Amazon Ingests Whole Foods, Macy’s Sleeps With The Enemy & Walmart Wants To Outdo Both | Fast Five

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Today is September 3, 2025.

I'm one of your hosts in Mazinga.

And I'm Chris Walton and we are.

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

Chris, you're looking quite dapper in your in your Netherlands orange.

Is that what we would call that?

Yes and yes.

I decided to go dutch today for today's podcast and I decided to do a Dutch podcast.

I'm wearing my orange Dutch Tracksuit from circa 2006, I believe is when I first acquired this tracksuit.

So this thing is almost 20 years old.

I was gonna say, not many people can still wear their track suits from 20 years ago, Chris, so I think you need to congratulate yourself.

Yeah.

Thank you, Anne.

Thank you.

Yeah, I mean, still got your little baggie around the waist too, so.

Yeah.

Oh, my God.

But maybe it was because it was bought big ad, you know, to say.

Or fewer nights out in San Francisco, hitting the, hitting the Irish bars.

Maybe that contributed to that these days.

But.

But I think it's back in style and I like it.

It's actually one of my favorite things that I own.

So thank you for noticing.

Sporty prep.

Sporty prep is the, the thing for back to school fashion this year.

So definitely hitting on that.

Yeah.

Nice.

And I'm, and I'm also just missing Amsterdam, man, I had so much fun there this summer.

I'm just missing it.

And so.

And I think I have a lightning round question for you that is very European, so I can't wait to get to that as well.

So.

So stay tuned for that, folks.

All right, should we do this week's pod?

Let's get in.

All right.

In this week's Fast 5, we've got news on Amazon's Whole Foods corporate restructuring.

Macy's running its retail media ad buys through Amazon.

Lululemon naming its first C suite AI officer, Waitrose unveiling a new take on the smart shopping cart.

And Corso's Julian Mill stops by for five insightful minutes on the most important lessons he learned from Corso's recently held Intelligent Store Management Forum.

But we begin today with big news.

Out of Walmart and yes, headline number one.

Walmart is launching next day delivery for third party orders in major cities.

According to Chain Storage.

Walmart has unveiled a suite of tools and initiatives designed to accelerate the growth of its marketplace sellers.

At the company's annual let's Grow Walmart Marketplace Seller Summit, which Chris and I, I also had the pleasure of attending last week.

Yeah, we did.

Yes, Walmart introduced new AI powered tools and seller incentives to help sellers grow faster, operate more efficiently and reach more customers.

It also announced expanded next day delivery in major metros and enhanced omnichannel opportunities, including showcasing marketplace items in store.

Walmart Fulfillment Services, which stores and ships products for the chain's third party Marketplace sellers, is now offering expanded, expanded next day shipping across US Cities, including Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Houston and Atlanta.

The next day, deliveries will begin with some of the most popular items on the E commerce platform.

Chris, is Walmart right to be going after marketplace growth so aggressively?

And why do I feel like I already know your answer to this?

Yes, you might be alluding to my article I dropped last week in Walton's Weekly Ramblings talking about their you win, we win philosophy.

So, yes, and 100%, I think they're right to be doing this.

I love what Walmart is doing here.

They are out Amazoning Amazon and especially when it comes to speed.

Walmart is aiming to have 95% of the country deliverable in under three hours.

And they're already at 93%, I might add.

And also we should note that one third of Walmart's deliveries, which we learned at that conference, are already that fast.

So one third of their deliveries are already in under three hours.

And 25% of those, this gets even better.

And 25% of those are delivered in under 30 minutes.

If you didn't digest that, please do, because it's pretty fricking remarkable.

Now Walmart is trying to bring their marketplace sellers into that speed game too.

So.

And they're going to do it for a couple of reasons and I think ultimately at the end of the day, so one, customers clearly want it based on the statistics I just read.

So, like, the demand is there.

And two, it could start to chip away at Amazon's FBA business.

And, you know, it's the whole idea of it is to get more sellers onto Walmart Fulfillment Services, or WFS as they like to call it.

So that's pretty compelling because selling with Walmart to Amazon, it does offer another ability that you can't get with Amazon, which is the ability to grow up in your business to eventually go into stores, as well as a component of what Walmart can offer the sellers that come on to wfs.

So, so net Net, it's Walmart's Omnichannel Flex, pure and simple.

I think they should be going aggressive and I think it's, it's a, it's a, it's a play that's hard for others to match at the end of the day.

Yeah, I completely agree.

You kind of hit on all the points that I had noted to.

I know, it's okay.

We have, I think we have.

It's just an encouraging thing for our listeners to listen to.

Go back, catch that interview with Dave Gugina from Walmart from last week because he does really dive into what this looks like both for the, the marketplace sellers for Walmart and for the end consumer.

