Amazon’s Layoffs, TikTok's One-Click Bet & Walmart's 1-Hour Pickup | Fast Five

Hello, I am Chris Waltman.

Welcome to this Week's Omnitalk Retail Fast 5, brought to you exclusively by the Omnitalk Retail Podcast network.

This week I was joined by our resident talent expert, Jen Hahn of J Recruiting Services, because boy, oh boy, did we have a lot of personnel related topics to cover on this week's show.

So, Ella, let's get right to it and let's cue the tape.

Revenue growth doesn't necessarily mean headcount growth anymore.

We will not hire people into this organization that are not tech savvy, future focused.

Experimenting with AI.

AI can kind of help you burn out even faster too because it makes you so much more productive.

You can spend more, so much more time doing things too.

If you're really a go getter, I.

Will be interested to see if five years from now, is it a thing.

They've connected social media to shopping.

They've done it.

They've done it better than anyone else.

Inflation's coming in high again.

Mark this day down, everyone.

October 14, 2026.

Jen, hard.

How long has it been since our resident talent expert last joined the podcast?

That is a good question, Chris.

Glad to be back.

Always love hanging with you in the Omni Talk crew.

I think it's been two months.

I think Josh from our team joined last month, so probably about 60 days.

Yeah, we definitely miss you.

We definitely miss you.

And definitely it's so funny how the headlines work too, because it's the headlines that we're going to talk about today are perfectly timed for your appearance as well.

So it's super serendipitous, which I'm super excited about.

So.

But you know, loyal fans will remember, Jen, that you are the founder and CEO of J Recruiting.

Remind our audience before we get started here today what it is that you do.

And I'm also curious, like what is keeping you busy as you're heading into the holiday season?

Yeah, great question.

So I'll start with.

J Recruiting is a national recruiting firm.

We specialize in retail and those businesses that sell into retail.

So think manufacturing, distribution, that also need to really understand the business of retail.

We partner with retailers across the country to identify and recruit the right leaders across their organization.

So anything from ops to supply chain to again, sales, selling into retail to merchandising and the executive suites we support because we are a firm built by operators rather than career recruiters.

So our leadership team came out of operations, logistics, distribution.

And so I think we just sort of see things differently and support clients differently in that way.

And what is Keeping us busy heading into the holiday season, I guess I would say what is not keeping us busy as we head into that season?

We call it the fall frenzy over here.

In the fall, we're coming out of summer.

There are a lot of vacations in summer.

Hiring is a priority, but it's kind of hard to get to it because either the candidates or the hiring leaders are on their vacations or soaking up the sunshine right when it gets to fall.

Clients are finalizing their 2027 budgets.

So they're reaching out to us to find out, like, hey, if we're going to add to staff in this way, what should that look like compensation wise?

They're reaching out to start those searches.

So even if they're hiring for a January start date, we're starting those searches today.

And then some of those sort of, hey, this has been open for a while and we need it filled before the holidays.

I cannot go into December without this key, key person in seat.

My internal team is at capacity.

How can you guys help?

So we're jumping on those, what I would call more urgent fires as well in the, in the Q4 fall frenzy here at J Recruiting.

So, Jed, is, is, is this the, is this the quote, unquote, seasonal peak for the, the recruiting business then?

Is it?

Or, or, you know, how should I think about it?

Because I was talking to somebody this week actually, that said, he told, he mentioned to me that it's kind of the, the top season for like pink slips or layoffs.

Like, this is, if you're going to see layoffs, this is generally where they happen.

So I'm curious if one, if you think that's true and then to do your peaks correlate to that or is there more to it?

More nuance?

Certainly more nuance.

I would say we have two peaks and it changes based on, as you might assume, based on industry, based on client, based on their own fiscal years, where their fiscal year falls.

But in general, we have the spring sprint.

You'll notice.

I like alliteration.

Yeah.

And then we have the fall frenzy.

So in the spring, people are coming out of the spring starts early.

For us, it's usually late January, early February, where they're like, okay, holidays are over.

I've got to get to it.

We're talking end of Q1 soon.

So spring hits really hard and then the fall hits really hard.

When it comes to what you're calling pink slips and layoffs, I wouldn't say that in our clients, I really notice as much of a seasonal trend.

I Understand why it might happen more in this season, but oftentimes what we are getting the call about to, we're not backfilling anymore, right?

Like, it's not like they're laying off and filling those positions.

They're.

They're laying off intentionally with the hope that the right person could do more with less, which I think we'll get into in some of our headlines.

But right now, and also the spring is when we see the height of our frenzy where everybody needs something very important and they need it yesterday.

And that's what we're here for, to deliver on that unicorn yesterday, which is.

Typical of retailers in general.

Everybody always wants things yesterday.

A hundred percent, 100%, without a doubt.

It's, it's kind of one good aspect of the, of the retailing business and also one potentially negative aspect of the retailing business when you get right down to it.

We're so used to it that now when someone says yesterday we're like, great.

You and all of our other clients we kicked off with this week.

So we know how to handle that.

Um, so it, it's, I guess we're so used to yesterday that we would be surprised.

And we are surprised sometimes when people reach out with a proactive strategic hire, like, we need this in six months.

We're like, wow, this is fantastic.

Right?

I'm always the same way.

The podcasting business too.

If I get a client who's like, yeah, can we do this in like two or three months?

I'm like, sure, yeah, right, Fine, no problem.

It's not a problem.

Usually it's like next week or tomorrow.

All right, Jay, well, let's get to this show.

And before we get started, whenever we have you on, we always like to do our Omnistar award.

It's the time of the month where we hand out some serious hardware.

And for those new to the podcast, our Omni Star award is the award we give out each month in partnership with Corso to recognize the top omnichannel operators out there.

Not the pundits, not the so called experts, but the real life retail operators making a difference inside of their organizations.

