, Gray Orange will work with the retailer to enable more efficient store to store transfers through G Store, helping ensure each item is positioned in the location where it's most likely to sell.

All right, we here at Omnitok have long espoused RFID on this show.

Are there any counterpoints, Mr. Ben Miller, as to why retailers, especially apparel retailers, should not be invested in rfid?

Great question, and it's, I'm really pleased to say, for everyone who's going to be in Chicago in a couple of weeks, Mira Bhatia, who's president and chief operating officer of Fabletics, is going to be there and is going to be on a conversation which is all about what can the C Suite learn from Frontline from the retail stores.

And this gets to the heart of that because, yes, on paper, what you can do with rfid, particularly in apparel, is fantastic.

What are the challenges?

I mean, the first challenge, number one, was unit cost of the tags, and that's been coming down in the business case.

So I think that's less of a hurdle than it has been.

But the second one is there's absolutely no point in doing this if you don't have the ability to process the information, to take all of these data points and turn it into something that is actionable.

And then thirdly, you've got to make sure that your install staff have the tools, the colleagues have the ability to be able to see the data and to be able to take action from it.

So it's no point having RFID saying that this item is over here if your team in store don't have the handheld devices or the apps that they need to be able to see that spot the problem and takes action on it.

For me, making RFID happen, and this has been one of the challenges about scaling it, is how do you also scale the technology and the capabilities to make, to help your store associates run their stores better?

Where we've seen retailers who've been able to crack that, and we talked about Walmart earlier, there is no, it's not a coincidence that they're rolling out their My Walmart app to their team at the same time they're running out their RFID technology where you've got the two working together, yet you can unlock the benefits.

And I think that's the conversation we want to have with Mira, is how do you take this investment and make sure that the in store team can make it work?

That's the.

Watch out.

Well, I, I was just out at the Fabletics flagship store two days ago, so I got to see this live.

And I think you're absolutely right, Ben.

It is, it is critical that you have all of the tools to make this successful.

And I think that's what the G Store platform is enabling here.

They have the handheld devices, they have the overhead arrays that are doing all the inventory counts.

And the stat that I will leave people with.

And there's more to come.

We've got a video on the way.

But the stat that I'll leave you with is 18 minutes.

So when you're talking about ROI, 18 minutes is all it took.

The store associate, Neela, the store manager, to do an entire store's worth of inventory in 18 minutes.

Back of house, front of house.

She knew exactly how many Units were in the, in the store at that time.

What units?

Maybe, you know, one tool versus another tool didn't connect.

So with that platform, she's able to get that done.

And the cost savings there, it would have taken multiple associates.

It would have taken contractors in, they'd have to pay for, in addition to that to make that inventory happen.

And it would have only been done twice a year.

So I think it's really important also to be thinking about, yes, there's the upfront investment for a platform like G Store for RFID labels, but where are you going to get cost savings from the rest of the organization to help make up for that?

And then the last point I'd say is you have to make sure that you're continuously evaluating this technology.

I think there's still a lot of people and I'm excited that you'll be talking about this at Shop Talk fall.

Ben.

There's still a lot of people who looked at RFID tags several years ago and are saying it's too expensive, can't see the quick roi.

And that has to change.

You have to start looking at it and start to looking at, look at the advantages beyond just inventory visibility that this kind of platform is affording you.

But Chris, I'll give you the last word here.

What do you think?

Is there any reason why retailers, especially apparel retailers, should not be moving forward with rfid?

Nope.

Not one.

Not one.

Honestly, apparel retailers especially because, because, you know, the way I think about this is this is the equivalent to what you're trying to do with robotics in grocery stores, you know, because computer vision in apparel is still tricky.

And so that's why the robots are now learning how to read RFID in these environments, too, to make it even simpler for them.

But it's the whole idea of getting the smart store and the data.

And so the analogy I would use is, and I wrote about it, actually I dropped the article this morning.

Is the is Apple and gps.

When it rolled out gps.

As soon as Apple released geopositioning data into its ecosystem, the world changed and we've never looked back.

And the same thing's about to happen with rfid, particularly in apparel.

And the reason that's important is what you guys have highlighted, what I called an article, the service margin paradox.

You know, if you want to have great service, you better have great margins on your products.

And the lower your services are, the, you know, the less, you know margin you probably are commanding for it.

But at the end of the day, the cost of labor is going up so it's eating into the margin of whatever customer service level you have.

So you've got to find ways as retailers to work that out.

And this type of technology affords you the ability to do that because it gives you the better inventory visibility, like you said, Ann.

But it also just tells you so many other data points, like what we've also started to understand through robotics, through grocery stores as well.

So all those analogous use cases are all there.

That's why I think rfid, it's coming and I think it's time to jump on board, everybody.

All right, let's move into the lightning round.

Ben, these questions are all for you, so get ready.

Ben, you're one of the lucky few who got to see Oasis in their recent reunion tour.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how well did Noel, Liam and crew perform?

Oh, this was a straight 10.

This was a straight US great 10.

It's like I'm.

I grew up in the north of England in the 90s.

Songs of Oasis is basically folk music for me and my generation and.

And, you know, I've been to Oasis gigs when they've been brilliant, I've been when they've been terrible, I've been when the crowd have been in raptures, I've been when the crowd just want to fight each other.

It's been a dip and there was no way I was not going be part of the lucky dip.

And what came out, the lucky day at this time, was a brilliant performance, a brilliant show.

Professionalism that we didn't think the band had and just, wow, we didn't.