I think for me, the, one of the most impactful things that he, he told us in that interview, Chris, was that this efficiency and speed that they're offering their marketplace sellers is also helping those marketplace sellers keep their costs low.

And if marketplace sellers can keep their costs low, then customers know that they can reliably go to walmart.com time and time again and know with a high degree of confidence that they're going to get the best prices.

And this gets back to, you know what John Furner said in closing at, at the keynote sessions at the summit this week.

The whole like you win, we win mantra is 100% true.

And you can see the investment that Walmart, Dave Gugina and team are really putting into making sure that they are developing a path that these marketplace sellers can go down for future growth online in their 4,600 plus stores and that Walmart's really truly investing in, in them.

It's not just here's another place for you to sell your product so 100% agree on, on the, the momentum that they're building here.

Yeah, that's a great point you bring up too, because didn't Walmart also tell us that they're the, the most effective from a cost standpoint too?

Like I think the rate they claim 15% cost advantage by using Walmart for your fulfillment relative to other options.

Now who knows if that's right, but I'm guessing Walmart's probably not going to say that publicly unless they're pretty confident in it too.

So yeah, there's a lot at play here.

All right, headline number two.

On November 10th, Amazon plans to extend new employment offers to Whole Foods US corporate employees.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the employees who work in roles including marketing and merchandising will have about a month to review their new titles, salaries and benefits.

The move is designed to bring Amazon's grocery teams closer together and ease collaboration and innovation.

Whole Foods corporate employees will have access to an Amazon discount and healthcare benefits.

However, they will lose certain Whole Foods perks such as their in store discount and oh boy, that's gotta hurt your monthly budget because we know how frickin expensive Whole Foods is.

And they also will lose four weeks of remote work per year.

Interesting.

And why would Amazon absorb Whole Foods merchandising and marketing teams after what is now eight years since the original acquisition?

I mean, I think it's pretty simple.

I think that Amazon Grocery needs a lifeline but for me, it, it really begs the question, you know, can you put a square Whole Foods peg in around Amazon Whole?

I think this will be a great opportunity for some people at Whole Foods who are really looking to, you know, expand their capabilities, put another large company on their resume like Amazon.

But I really worry that for a lot of people who work at Whole Foods, a lot of people that you and I have met in our years of doing this show, working at Whole Foods was never really about, you know, the tech first approach that Amazon provides.

Working at Whole Foods has always been about the strong connection that they've had to the places that the merchandisers are sourcing product from.

You know, it's telling that story as a marketer of where the, you know, potatoes that you're buying here in the store came from and about the farm like that whole, that whole ethos of Whole Foods and Whole Foods being a value based organization.

I think this is just the next step in going another, another step away from that and really changing who fold Whole Foods is as a grocer and what it means as a company to work for.

So I think it's going to be problematic for a lot of people who probably, you know, who have to take that job, who don't have the choice and have to continue on.

I think that passion that they have for doing their job day in and day out is going to change significantly when they're, they're being hit over the head by the teams at Amazon about, you know, moving fast and scale, scale, scale, like that's just, that's not in the Whole Foods ethos.

So I worry, I think it's, Amazon has to do this because they need help to support their future in grocery.

But I worry that the quality of the merchandising and marketing is going to suffer because people aren't working for Whole Foods anymore, they're working for Amazon.

But why do you think it's taken them so long?

I don't know.

I disagree that, that Amazon has to do this.

And you know, I read this story and I get my, my little antenna go up, you know, my little, like, take me to your leader antenna and go up here.

Because something just doesn't, something just doesn't smell right to me, you know, like, you know, because my question is, you know, fundamental with the question that we asked, which is why wait eight years if you're going to do this?

That's why I don't think, like, that's why I'm not buying the supposition that it has to be done.

And so it actually makes me wonder if something else is afoot here with Amazon and its grocery strategy and particularly how Whole Foods plays into that.

And this could be a move where they're lining up the dominoes for, you know, three to five years out for something that they've got in play, like maybe an acquisition.

I don't know.

But.

But I.

The part I agree with you 100% is that as of November 10, the Whole Foods ness that remained, any Whole Foods ness that remained is now gone.

It's.

It's eviscerated, you know, longer work for Whole Foods, you work for Amazon.

And, you know, this has been true, and it has been true for the last eight years, but now, like, I think what you're saying is there's a clear psychological break here that's going to happen.

And now that's gone.

And so.

So why.

So why do that after eight years?

Like, why wouldn't you do that in year two or year three if you're gonna make that move?

So it feels like.

It feels like the chess pieces are lining up on the board or the dominoes, whatever.

The help, you know, board game analogy, I want to use here for something bigger down the line.

That's what this smells like to me.

I don't know.

What do you think?

I mean, I don't know.

I think that when.