Corso's AI co pilot coaches retail leaders to optimize store performance at every level, transform retail operations from data overload into data powered.

All right, Jen.

This month's Omnistar goes to Kevin Iverson.

Kevin is the zone training director at Family Dollar.

And this month's award, Jen, quite frankly, this one is really long overdue.

Like, I'm kind of pissed at myself that it Took me as long as it did to recognize Kevin because Kevin, more than any other Omni Talk subscriber, has been with me, with us, with Omni Talk since the very beginning.

He's always messaging me on LinkedIn.

Yeah, from the day one.

He, like read my first articles and he continues to talk to me regularly.

And I love the guy.

He's always sharing his love and his curiosity about retailers.

And he oftentimes gives me personally the inspiration that I need to keep going forward.

Because as you know, Jen, entrepreneurship is not for everybody.

It takes a lot of punches in the face.

You gotta be able to stand your ground and take the punches.

And Kevin's always giving me really insightful commentary on the content that we're putting out, and I can't thank him enough for it.

So, Kevin, thank you for all that you do for us.

Thank you for all that you do for your team and for the industry.

I want to thank you for being this month's Omnistar.

All right, let's get to this week's Fast5Gen which is of course brought to you with the help and support of the A and M Consumer and retail group, Miracle Corso, Ocampo Capital, Velock and Smart Scout.

In this week's Fast5, we've got news on Amazon cutting jobs within its retail division, TikTok adding an AI shopping assistant and one click checkout tractor supply, opening its first automated distribution center complete with, yes, a dedicated AI team and Walmart launching one hour express pickup for the holidays.

But we begin today with Amazon's Prime Big Deal Days.

Headline number one is of course brought to you with the help and support of the A and M Consumer and Retail Group.

The A and M Consumer and Retail Group is a management consulting firm that tackles the most complex challenges and advances its clients, people and communities toward their maximum potential.

CRG brings the experienced tools and operator like pragmatism to help retailers and consumer products companies be on the right side of disruption.

All right, here we go.

Number one, Amazon's October Prime Big Deal Days.

Wow, that's some alliteration.

Jen helped drive $9.86 billion in US online sales across all of retail, which was up $9.09 billion last year, which was up from 9 point billion last year as deal hunting shoppers traded up and got an early start on the holidays according to retail dive and they cited Adobe data.

Discounts peaked around 20% off their list price and shoppers traded up.

The share of the most expensive goods rose 21% overall with electronics up 45% and personal care, up 34%.

Essentials were strong, too, including household cleaning and paper, which was up 55%, personal hygiene, up 45% and everyone's favorite pet food, which is also up 45%.

Mobile sales grew 12.8% to $5.1 billion and equated to 52% of all online sales.

And Buy Now Pay later drove roughly 6% of all orders per numerator.

The other data source that gets cited very routinely in our industry, Amazon households spent on average $114 versus $122 just back in June for June's Prime Day.

And 75% of shoppers cited inflation as a reason to shop, and over a third finished at least half their holiday shopping during the event.

Jen, what's your read on October's Prime Big Deal days?

Wow, that's a lot of numbers, a lot of percentages.

I'm, I'm glad that I wasn't reading that headline, Chris, but when it comes to my first thought in hearing what you're sharing there is like, wow, I'm behind if over a third of shoppers finished more than half of their holiday shopping this Prime Day.

That's wild.

It is October 14th as we record this, so I'm certainly behind.

But also as I think about that holiday stat, it raises questions around Q4 in traditional retail.

So I think what we don't see here or what we don't know is is that incremental spend because it was a prime day, and will they remember that when they get to December and they're shopping for their family members and friends, or will that actually hit if half of it is now done and it's October 14th, will that hit traditional retail in a big way in November, December in some of the ways we typically see holiday shopping.

The other thing I guess I just thought through as you were sharing some of those numbers that comes to mind is customers are really still feeling the impact of the macroeconomic conditions, I'll call them.

Right.

So you said 74% cited inflation as a reason that they were taking advantage of the Prime Day.

You also noted many of those percentages and things like household cleaning and paper being up 55%, I think you said, and pet food up 45%.

Those are not, they're not going there for some frivolous purchase or holiday shopping.

That means they're using Prime Day for things that they would typically get on their weekly grocery trip.

So I think we're noticing consumer shifts that again, might be inflation related and might be they're trying to hit that household budget.

Or perhaps this is just now some of the ways we're shopping for paper products and pet food.

Yeah, no, I think you're dead right.

And especially in the backdrop of the inflation report that came out, like, literally a few hours ago, too, which, you know, Wall Street's, you know, trying to, you know, understand the impact of, but, you know, inflation's coming in high again.

And so.

Yeah, I think you're right, Jen.

I mean, this.

The way I said.

The way I would sum up what you said is, yeah, like, a lot of people just use it to pantry load to pantry load on the stuff that they need to get through their daily lives.

That's what we're seeing.

So we're seeing that.

And then we're also seeing the move forward of the business, too.

I mean, I've said this before on the show, and I'll say it again.

I mean, Prime Day to me is kind of becoming like the tree that falls in the woods.

Like, I have no idea if it makes a noise anymore, but, you know, there's certain things you can glean from it each and every time it happens.

And for me, the standout is.

The standout is the numerator.

Data that I shared.

You know, more than a third of their shoppers have completed their shopping for the holiday already, or at least they're saying that.

And the other point that I'd make, which I didn't call in the headline, is they said that the intent to shop Black Friday and Cyber Monday fell by 4 to 5 points, respectively, compared to when they surveyed people last year at this same time.

So.

So.

And we're seeing it in the market's reaction, too.

The other point I make, Jen, is.

Is Lowe's just, I think on Monday said that they're starting their Black Friday deals in October.

Lowe's Home Improvement starting deals in October.

That's just insane.

So I think people are.

People are wary of the economic conditions, the macroeconomic conditions.