I didn't know that what 2025 needed was Oasis.

That it was, and it was brilliant.

Absolutely fantastic.

I'm sure you've got listeners that are about to go to the US dates.

I mean, enjoy, because it's fantastic.

Were they wearing bucket hats, though?

That's what I want to know.

Of course Liam was wearing his bucket.

All right.

Ben stayed across the pod.

Arsenal.

15 year old phenom Max Dohmen made his debut last week.

How would you sum up England's hopes for the young lad?

Oh, wow.

This, this, this is beautifully neat.

So this is.

This is soccer.

Look.

She.

It's really exciting and it was an incredible debut.

This is a 15 year old playing at the very highest level.

Look, soccer in the UK is incredibly tribal, so I'm going to resist getting sucked into that.

It's just.

Should I just say I've got.

I'm quite familiar with the Emirates Stadium and the setup at Arsenal and Look, the key for me, for, for Max is protection and safeguarding because he's just a kid and I think in Arsenal he'll get the support he needs.

They're a great club from that perspective.

Hopefully he'll get the patience of the crowd and I mean he's literally the world's at his feet.

But.

So, yeah, it's very, very exciting.

But we just hope he's just got to be a bit patience and hope he gets all that support.

Ben, follow up question.

Is the fur over him in England more Wayne Rooney or David Beckham or somewhere in the middle as a footballer?

Yeah, he's so he's in, he's an attacking winger, which is where Beckham played.

I mean, I think the, the parallel.

What, what, what English would love is if he's similar to what Uraniumal is able to do at Barcelona, an attack with just freedom and flair and no fear.

That's the hope.

But that's a pretty lofty aspiration.

So we're great at building people up and then knocking them down, so I don't get too carried away.

But yeah, if you're 15 year old and you come in for the Champions Elect, that's pretty, pretty big move.

Yeah.

Okay, well, I'm going to shift gears away from footballers and back to grocery shop.

Ben, I mistakenly shared my Grocery Shop and Shop Talk Starbucks hack with too many people before Shop Talk on this podcast.

So I want to know what your one Vegas hack is that everybody should know, especially for those who are flying across the pond to get to Vegas.

Okay, so my, my hack for everybody.

It's really important to try and get some fresh air, particularly if you jet lagged.

Even if you just come from the east coast, you need to see some outside, you need to see some sunshine, you need to see some fresh air.

So everybody who's been to the show before will be familiar with the walk.

The long corridor pass, Border Grill, that takes you down from the casino floor and from the hotel that takes you down to the convention center.

You can bypass all of that by taking a route that goes outside.

So if you come down the elevator out of your room, don't get off the casino floor, go one floor below, which is the pool entrance.

Just walk out by the pool and there is a footpath, really wide, beautiful path that takes you round.

It follows the same route but just on the outside.

Do it in the morning, it's not too hot, you get blue sky, you get a bit of fresh air.

Then there's a flight of stairs that takes you in, it brings you into the convention center next to where the little starburst concession is and you just go in there.

We're going to be all on that floor of a grocery shop this year, not upstairs.

We're on the floor when you come in, the same as we offer for shop talk.

So.

And you can do the same in reverse.

Just go out by the Starbucks, follow it around, get your fresh air, get your blue sky, feel the Vegas sun rather than just being in the convention center and the casino all day.

I love it.

And Anne still has to go to Starbucks too, before that, right?

Whatever path she takes, she still has to go to Starbucks, right?

Yeah, obviously.

So, so our last question for you is Starbucks pumpkin spice latte launched on Tuesday.

Where does the PSL rank for you?

Is it an immediate run out and get or more of a. I couldn't give a.

Flying fiddlers.

You know what?

Yeah, absolutely could not.

Care less.

No, I mean care less.

I didn't know that.

Wow.

I mean from a. I get it from a retail perspective, I know what it does for Starbucks and it drives traffic, it drives exciting excitement, blah blah.

Personally.

Yeah.

So number one, I'm British so therefore tea is the default.

But when I'm not drinking tea, I, I have a very, you know, coffee should be small and purposeful.

So cappuccino at breakfast time, espresso after a meal, any of mid morning having a potato coffee, flat white, anything beyond that is superfluous.

My God, I love it.

On that note, coffee should be small and purposeful.

Is that what you said?

Yes.

Small and purposeful.

I'm going to take that to heart.

All right, let's get out of here on that one.

Small and purposeful.

Happy birthday today to Aaron Paul Peter Stromer and to the woman who will always be known as Major Amaso.

Amaso.

I'm a sofa.

I'm a sova.

That's what I'm trying to say in the Spy who Loved Me and who Captured Ringo Starr's heart, the great Barbara Bach.

And remember, if you can also only read or listen to one retail blog in the business, make it Omnitok only retail media outlet run by two former executives from a current top 10 US retailer.

Our Fast Five podcast is the quickest, fastest rundown of all the week's top news.

And our daily newsletter, the Retail Daily Minute tells you all you need to know each day to stay on top of our game.

Not on top of our game, it helps us stay on top of our game, but on top of your game as a retail executive and also regularly features special content that is exclusive to us and that Ann and I take a lot of pride in doing just for you.

Thanks as always for listening in.

Please remember to like and leave us a review wherever you have to listen to your podcast or on YouTube.

You can follow us today by simply going to YouTube.com omnitalkretail so until next week, and on behalf of all of us at Omnitalk Retail and on behalf of Ben, thank you for joining us.

Ben, it's always a pleasure.

And as always, be careful out there.