When Amazon acquired Whole foods back in 2018, like, they were in a different position.

They were going to run this as a separate entity because Amazon still had its own grocery strategy.

And I think that things have changed a lot in, you know, almost 10 years since that happened.

And I do think that we've seen signs of struggle from Amazon Grocery, and I think that they do need to, like, they're.

I do feel like this is kind of a last resort for them.

Like, they're going to have to merge the teams, become one.

They can't keep as separate entities anymore.

I don't think that's working.

And I think that this is the time where they have to come together because Amazon sees that.

I don't disagree with, like, they're setting something up for the next three to five years, but I think that they've reached a point where the two cannot operate as separate entities anymore.

If Amazon's going, Amazon Grocery is going to survive.

They need to bring in the Whole Foods team with a wealth of grocery experience to really try to make something of this before they just walk away from it entirely.

Not sure I agree with that one.

But, hey, we agree to disagree today.

All right, I like it.

Headline number three.

Advertisers will soon be able to buy Macy's media network through Amazon.

According to Adweek, Macy's Media network, the retailer's advertising arm today announced a partnership with Amazon's retail ad service, the e commerce giants ad tech product for other retailers.

The deal allows advertisers to buy sponsored product ads on Macy's e commerce website through Amazon ads platform and retail ad buying platform or firms, sorry like pacview, Macy's is the first major retailer to sign on to Amazon's ad product since the product debuted in January.

Chris, I have a question for you.

Are you pro or con the idea of Amazon becoming Macy's ad network frenemy?

Oh wow.

Generally speaking I, I don't like moves like this.

I mean I think it generally when you see this, it's result of what I would call very short term thinking to get dollars quickly into your coffers.

And it's very similar to like Amazon running people's e commerce websites back in the early 2000s, you know, like they did for Toys R Us and Target and everybody else.

But for Macy's.

If I look at the Macy's side of the story, it tells me a couple things.

One, they want those dollars, they want those dollars from retail media and two, they don't see a good way to build the capabilities themselves or to partner with somebody else that can provide what Amazon does.

And then the third point I'd make around Macy's is the ships are, I mean they had a good, I guess they had a good earnings report from what I read really quickly this morning.

But you know, they're still in trouble, they're not out of the woods yet.

And so Amazon, you know the ship is somewhat sinking and so Amazon ads is potentially that bilge pump that gets those dollars in, into, into Macy's.

So can I fault Macy's for it?

No, because the luxury of time is not on Macy's side.

So you know, I'm not surprised.

I wouldn't be surprised if we see other people start to go this route because you know retailers that we say on the show all the time are creatures of hab it.

Once one starts doing it, the others start to follow.

But it's not a move I would make.

No, not at all.

Yeah, I agree.

I mean I don't know that Macy's has another option here.

And to your point, if you're looking at what Macy's needs to focus on to stay relevant right now retail media is not, you know, an area of expertise that they have.

So this does, I think, make sense to me.

Whether or not I would do it might be another question.

But I think that, you know, partnering with Amazon, while potentially dangerous down the line, may be the best or only way for them to truly capitalize on all of the money to be made from these ads.

I mean, if you look at Walmart or sorry, at Macy's, that is a standalone retail media network right now, who's interested in buying that?

But if you can, if you can use Amazon ads as the engine that's starting to serve up content, it might be more relevant for the people visiting the Macy's.com page.

They'll be able to see, see, you know, how this, how these ads are performing for them relatively quickly to determine, you know, whether or not this is a path they want to keep going, going towards.

But I do feel like they do need Amazon right now to fuel growth for their retail media business and to get them the most money possible here.

But maybe they'll be able to come out of it.

Maybe this is just a short term thing and Macy's can focus and double down on the things that gave them that great earnings report and then they could pull away down the road.

Yeah, I mean, that's interesting because like you, I, you know, as you're sitting, as you're sitting there talking and as, as I'm thinking back to what I said too, I think, you know, it makes me like this move, you know, even more for Macy's potentially because you're right.

Retail media, a successful retail media strategy, you're getting more retail media dollars is not evidence of you having a good retail business.

Having a good retail business will fuel your retail media business.

And you have, you cannot put the cart before the horse.

And so if that's what the leadership is doing here, then, you know, kudos to Macy's, which I can't remember the last time I said that in any way, shape or form for Macy's and maybe with the possible exception being their marketplace.

But yeah, I think that's a good point.

All right, let's bring Julian Mills of Corso onto the show.

Joining us now for five insightful minutes is Julian Mills, a frequent Omnitok guest and the CEO of Corso.

And Julian is here to share with us some of the key lessons he learned from the recent Intelligent Management forum he and Corso just hosted.

Julian, it's great to have you back on five insightful minutes.

Let's dive straight in.

You brought together some of the top Mayans in retail.