And so, you know, we're seeing a lot of people either start to move up their shopping or potentially even delay their spending, if at all.

Yeah, Yeah.

I think Black Friday has always been really very interesting to me from, like, from my operator heart.

Like, why do we have to cause such a frenzy?

And you think about the employees that work the holiday, work the day after Thanksgiving.

Of course, it's been sort of a fun piece of how we go to market in retail, and I think it's been effective for retailers.

But I. I will be interested to See if, like, five years from now, is it a thing, or do we just have sort of Q4 deals?

Yeah.

Does that make sense?

Like, it does.

It does.

And like, why, why, why, why don't, like, the, you know, the big guys, like the Walmarts and the targets of the world and the Amazons, like, Amazon is effectively doing it.

Why doesn't, like, you know, you could, you could envision a day where Walmart says, like, this is our new day, like, we're just going to take a stand in this day and you want to shop us, come shop us on this day.

And then we'll get the feeding frenzy that happens around all the other days because we'll compete on those days when our competitors do something.

But yeah, I mean, digital has leveled the playing field on that in a lot of ways or extended the opportunities there.

That didn't exist before, you know, because you can affect your customer that way.

And so, yeah, it's a really interesting idea to think about, you know, like, why doesn't Walmart just go out and own a day?

Why does it have to be Black Friday?

They said they're not going to be open on Thanksgiving this year, which I applaud them for.

And to your point, like, there's a lot of operational issues that arise with trying to do this the way we've always done it too.

And, and again, there's a plus side.

But if you reimagine it into the future and you say the 15th of October, November and December are our big Walmart days, Right.

Like, you're spreading out and you're able to test and learn.

So if October 15th goes a certain way, you're able to do it bigger and better.

November 15th.

I don't know.

I think it'll be interesting to see what happens.

But seeing some of that data, I guess that's what it sort of peaked for me was, what is the future of Black Friday, Cyber Monday, those types of things moving forward.

Yeah, and retailers are creatures of habit, too.

So next year they'll just continue to move the deals up, even more so than they have this year, regardless of how inventive they get, like we just talked about.

All right, headline number two.

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All right, headline number two.

Amazon is restructuring its stores business, the division that runs its retail efforts, including Amazon.com and Whole Foods, in a move impacting hundreds of employees, according to retail dive.

Amazon declined to say which types of roles were affected.

The cuts follow the roughly 14,000 corporate roles Amazon said it would eliminate in October of 2025.

The retail business is still growing, however.

Q2 online net sales rose 15% year over year.

But.

But, Jen.

There's always a but.

AWS grew faster, up 37% over the last year.

Jen, I've got two questions on this one.

Number one, is Amazon trimming the very division that runs Amazon.com a sign of routine efficiency in your mind, or is it that Amazon sees AI and AWS and not retail headcount as the future of its stores business?

That's my first question.

Oh, okay.

To that question, I would say this announcement certainly signals that revenue growth doesn't necessarily mean headcount growth anymore.

And so I guess I would go with the latter.

That I think what it says is that the stores business is still.

Still important to it.

However, of course, like you said, AWS and AI are, are a very important piece of the future of that store's business.

So I don't think the answer is eliminating headcount completely.

I don't think Amazon thinks that either.

But I do think it's becoming clear that we can accomplish more with fewer resources when we have the right technology and the right people in place.

And I put a special emphasis on right because I think there's a scramble right now to do, quote, unquote, more with less, which we've always tried to do in retail that's near and dear to our hearts.

Right.

Efficiency has always been part of our game.

But with AI and technology, I think there's a bit of a scramble out there.

And if you don't have the right people or the right technology, you can't just lay off and put something in place and hope your chief AI officer is going to solve for the.

The business's problems?

I guess.

Does that get you started with the answer to your first question?

It does, it does.

And it actually prompts where I was going to go with the second question.

Really?

Or even maybe asking another question in between this and the second question, which is, you know, I feel a little.

What I'm worried about from the chair top, which I sit is I'm worried about what I'm.

I was trying to think of a way to describe it.

I'm worried about what I'm calling the field of dreams oppo, which Is, you know, field of Dreams.

If you build it, they will come.

I feel like.

I feel like there's a little bit of, if I take it away, the AI gains will come.

If I reduce headcount, the AI gains will come.

Are you.

Are you seeing the retailers take that approach, or are they being more thoughtful about it, or are they just kind of like, you know, saying like, hey, we're going to lay off people and we'll figure it out.

I'm not in all of those meetings.

They don't always invite me.

I just don't know why.

However, they should.

What I'm seeing, yeah, they really should.

However, what I'm seeing sort of the broader trends across the retail landscape is companies are looking at how they can become more productive with the people they already have.

So I think there's a major theme heading into 2027, and certainly already been a theme in 2026, that in my conversations, companies are complete, are not completely halting hiring.

That's not what they're after.

They're not after never hiring again.

But I think the executive teams are being much more intentional about who they're hiring, what skills they're bringing to the organization, and how those individuals fit into the future of retail.

They're not simply backfilling, hey, we lost this person, or we eliminated this person on our marketing team.

We're going to go backfill.

That is.

No, backfill is.

Is not a very commonly used word in my conversations with corporate teams any longer.

It's that we've either restructured on purpose or we've lost headcount for reasons that were outside of our control.

And we are now reimagining what this team can do with the right technology.

You know, I actually, I had a conversation with a CFO last week who we were speaking about one specific hire that they're looking to make, but it became a broader conversation, and they said very, very pointedly, we will not hire people into this organization any longer and that are not tech savvy, future focused, experimenting with AI.

It's just not going to work.

And this is not on a specific team.

This is not on a tech team.

This is anyone in their organization.

And again, I was talking to the cfo, not the chief technology officer.

The person that's responsible for the financial performance of that organization sees it as critical to sort of reimagine where they're headed in terms of how they hire, who they hire.