At this forum, what was the biggest aha moment that came out of the event for you?

We had about 30 SVPs, VPs from 20 of the largest grocers, convenience stores, apparel chains, etc.

Coming together really to talk about how data and AI can be used to guide and connect the daily work of everyone from the store associate up to the EVP stores.

There's a great group.

And in terms of the aha moment, I think one retail exec said it best when they said to me, this is kind of retail's iPhone moment in that for ages we've been spending time sending out hundreds of different kind of tasks and comms and walks, et cetera, to stores.

It's all been very kind of overwhelming.

It's all coming in different channels, etc.

And the stores hate it.

It doesn't move the needle and it can't frankly cost a bunch of money.

And actually where we're moving to is having more of an intelligent backbone that is personally prioritizing daily work for everyone in our business.

Julian, you mentioned to us too that one of the other themes that kind of follows along with that is that you're trying to detect the store, dive into that a little bit and what that actually looks like in practice.

I think there's a general sense that retailers push work to stores that may not always be very value adding.

Okay, so let me give you four examples.

So the first one is retailers send out a bunch of tasks that are just annoying.

Yeah, go submit your labor schedule.

Well, you know what, I've been doing it every week for the last six months.

Okay, I can remember that.

Second one is they're sending out stuff that's repetitive through lots of different channels.

So one retailer we work with has nine different comms channels to the stores.

Guess what?

The task might get sent two or three times via different channels.

The third one is they're sending out tasks that can't necessarily be done.

So one retailer we work with sent out a task saying, please go and set up this pop.

And 90% of stores said, yes, we've done that.

And then a couple of days later, the vendor sent an email saying, sorry, we haven't sent you the pop yet.

Okay.

Oh, wow.

So.

So we're sending up tasks that can't be done and people are wasting their time ticking off checklists saying, yes, I've done that.

And then the fourth thing, and then, Chris, this will resonate, I think, a lot for you, is we're asking people to go and check stuff visually that you can check better using data or using data or potentially computer vision.

So dm, go check that these planograms are up to date.

Well, guess what?

The data can tell you that.

So why are you paying someone to walk around and check that?

Someone who could much better be spent spending their time coaching the team.

Yeah, so I think it's detasking is about trying to get rid of those types of work and to use data and exceptions and AI to basically focus people on the things that I personally, in my role at this particular store, need to do today.

Amen, brother.

I mean, like, yeah, that was one of my least favorite jobs, and I was a merchant, too, and I love planographs, but that was one of my least favorite jobs because, you know, at the end of the day, there was more efficient uses of my time.

All right, so another term that's, you know, making its rounds across the industry is this idea of single.

Single pane of glass.

It's not new.

It's been around for a while.

But I'm curious, like, what's your perspective on that term in general and what does it actually mean in practice to you?

Concept of it is very appealing.

It's a single place where every employee can go, and it gives them just what they need to do to do their job.

Okay.

I don't think anyone has ever done it.

No.

Yeah.

So I don't think it exists.

Having said that, I think at Corso, we're about as far down that road for store leaders and for area leaders as anyone's gone.

Okay.

So we are bringing together all the work that or most of the work that they need to do, whether it's, you know, what historically would be called a task or a walk or an audit or an alert or an exception or a ticket or a maintenance ticket or a customer callback, or all of those can be done in a single workflow that's driven by data in an intelligent way in Corso.

Having said that, there are lots of things we're not doing.

Like, you can't check your pay slips, and I don't think you ever would be able to do that.

Okay.

So we think, you know, you might be able to bring 70, 80% of it into a single pane of glass.

But the vision of having everything in one place for every role in the company, I think is aspirational.

We're talking about technology that's helping the store teams get smarter.

What do you think that means for the role of the field leaders?

How is that going to evolve this.

Is changing very fast.

So what we're seeing is that as you use data and AI to push work and decision making and action taking down into the store, the role of the district leader is evolving and becoming more what I think what most district leaders would like, which is more of a kind of a coach and a person who's there to help when people really get stuck.

Yeah.

So if you think about it today, how does it work?

So, for example, a couple of weeks ago I was touring stores with a market director and he said, look, you know, here are my 79 KPIs, here's all my dashboards.

I'm somehow meant to walk into the store and know that they got a problem with hams.

Yeah.

You know, but if I can detect it's got a problem with hams, and I want perhaps the store to have fixed it before I get there, and I should only really be there to help them if they're getting stuck on things that they don't know how to fix.

Yeah, right.

So I think that kind of diagnostic role is pushing down into the stores and the field leaders, becoming more of a coach and more of, and having a broader kind of more strategic role.

And I felt that pain every single day.

Like, you know, you'd be expected to go in and diagnose these problems.

And the part you said about too, like the dashboards, the dashboards are just overwhelming the number of data and like, you just can't possibly check the whole thing.

And so it just doesn't make sense and it's a lot of wasted energy.

But, you know, in the perfect segment segue of all time that I've always wanted to make, I want to go from ham to AI Julian.

So I want to close with this.

I want to get us out of here on this.

So, you know, AI, you, you mentioned it in that last statement, actually.

So, in all seriousness, so, so, but the question is, how far should retailers let AI optimize their store operations?

And, and, and how should they think about that in terms of the dichotomy of what still requires human oversight?

That's the question I want to talk to you about.

So what are you hearing from executives at this event?

How do they think about balancing AI versus human interaction or human responsibility in the store?

So two years ago, if you'd asked me that question, I'd said most retailers are firmly towards the we must remain in control of everything.

So they probably battle one out of five on a scale of, you know, human control to AI running everything.

I think today we're at about three and a half.

Okay.

So there's been a rapid shift.

Having said that, everyone at the event, when you present them the logical conclusions of doing absolutely everything through AI, felt that they weren't quite ready for that yet or it might not be appropriate for that particular bit of the problem.

Yeah.

So let me give you a very specific example.

Corsa uses lots of different types of AI across the platform.

For one of the things we do, we essentially watch lots of operational data and trigger an alert when something goes wrong.

Okay.

For something like a product recall, they're saying we absolutely need to know that that product is being taken off the shelf.

So we want to use a more kind of deterministic model for that.

We want a more rules based machine learning approach to that.

But then there are other areas, for example, where we're much happier to have an LLM or the equivalent actually optimizing stuff for us.

So, for example, an LLM might be helpful in sifting through all our SOPs and come up with a personalized plan on how to fix a particular issue.

So I think what we're seeing is it's a very nuanced solution.

In some places you want a much more deterministic kind of rules based solution.

In some places, ML is great and in some places, you know, Gen AI can work magic, but you need to be doing all of them and bring them all together in one place and be very transparent around what you're doing.

Right.

So net net, there's no one right way.

You've always got to have a balance.

Which is, which is why we love talking to you, Julian.

I mean, you and the team at Corso do such a great job of thinking about the next level of where store operations is going.

So thank you for joining us today.

It was great pleasure.

Thank you for having me.

Headline number four, Lululemon names its first sea level AI officer according to Retail Touchpoints, Lululemon has tapped AI and retail veteran Ranju Das for a newly created position of Chief AI and Technology Officer effective September 2, 2025.

So, effective yesterday, Lululemon's current CIO, Julie Averill, will leave the company next month to pursue other to pursue other opportunities as part of a planned leadership transition.

Das, who will report to CEO Calvin McDonald, has over two decades of leadership experience, including driving AI first innovation in healthcare, financial and consumer technology.

He was CEO and founder of Swan AI Studios and served as CEO of Optum Labs, the R&D arm of UnitedHealth Group.

I can't stop thinking about Billy Madison, Stop staring at me.

Swan.

Prior to the position, he spent nearly eight years at Amazon, ultimately serving as GM for Amazon AI Service Services.

And he also has held engineering and leadership roles at Barnes and Noble.

And this is also our A and M Put yout on the Spot question of the week.

Are you ready?

Yes.

Let's do it.

All right, here it is.

At Amazon and Swan Labs, and perhaps even at Optum, Ranju was dealing with an organization where tech or data were at the center of the value that was delivered.

This is a mindset that from.

This is a mindset shift from virtual to a physical supply chain.

How will he translate that experience?

And how will AI bring value to the physical world at Lululemon?

Well, A and M, better you than me.

I think A and M is right.

I mean, these are very different applications.

But I actually love Ranju's pedigree as CTO for Lululemon because I think that it allows Lululemon to start thinking like a tech company instead of just an apparel company.

I like there's another competitor in the space, Fabletics, who actually considers themselves a tech company first.

They built their own, you know, supply chain.

They built their own and their own customer inspiration engine.

They built their own point of sale systems.

Like they've always been a tech company first.

And I wonder what, Ron, you can bring to Lululemon to help them think differently, to get a better grip on supply chain, to get a better grip on what to manufacture, you know, what stores to drop product in.

Like this is an area that Lululemon has not been successful in yet.

But I think maybe Ronju, with his diverse kind of AI background, will help each department within Lululemon understand where I can support the most and how to really be thinking of the product of Lululemon, not just the products that they're selling in their store.

The biggest watch out.

For me, though, I will say, and what caught my attention about this headline was that they're putting AI in his title.

And I, I don't know that I would have done this if I was leadership at Lululemon because I think it signals to me like this is the, the AI guy, you know, who everybody should go to about AI or like who's expecting, you know, AI to kind of, or to be the person that people go to for AI And I, I want all of my leaders, especially throughout Lululemon, I want them to be looking at how they can apply AI individually.