But I guess I just want to stress one more time, as we look to efficiency, here's the key, the goal cannot be doing more with fewer people.

It has to be the right people, the right process and the right technology.

Your field of dreams question.

I promise I'll get back there.

Chris, your field of dreams question, you're doing.

No, I think you're nailing it.

Keep going.

I think you are exactly right.

I think there are some retailers, some organizations, not just in retail, that do feel like, oh no, we're not hiring anymore, AI is going to fix the problem.

But they are not taking the time to invest in the right process or the right people, quite frankly.

They're like, oh, These are the 10 people we have left on that team.

We'll let them run it.

Well, those 10 people might have only been good at the old way.

They might not be ready for what's next.

Um, so I just, I guess I just stress and I think the good, the good executive teams, the forward thinking executive teams, the ones that will come out on top are those that are spending a lot of time on this right now, like, what is the right process and the right technology?

Not just the team will figure it out like that.

That can't be a broad solution, right?

Yeah.

Which makes me think, you know, and not every company, like, to your point, not every company is sliced and diced the same way.

You know, like Amazon's got a good track record.

You know, I kind of said, you know, is it a single signal of routine efficiency or is it that they're looking at, you know, you know, how to do their business differently?

It's probably a little bit of both because Amazon is very good at, you know, slicing back for the sake of routine efficiency too.

And then you've got, you know, people like Kroger who, you know, just yesterday said they're laying off 3,000 people, but they're, they're facing a bit, and Albertsons too is facing a different, a bit of a, of a hurdle there because the business model is challenged, you know, so there's a little bit of, you know, everything happening, particularly in the grocery industry where you've got business models challenge, you've got technological impact.

But what I worry about, and just in general across the industry is that there is a.

As you know, as you were kind of saying, Jen, the word I keep coming back to is hope.

And the old adage hope is not a strategy.

Like, you've got to be very thoughtful.

And what I've always said on this show and from talking to the retailers that I've talked to that I think really get it, you know, if you have your druthers and the overall business model is still working well, which it is for, you know, still a decent amount of retailers, you should probably be looking to keep your headcount neutral and figure out the applications of the technology first before cutting back the headcount.

To know that you have the organizational model designed the way you want to, to be able to then take the steps to further reduce headcount down the way if it, if it even at all becomes needed.

You know that that's how I think about it.

Jen?

Yeah, I, I would agree 100%.

I mean just inside our organization we had that conversation recently around the growth plan is no longer how many do we need to hire or who do we need to hire.

It is how are we supporting the teams we have today?

And what's the flag for someone actually being at capacity now that we have all of these additional technologies?

Those are the things we need to understand.

Because I think there is a line I think I am certainly hearing in personal conversations and in conversations my team is having by the tens, by the hundreds on a weekly basis.

There is burnout and resentment for those that are still in seat today.

If it's just a hey, go figure it out rather than an actual support or this is the way we're leaning, this is the way we think AI can help.

This is the right process for using this AI in day to day tasks.

Not just someone in a corner office saying we can cut and they will figure it out because it's too nuanced for that.

Right.

It's a complex business that they're running.

So I think if we are going to keep headcount neutral and add business and grow business, we certainly need to be talking about how are we compensating those that are staying.

Right.

So that's something that gets ignored.

It looks like, oh, just savings where we do need to say, hey, these five people, it used to be 10, these five people, we can now increase their salaries by 20% and give them some type of bonus if we hit X, Y, Z efficiencies that never existed before because otherwise resentment and burnout paired with AI are not going to get your company where it needs to go.

Right, Right.

Yeah.

And in fact I, as a, as a, you know, as personally, I can say like AI can kind of help you burn out even faster too because it makes you so much more productive.

You can spend more, so much more time doing things too, if you're really a go getter.

So that was going to be my next question.

Janet, are there.

It's interesting you brought up the compensation side of this discussion.

Are there any other broader trends that you're seeing across the landscape as, you know, retailers approach the topic of headcount planning, particularly for 2027, again, really the.

Trend I am seeing is the conversation about who they will hire in terms of what they will bring to the business.

And what they're bringing to the business is typically something like, you know, someone that understands automation.

Yeah.

Someone that can lead a larger team.

Hey, we used to have leaders for every five of these individuals.

Now we don't think that's necessary.

So someone that can lead a larger team, someone that can again, drive efficiency, which honestly was always part of the conversation, and someone that can think differently about how they operate.

I understand that's not necessarily a trend.

Like, it's not like, oh, this one job continues to pop up.

I think it is.

But those are the conversations.

It keeps coming back to those things.

But rather than we want someone with 30 years experience, it is very much, you know what, this might only be a five year experience person or it could be a 30 year experience person, but we care more about sort of where they're headed as talent rather than what they have done.

Because so much of this is so new that the most experience they could have with it is three months.

Right.

It's constantly evolving.

So it's really about agility and bringing talent in that is ready for what's next.

I, I guess that's the, the theme I see more so than a specific title, if that makes sense.

It does.

And so the two, my two takeaways from what you said is it seems like there's a general movement in the industry from your perspective to, to ask for more from your general hires for the jobs you're trying to fill.

Like you're, you're needing more management experience particularly, is what I heard.

Like that's going to be top of mind.

And then the other thing too is that you've got to show some curiosity or acumen around, you know, thinking, thinking about technology, thinking about the applications of technology, thinking about, you know, what they quote, unquote, digital mindset in terms of how you're going to approach your work.

That's my final question for you before we move on.

Jen, how do you screen for that last one?

Great question.

When you think about solving problems for the future.

That's your question, right?

How do you screen for a candidate that can solve the problems of the future?

Okay, I want to make sure I heard you right there.

I think what we typically are looking for is someone that can give examples of how they have taken initiative, found the opportunity themselves.

Right.

Like this wasn't running smoothly.