I don't think there should be like one person at the company who's Kind of the.

The guru.

So my hope is that Ranji will be able to kind of partner with all the leadership across various teams at Lululemon to really help them figure out how to be thinking like a tech company.

How we thinking like a products company, not just thinking about their one responsibility and merchandising or supply chain or marketing or stores.

But that's.

That's my opinion of this guy and this headline.

Chris, what do you think?

Yeah, I mean, I, I disagree with some of the points you made in there.

Like, I don't think.

I don't think Lululemon needs to be a tech company at all.

I think re.

Lululemon just needs to be a better retailer and one that knows how to use tech to its fullest advantage.

If anything, I agree with you on the point about them calling out AI in his title.

I think this could be a canary in the coal mine for Lululemon, that they're a little bit lost from a leadership perspective.

Like, the.

The results have not been good of late.

And now you're saying.

And you know, they're.

And you know, the media is picking this up from Lululemon.

So Lululemon is telling everyone this is our first AIC suite higher.

Right?

So that's how they're thinking about it.

And so you're right.

It does run the risk of people getting too far afield in terms of how much power this guy gets in the organization, what he wants to pull off.

And, you know, do you lose your focus on just creating great products and great retail experiences every day, which is what Lululemon's all about.

Like, I was reading today, like, they're just.

They're like, throwing the kitchen sink at endorsements.

Like, they're endorsing golf and Formula one now and all this other stuff.

And it just seems like it's another thing that potentially something's just not right under the, you know, you know, under the covers here.

But to answer the question, I think, you know, if he's doing things the right way.

The value I see with AI and retail is AI.

Retail in general, throughout its history, has been set up or run, assuming everything runs perfectly.

And the beauty of AI, which you know, Julian just shared on our show, is that, you know, that we, you know, just shared in this 5 insightful minute segment with us is that AI helps you with the unpredictable.

It helps you take action with things that you can't expect.

So it's tools like Corso or Simbi with its robots in the store doing the same thing that's that's where AI's value is inherently.

And there's a ton of value in the store side, there's a ton of value in the marketing side, which everyone always talks about.

But in the store side especially, and on the inventory side, the AI can help you with what is unpredictable and that's the value I see.

And hopefully that's what he can do to help them become a better retailer versus I think, becoming a better tech company.

That's where I take issue with, with that position.

Yeah.

I think, I think it's hard to draw the lines right now, clearly, because I think that tech is important to having them have better grasps on inventory and the products that they're creating.

Like, I think it's, it's, it's a good hire ultimately for Lululemon, like I said in the beginning, because I think he will start, yeah, I think he will start to get those teams to stop thinking just about, like, what product we should put and just, you know, following our day to day operations and just pushing out product.

Because that's not working.

To your point.

Like, that's not, that's not helping Lululemon be successful.

They've got inventory overages right now that they're dealing with.

They've got a dupe category or a dupe factor that's coming in that's undercutting them for price.

Like, I think, I think it is important for them to have a leader like this, especially with his AI background to help them better address each of those areas.

So maybe not a tech company, but just getting them thinking differently about how they're deploying tech to make, make the, the stores and customer experience better.

Yep, yep.

Which is just the standard function of the CTO's job at the end of the day.

Right.

Like, that's what's so funny about this.

Any CTO worth his salt has to understand AI.

Right.

Like, so why does he need it?

You would think.

I don't know.

You would think, yeah.

You would think.

Right.

Yeah.

All right, well, let's go to headline number five.

Weight Rose unveiled AI smart trolleys over in the uk.

According to the Daily Mail, Wageros has brought in innovative smart trolleys powered by artificial intelligence which keep track of products as shoppers pick them off the shelves.

The small scale trial at the upmarket chain store in the Berkshire town of Brecknell is believed to shout out to Brecknell.

Yes.

Is believed to be the first time a UK supermarket has used so called smart carts.

The Shopee system is powered by handlebar type devices made by Israeli software firm Shopic, which customers customers can pick up from a charging bank.

At the entrance, a shopper can release one of the futuristic looking units after scanning their My Weight Rose loyalty card and then clip it into a regular trolley to begin the shop.

Customers then scan the barcodes on their items similar to how they would with a self scan handset now offered by some retailers, before placing their items in the trolley.

Once the item is in the trolley, back facing cameras verify the product and shoppers can pay on the device at the end rather than having to wait in line at checkout.

The device also displays the cost for each item as it goes in and gives a running total on the large touchscreen as shoppers make their way around the store.

Chris, it's been a little while since we've discussed smart carts on the podcast.

Does this news out of Waitrose change your opinion on them at all?

Not really.

In fact, it probably sours me on them a little bit.

I was kind of, you know, go, I was kind of like getting more on the acclamation curve of the smart cart.

And then now we're heading into grocery shop too.

So who knows where this is going to play because you know, it's going to be a topic of conversation there.

But you know, as I, as I read this headline, Ann, I still wouldn't touch a smart cart with a ten foot pole.

And it goes back to a little bit about what we talked about in the last headline and with Julian as well.

The infrastructure is expensive and you don't really know what substrate is going to win out in the long run.

For example, the use cases we've always heard about are what you shared, right?

One, so that you can serve up retail media to the shopper while he or she shops.

Right?

That's one of them.

And then secondly, the other use case we hear a lot about is that customers like to see their budget in real time.

Okay, yeah, great.

But do you need the full cart from Instacart to do that?

The full caper cart?

No, you can do those things with something like this.

But then with this, you also have the issue of acclimating the customers to clicking these things on the cart, going up, scanning them, getting them, which is the same with the scan and go units you see in Europe too.

So, you know, maybe it'll play over there, I don't know.

But it just feels like it's an awfully big bet and big spend and a customer hurdle for something that may not even have that big of A payoff at the end of the day.

So to me, your money could be better spent in helping your staff actually get work done as opposed to throwing what will ultimately become another task on their plates, which is teaching shoppers how to use these cards.

I'd be deploying this, I'd be spending my money on things that are proven that help my store employees without requiring any customer interaction at this point.

That's where I'd be spending my money.

Yeah, I agree.

And shout out to Toby Picard who actually, you know, was the one that uncovered that this was all happening.

A friend of the show too.

I, it's really hard because we haven't seen these live at the Waitrose, but I, I do, I love the idea of the efficiency of these that, you know, you don't have to invest 5 to $10,000 per smart cart like you do with a caper cart.

However, I still think there's too much friction for the customer.

Chris, I, I agree with you there.

I, I don't understand why as a retailer you wouldn't start to like go the way of what like Sam's Club is doing where you, you have the individual.

Just like you already have your app up with your loyalty card on it.

Why aren't you testing scan and go in that way?

Like you still have to scan each barcode of each product.

It just, it seems like it'd be simpler without having to get the car.

Care about your portrait that way.

I guess.

Yeah, I mean, I don't know.

I just, I think there's other, smarter ways to be doing this and other places that I'd be investing in, in my store.

To your point, you know, especially the retail media angle, I don't know how you even start to get without connecting to something like an instacart because I think that's where the value of the instacart caper cart comes in is like you are connecting to a broader store ecosystem.

You're not just connecting to, it's not just about the cart.

And in this case I, I still think it's too difficult and there's going to be too many moving pieces here for Waitrose to really see the value of doing something like this in store.

So I, I think this is going to be a short lived pilot for, for Waitrose, but a good idea in theory.

But yeah, I don't think this execution is right.

You know, the other, the other thing I think about too is like why, why is anyone the first one in the water on these things?

You know, because I go back to, like, our conversation with Dave Stack, and if Dave Stack of schnooks, for those that maybe aren't familiar with him, longtime friend of the show, had him on a lot.

I mean, he would tell you, hands down, he.

He would.

He would kill somebody if they took the robot out of the store.

You know, the smart cards, like, a nice to have to him.

It's something they're experimenting with, but, like, you know, and, like, that's how he sees it.

Like, there's so many more useful solutions that should be invested in, you know, over this.

And I don't understand why anyone would be first on this.

Well, and they're using schnooks, is using the caper cart, which, again, is like, there's other value to that.

It's playing into the intelligence, the store intelligence, not just an independent unit that's serving one purpose, which is to overall help a checkout.

Yes, exactly.

So, yeah, I don't know.

I hope that we get to see this at grocery shop and kind of get to talk to the company just to get their perspective for a stand on how this and other pilots are going too, because that also makes the difference and helps us think of things that maybe we're not considering.

All right, well, let's go to the lightning round, Chris.

Five, four, three, two, one.

Is a new grocery shopping hack coined by chef Will Coleman, suggesting that you can make any meal and eliminate food waste by limiting your grocery shopping trip to five vegetables, four fruits, three proteins, two starches, and one treat.

What would your five, four, three, two, one trip be, Chris?

That's the dumbest.

First of all, it's the dumbest thing I've ever heard in my life.

Like, this is why.

This is why I take what Instagram influencers say with a grain of salt.

Oh, my God.

All right, this is.

Oh, God.

So I gotta give you five, four, three, two, one of each of those.

All right, so, yes, vegetables.

My five vegetables would be green beans, corn, peas, lettuce.

I know.

Surprising, huh?

Lettuce and jalapeno.

That would be my five vegetables.

I think those are all vegetables.

Yeah.

Fruits would be bananas, tomatoes.

Because they're actual fruits.

Correct.

Dates.

Gotta have my dates in my breakfast.