Here's how I implemented a new process, here's how I shared it with my leader and then we worked with the broader team to share that across the organization.

Right.

It's someone that, whether it is their job to lead or not, they are leading from the seat they're in.

And again, that is not a new thought, that is not something that's new.

But I think it's even easier to share examples.

If you are truly forward thinking, looking for efficiencies, looking for ways technology can work in your favor, you need to be sharing that from an organizational standpoint.

You're looking for someone that cares about the organization, how they make money, how they improve.

More so than like I sat at my desk and I made my job more efficient.

It's how are they impacting the broader organization and can they give examples of how they've done that previously?

Even if it's not with the same technology you're interviewing them to use?

Right.

In their next role.

It's just simply do they have an enterprise mindset and can they move forward with sharing solutions to keep things?

Because AI is not.

We've said this before, Chris, we've gone on, on this rabbit hole before, but AI is not the job of the technology team.

Right.

It's not it's job.

It has to be everyone's job at this point.

There should be someone leading innovation and proposing solutions, but everyone needs to be able to show that they're testing and learning constantly and could be part of building what's next.

That's a great, that's a great point.

Yeah.

I mean, what, that's a great nugget too that you're just, that you just shared there in terms of like.

Yeah, if you're interviewing for a job, these are the types of things you're going to have to showcase.

And, and the word that keeps coming to my mind is you gotta gonna have to show that you've got a lot of neuroplasticity in that brain of yours.

Yes.

And you're ready to adapt.

And you've got a track record of showing how you've improved the processes that you use to get your job done, not just for yourself, but for others.

Which is always, which was always a calling card for me as I was trying to screen different people too.

But it's a different lens by which to examine it.

All right, cool headline.

Number three, Jen.

Oh what a good segue because this technology is designed to do exactly what we're just talking about.

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And Corso is Q U R S o.

Headline number three.

TikTok is launching an agentic AI shopping experience.

I know Jen, you can't wait for that.

Pairing a conversational shopping assistant with Bidirect, a one click checkout that lets users buy straight from a brand without leaving the for you feed according to multiple outlets.

The shopping assistant is a conversational AI agent that remembers users needs and can answer questions on product details, shipping, sizing and availability.

And per a TikTok and PF Global survey of 11,000 U.S. adults, 55% of TikTok users say the platform has already helped them make informed purchases.

And an estimated 54 million US consumers bought something, have bought, have.

Have purchased something.

Jen after watching a TikTok video Jen TikTok wants discovery and advice and checkout all to happen within one scroll.

That's essentially what we're talking about here.

If you are a betting woman, which we know you are from your irrational support of the Michigan State Spartans during March Madness just a few months ago, of the following three marketplaces, who do you think will gain the most online share over the next decade?

And I want you to put these in rank order.

TikTok, Amazon and DoorDash.

Okay, well obviously I've been wrong before and my Spartans did not make the final four this year.

But we never underestimate everything you say now.

Yeah, we never underestimate Izzo in March, Chris.

So we will be back again in 2027 and I will bet that way again.

So I preface my answer with I've been wrong before.

If I were a betting woman and I needed to rank these three in gaining market share because that's the question not who will have the most right, but who will gain the most.

I think that definitely makes an impact.

I'm going to go 1 TikTok 2 DoorDash 3.

Amazon.

Wow.

Obviously Amazon already controls a ton of the US E commerce, right?

And so I think that's why I have them at number three.

Because there it will be significantly harder to gain share from where they're at today with TikTok door dash and some of these others.

Um, but TikTok has significant more room to grow.

And I think what fascinates me about TikTok and always has, is that consumers are going there for entertainment.

They're not necessarily going there to shop.

I think now they're moving towards going there to shop, perhaps, but they're going there to be entertained and they're stumbling upon items that they just have to have and didn't know they ever needed.

And with this headline, they're now saying that they can ask questions about that product and they complete the purchase without ever leaving that screen.

I think that's addictive.

I think the younger generation is already addicted.

I think producer Ella on a previous show shared that she had to put herself in like a timeout from buying TikTok things.

And so anything that's that addicting, we've seen it with social media, right?

Like it is a real threat.

So that's why I put TikTok at number one, DoorDash.

Second, because I think there's so many, still a lot of opportunity for them around sort of grocery, convenience, restaurant delivery, all the things they're doing today and they can continue to do better.

And then Amazon is third again because they already have such significant share.

So if we're talking about gains, I think it would be harder to see that.

But they, they obviously have the infrastructure to probably stay, if I had to guess, stay number one in overall share, but not see the gains they've seen in the years past because there are some swift competitors doing things differently.

How did my ranking go?

Can you tell me yours?

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

Well, Jen, I gotta tell you, I gotta tell you, my, my ranking is exactly the same as yours, believe it or not.

Really?

I thought for sure you would tell me.

I was wrong.

Nope, exactly the same.

And I think, I think your points are exactly right.

There's a couple I'd add to it, but I think you're exactly right.

And the interesting thing about it, both of us thinking that is if you get right down to it, because you're only ranking three, if it plays out the way we're saying it will, that probably means Amazon actually, or Amazon, yes, actually probably loses share over the next decade, which is kind of crazy to think about, they might still be the biggest, but they potentially are going to lose some share if what you're saying and what I'm about to say plays out the way we think it is.

And I, I'm kind of betting on it right now because first of all, TikTok right?

Let's talk about TikTok.

There's three factors, right?

One is the social media connection around inspiration, right?

They've connected social media to shopping.

They've done it.

They've done it better than anyone else.

I don't know why in the hell Instagram and Facebook went away from this, but they did about three or four years ago.

And TikTok picked up the ground and they're running with it and they're figuring it out.

Because the other point, Jan, is the brands want to be there.

The brands want to be on TikTok.

The brands don't want to be on Amazon.

I talked about that on last week's show.

Like, the brands, even the brands that are on Door Dash far outweigh the major retailer.

Brands that are on DoorDash far outweigh those that are willing to sell on Amazon.

It's just the way it works.

And then the third point I'd make, and this is the one I think that's a little more nuanced, is what you and I just talked about is the inspiration, the discovery.

But in the world of agentic AI, as the capabilities to search for anything you want just become better and more tailored to you, you could see a world in which users who are spending all kinds of time on TikTok, if the marketplace is formidable enough and large enough, could just start to search their everyday for their everyday needs as well, or their true search items that they need to hunt and peck and find.

That could happen too.

So that leads me to think that TikTok is probably in a very strong position and DoorDash for a similar reason too, because of the brands that they have relative to Amazon.

So that's my takeaway, Jen, but you get the last word here.

I like your point about the brands want to be there.

I didn't think about that, but you're exactly right.

I think brands see doing business on Amazon as sort of a necessary evil, right?

Wrong or indifferent.

That's what it feels like to me when we're working with brands is like, hey, we have this Amazon business.

We want to continue to do business there, but we really need to increase our.com because we need to own the experience and all the other pieces that we know they can do that way.

So I didn't think about that.

But yeah, I, I guess we could see some of that share taken from Amazon for some of that reason that you said, right?

Like, if it's going to tick tock and doordash, I don't know where else it would come from.

So naturally that would mean they would decrease, which I guess I didn't have the picture of the full pie in mind as I was thinking through it, but certainly it has to come from somewhere.

So, yeah, I would say I am very shocked that we had the same ranking.

I thought you might really disagree with me on that one, but I.

You might want to start betting on Michigan State basketball ball.

No, no, that's just, that's just downright irrational, Jen.

That's just downright irrational.

But no, it's a fun question.

And I got feedback from last week's show that people really enjoy when I have have my guests force rank their answers because it puts them on the spot in a new way.

And so, so, so I, I was, I was excited to, to try it once again.

And I thought it, I thought it played out well because it got to a lot of different nuances in the conversation.

You should have someone blind ranked.

Have you seen the blind rankings?

Yes, I have.

Where?

You don't have to.

That would be so fun if you had someone on to like blind rank retailers based on, I don't know where you'd shop for Christmas, something like that.

It takes more time than we have.

Right.

It would be really fun to see, see some of that.

The listeners are into rankings.

Okay.

Yeah, I've been, I've been, I've been producing.

I've talked about that for, for a while now, doing some type of like ranking segment in the show as well.

So we'll see.

What?

You never know.

You know, I'm always up for trying new ideas, Jen.

So maybe, maybe next time.

We'll have you on.

We'll have you.

We'll have you.

I don't need it to be me.

I don't need it to meet me.

You don't need it to be me.

All right.

Headline number four.

Headline number four is brought to you by Accapo Capital.

Ocampo Capital is a venture capital firm founded by retail executives with the aim of helping early stage consumer businesses succeed through investment and operational support.

Learn more@ocampo capital.com headline number four, Tractor Supply has opened its 11th distribution center in 865,000 square foot $200 million plus facility in Nampa, Idaho and its first with automated storage and retrieval plus and this is why I selected this headline, a dedicated on site AI innovation team.

According to Supply Chain Dive and Tractor Supplies press Release, the Nampa DC will serve 123 stores across nine states in year one with capacity for as many as 200 stores in the future.

It brings about 500 full time jobs and began receiving inventory in August and launches Outbound shipping later this month.

Is the first site in Tractor Supplies network to use Knopp OSR ASRs technology integrated with automatic conveying to store sequencing and moving product.

The system runs on lithium ion battery power for those that I know are interested.

And the building meets LED ED Lead Silver standards.

All Napa team leaders are also trained in AI fundamentals.

Curious to see what that training looks like.

And a dedicated AI innovation team applies practical AI to day to day operational needs.

Jen, Tractor Supply is staffing its new distribution center with its own AI team and training every leader with in it on AI fundamentals.

Is this the beginning of a new trend in human workforce management?

I hope so, yes.

You do?

You hope so?

I hope so.

I, I love this from Tractor Supply.

I'm a big fan of Tractor Supply and I can tell you firsthand that their talent is pretty darn loyal and they do a great job with their training programs over there at Tractor Supply in developing leaders.

Right.

So this to me signals that this is just sort of the next step.

We will now train all leaders on what they're calling AI fundamentals.

I also would love to see what that means.

But it sounds like they're taking a very practical approach to something we all need to lean into here.

And they're creating that dedicated team to look at AI innovation.

But again not in some corner office or in just the tech floor of your corporate headquarters.

Right.

They're creating that team to what it sounds like to me be boots on the ground in a DC to apply product practical AI to the day to day operational needs.

Which again just seems like what we've been talking about in some of the other headlines.

Right?

Like AI is in technology.

We, we certainly all have to lean in but it needs to be done with a right process and the right people.

It feels like this headline came naturally to show us an example of sort of a test and learn in a great mix of the right leaders that are well trained and supported with a very enhanced operational environment.

Being that D.C. that they're they're launching.

So I, what are your thoughts on this?

Yeah, no I, I 100 agree with you again Jen.

100 I, I, I, I love this headline.

I love this headline.

As, as you can probably tell from how I read it too.

I was like I, this is why I chose this headline.

So it means I love it.

I think, I think the things I would say in addition to what you said Is I think kudos to Tractor Supply company for talking about it as well.

You know, a lot of people go out and do it and not talk about it.

But you know, it's the first example I can remember of someone literally saying this.

And so it is setting a standard in a lot of ways.

And the other point I make is the beauty of any new operation, Jen, is that it's not encumbered by legacy.

So you can try these types of things.

You can manage an AI team, you can manage AI agents within the warehouse itself itself.

All are in play when you're trying to do something new and Greenfield versus like trying to rewire it inside of your own organization.