And blueberries.

That was that.

That's probably the easiest one for me.

Protein.

I think I'd go chicken, of course.

Chicken, steak, and then probably coconut milk, because you got to get your protein from the coconut milk, too.

Okay, okay.

And then.

Then that's a staple of me.

That's every day.

And then Starches.

I'd go, I don't, I don't eat a lot of starches.

So I'd go sourdough bread and maybe ruffles.

But the simply ruffles, because those are just potatoes and oil and those are so good.

If you haven't tried those, folks.

So delicious.

And then of course, the treat's not going to surprise anybody at the Red Vines 100.

The Red Vines.

I want to know what, I want to know what creation, what dinner you concoct with Red Vines dates, coconut milk and peas.

And, and what else was.

What was the other one?

Green beans.

I don't know.

That's why this, that's why this whole thing is so stupid.

Like, where do you.

How are you gonna spice the food?

Like, you can't just go to the grocery store and get those things.

It's so.

So I guess they assume, I guess they assume that you.

The spice, like the salt, pepper that the like pantry staples you have already.

I don't know.

I don't know.

This.

It's just dumb.

This is, this, this is what drives me crazy about Instagram.

All right, this next one is one of my all time favorite questions.

And not for what it's about, but for the question I'm going to ask you.

Nessie has fired CEO Laurent Fix after just one year in the job following an investigation into an undisclosed romantic relationship, ousting its second chief executive in a year and throwing the Swiss food giant into its deepest leadership chaos in decades.

And where does Laurent rank in your ranking of cool sounding European and or French names?

I have no idea if he's actually French.

I, I think Laurent is like one of the like iconic French names.

I would also say it's your top three.

So.

Yeah, totally.

100 is.

Yep.

Louque, we have a client named Louis you're gonna drop.

Yeah, I am.

Because I think it's so cool.

And then Simone, I think is my other favorite French sounding name.

Is that Simone?

Simone, yeah.

Simone, yeah.

I don't know.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I need, I need to be beef up my Francophile background here before I answer that question again.

But I do like those names.

Yeah, I put Laurent in mine too.

I put Terry on mine too.

Terry.

That's a good one.

And then I'd also put Charles.

Charles, like Charles de Gaulle, you know, just straight up Charles, you know, do.

They say that name differently in French?

Like, how do you say, like.

Because you don't, you know, it's.

I don't know, it's spelled the same Way I looked it up yesterday, it's spelled the same way.

I don't know.

Yes, but like Charles.

I don't know.

We gotta ask Lewis.

Is Louis, like, is Charles Charal or something?

I don't know.

Charles.

I don't know.

It's a great question.

I don't know.

I don't know.

Fret.

The French comment on this.

Tell us where we got this wrong.

French.

French Canadian.

Let us know.

Drop us a line.

Yes.

Yes.

All right, Chris, question number three kids across the country have already or are going back to school this week.

What are your top parenting hacks for making school prep simpler for parents?

Oh, that's super easy.

You got to get them on the bus.

The bus is.

The bus is.

Is a godsend.

And you're on the bus for the first time this week.

Curious how that's going to.

And then also they got to get lunch at school when you don't have to make lunches.

It's such a bonus.

Such a bonus.

How is the bus going for you, Ann?

Buses bus is going okay, but it's been interesting.

Like, people swear on the bus.

That's what that was.

The first report back was there's a lot of people swearing.

And I was like, well, welcome to the bus.

It doesn't Change when you're 44 and riding Metro Transit.

People are.

The bus is Lord of the Flies.

Yeah, it really is.

It's Lord of the Flies.

All right, last one.

Chloe mall, the 39 year old daughter of actress Candice Bergen was named American Vogue's new head of editorial content on Tuesday.

What are the chances that you think Chloe can keep an assistant longer than Murphy Brown?

Did Murphy Brown have trouble keeping an assistant?

I don't really remember that show.

I always had a new assistant every single week.

It was great.

They'd have crazy, like, cameos with people and different stuff.

It was amazing.

I didn't know if that was a nod to like the Devil Wears Prada and like not being able to keep an assistant because she's now the Vogue editor.

It's kind of a vague allusion to that as well.

Like, you know, that is she going to be total Anna Wintour or is she going to be like, you know, you know, somebody that people want to work with?

I don't know.

I don't think so.

I think she's a great pick.

She's, you know, head of vogue.com and does the Vogue podcast.

Like, I think that she's, she was, she's has been the front runner, but I think is a really good pick for this role and in keeping Vogue relevant with a new generation.

And her digital background I think will be really helpful in, in doing that.

So.

All right, Chloe, way to go and I love you.

Best of luck, CM.

All right, happy birthday today to Charlie Sheen, Garrett Hedlund, and to the new face of Yuri, Kaia Gerber.

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