And you should do that first and foremost because the lessons you're going to learn are going to be invaluable as you try to put them back in your organization.

So like, you know, my mind starts going, as you were talking, I was literally thinking this in my head.

I was like, okay, what's the version of this in stores?

You know, is there an AI team in stores?

Is there an AI training protocol for stores?

You know, and it's just going to start to.

This approach I think is the first example.

So mark this day down everyone.

October 14, 2026 when Tractor Supply Company said, Look, we're going to try to do something differently with AI because now it's going to start to inculcate its way through every strata of a retail organization.

And I think what's interesting too we talked about earlier and I think just in general employees are concerned or if there's a fear factor around like AI replacing their roles.

Some, yes.

Right.

Can we do more with less?

Yes.

Can we do more with none?

No.

So I think it's important that they mentioned 500 full time jobs.

They're not even talking about any of the part time support or hourly support there.

Right.

So 500 full time jobs and this new technology that is automation in different ways right inside of the facility.

I think it's a great example of how great talent can marry with great technology to be incredibly efficient.

Obviously we have to see how it works, but I like it for that reason.

It's not that they're saying fully automated, zero employees.

They're saying here's what our employees will do in the facility and here's what our technology will do.

They're separating.

Right.

Like where is the line between where a human needs to do that activity and where the technology can take it and run with it?

Yeah, that's a great executive level insight, Jen, too In terms of going beyond the headline too on its surface.

Yeah, this was really smart too because you have a net positive impact on employment as well in terms of what the story is ultimately about.

So.

Wow.

All right, last one.

Headline number five.

Headline number five is brought to you by Valak.

Veloc is a proven E grocery technology built by grocers for grocers.

They unite proprietary software with right size automation to make same day delivery profitable.

To learn more, visit veloc.com that's V, E, L, O Q.

Number five.

Walmart is launching express pickup letting app customers get curbside orders in as little as one hour according to chain store age.

Express pickup is live at 500 stores and will roll out nationwide in the coming weeks.

Just in time for Thanksgiving shopping.

Walmart plus members get express pickup at no fee.

Other customers will see any local pickup charges in the app at checkout.

Jen, you may have noticed if you're paying very close attention, but I have yet to ask you.

The A and M consumer and retail groups put you on the spot.

Question of the week.

So here it is.

Does speed as a membership perk make Walmart plus the real weapon against Amazon prime starting this holiday?

I do like this move.

I like that it's included for free for the Walmart plus members and I like that Walmart's leveraging its massive physical footprint to compete on something that Amazon does not have.

So yes, I do think that the one hour pickup could help Walmart compete when it comes to holiday shopping with Amazon, especially for those last minute holiday shopping, let's call it December shopping if you will, where it does feel like I need it and I need it quickly.

My biggest question here is still consumer adoption.

So in my personal network, and I did not look up all the stats, um, in my personal network I still see far more people instinctively opening the Amazon app when they need something quickly than the Walmart plus or even having the app downloaded to try to go to Walmart Plus.

Um, now again, Walmart has the infrastructure and now the speed.

So I, I think their challenge, and I think they're well aware of this challenge is really getting consumers to change that shopping habit and awareness and adoption should be their focus at this point.

I personally do have the Walmart app downloaded, but it's only been in the last few months that I've made that move and I stay in the know of retail headlines.

So I've got to assume there are still so many that don't know it's available.

So how much can it compete with the non already loyal Walmart customers I think is the question for the holidays.

Yeah, interesting, interesting.

Yeah and I've said on this show, I think I've said it to you too like when I need something quick, I open Walmart before I open Amazon.

Yes, you have 100 do and so, and it sounds like you're maybe kind of heading down that road too over the last couple months now too that you've got the app.

But, but I, I, I think this, this, I think the question from A M is really interesting and, and I think the answer could be yes.

Like you know, the, the, the, the, the, the easy point is yes, Walmart has stores and this plays into them leveraging their stores particularly for the holidays.

But Walmart also has something else that Amazon doesn't have.

I think when you start talking about holiday shopping and it's psychological security is what I'd say Jen, because Amazon, even when you place an Amazon order you still have the fear that it's not going to arrive in time.

So being able to pick it up in an hour, whether even in Walmart's case, whether it's even ultimately there or not still creates a relative sense of psychological relief because worst case you're out an hour of your time and can still act or come up with a plan B.

So this is like a new psychological way to merchandise to people which I think is really interesting because it's different than say hey, place an order and cross your fingers and hope it gets there.

Right.

And so this kind of intercedes in that way which I think is really interesting.

Your question's great, like you know how many people know about it, how they get it adopted.

But that's all about marketing, that's all about time and that's all about but it is a strong foothold against Amazon and I also think for that reason it makes it another great aspect of Walmart plus as a hook to continue to get to get Walmart's app in the recall of hey, I need something quickly.

What are my options?

Yeah, I see that point.

I didn't think of it that way but I certainly have felt that psychological safety at times in different situations.

So we got to our campground once and my daughter did not bring a swimsuit even though we swim the entire time like it's on a lake, we go out on boats, she didn't bring a swimsuit.

So I was talking through the options and that my 14 year old daughter didn't like any of them and I could have tried a prime order delivered to the campground, but I know those are often delayed.

So I used Walmart plus in that case.

Or the Walmart app.

I should say I'm not a plus member yet, but I use the Walmart app and I knew at least I'll be in the store.

Like, it shows me there were bathing suits because it was the end of the season and I was like, at least I know there are some in stock, so we will figure something out.

So that's a really interesting point, Chris, that I didn't think of, but I have lived out in real time in the past.

All right.

Yeah.

What an endorsement too.

Wow, that was great.

I'm just saying Walmart took care of my 14 year old's swimsuit when we needed to be swimming 3 days in a row.

All right, we'll see how long it takes you to bite off on the Walmart plus purchase as well there, Jen.

All right, well, let's get to today's Lightning round.

Today's Lightning round is brought to you with the help and support of Smart Scout.

Smart Scout is Amazon and TikTok shop Intelligence.

Most tools show you your own account.

Smart Scout shows you the market, brand, revenue, category, share, and who really owns it.

Visit smartscout.com omnitalk retail.

I bet they have some interesting data on the question I asked Jen a few headlines ago.

All right, Jen, first question.

Halloween is just two weeks out.

What's the best and worst candy in your mind to hand out?

Okay, so I would say the best candy to hand out this year.

If I think of, like, what the kids are into.

We're talking about those nerd clusters.

I've seen the Halloween version of those.

Everybody loves a nerd cluster.

Or really anything chocolate.

Um, there's the joyride brand that all the kids are into.

I think if you're handing that out, you're a very popular house.

I mean, I'm not handing that out, but actually the thing I steal from my kids, Buckets.

That's very underrated in my opinion, is a Baby Ruth.

When's the last time you've had a Baby Ruth?

Oh, yeah.

Not, not.

It hasn't been that long, Jen.

Oh, okay.

So you're on, you're on my team there.

Okay.

Oh, yeah, I have them.

Baby Ruth.

I have them only at Halloween every year because they're only like in the mini size.

I don't see them selling big Baby Ruth all over the place.

Okay.

When you say the worst candy, I would go black licorice all day.

It's awful.

I don't Understand people that like it, which then leads me to, like, those Good and plenty.

Because I think they're basically black licorice with a pretty coating.

Yeah, I'm not riding with you on that one.

I'm not riding with you on that one.

No.

I love me some black licorice.

I love all licorice, actually, Jen.

Any kind.

Chocolate, black, red Twizzler, Red vine, it doesn't matter.

Chocolate.

There's no chocolate licorice.

Oh, there's chocolate Twizzlers, Jen.

Have you not had them?

They're fantastic.

Fantastic.

Yes.

They kind of bring them out.

I think they brought them out.

They brought them out at my local store already.

So I'm excited.

I'm a big licorice fan.

When it's a normal fruity flavor, I am, I am nowhere near a fan of the black licorice.

And again, I just don't understand those, those people, but I understand you're one of them, so I won't judge you for that.

All right, let's see.

Let's stick with Halloween for my question to you, Chris.

With it being right around the corner, if you think back, what was your favorite costume that you've worn to trick or treat in and do you still dress up today?

Are you one of those dads that has a costume?

Yeah, this, this, this is.

Answers one in the same.

It's my Darth Vader costume.

Like, I've got a, I've got a full size, real authentic Darth Vader costume.

And I put a, it's actually on, it's on the, it's on my website.

Even with me holding my little son's hand and a little Chewbacca costume when he's like 2 years old, it's like my favorite picture of all time.

But yeah, I, I, I used to, when the kids were younger, they'd go down and trick or treat at our local downtown Main street.

And I'd put the costume on and I'd stand out in front of, like, the crosswalk and pretend I was using the force to, like, hold back all the oncoming cars.

And the kids would love it.

And the kids would all come up to me.

Some would be freaked out, you know, by me, but other kids would run up to me and be like, Darth Vader.

So it was tons of fun.

I actually wore it last year to, to, to hand out candy, believe it or not, as well.

So you bring it back out?

Oh, yeah, for sure.

It takes like 45 minutes to put on, though, so.

Oh.

You know, and in My old age, it gets a little bit hot sometimes too, but.

All right, Jen.

Target is going back to the designer.

Well, circa the early 2000s again, first with Isaac Mizrahi, which I think, of memory service.

You were on the show when we talked about that.

And now with shabby chic.

So will the soft pale pinks and florals get you down Target's betting aisle again?

No, no, it won't.

I'm.

I'm not a soft, pale pink or like shabby chic florals.

I would say we have some of that maybe in decor, but in general, I mean, you usually see me in, like, my white collared shirt.

We're sticking in neutrals.

We're just.

We can't think that hard about what we're putting on, if that makes sense.

Now you are saying the bedding aisle.

I could go more.

I could go for it a little bit in bedding, but it's certainly shabby chic.

Isn't something where I'm like, oh, yeah, I definitely want that in my house again.

I feel like we're past that.

We've moved on.

So when that product launches, you're not like, oh, yeah, I gotta go check out and see what this looks like?

No, no, no.

Okay, candidly.

Great.

Just.

I mean, just to answer the question, nothing against Target.

It's not my style.

No, it's not your style.

All right, so last question here.

As we head into the holiday season, which we've talked a lot about in these headlines today, can you answer the age old debate, when is it officially acceptable for retailers or I guess, in your own home to start playing Christmas music?

Oh, God.

I mean, against my better judgment, the answer for my house is as soon as the dentist, Mrs. Amitock throws out all the candy from Halloween, she's blaring that.

That Christmas music as soon as Halloween is over, basically.

Okay, okay.

That.

That is just the way it works.

She is a Christmas music fiend.

Okay.

Do you think differently about a retailer if you walk in to.

I would say typically in like, the mall setting, they do this right, where they have, like Christmas tunes in the background as you're shopping.

If it's fine.

If it's October, I think October's too early.

I think it's like, you know, I think.

I think you got to wait till November.

I'm fine if it's November 1st, but you got to wait till Halloween's over.

You got to wait till Halloween's off the shelves.

You know, like, that's what I think.

Do you agree or do you want to hear Christmas music in October?

I mean, we just talk about Black Friday in October.

You know, why don't we just have Christmas music in, in, in September?

You know, October, it's fine, right?

I think I agree with you on that too.

We agree a lot today.

I would typically say at least November 1st.

Some people put their tree up November 1st.

We don't put our tree up until like the weekend after Thanksgiving.

We have Thanksgiving without our tree and then it goes up.

And I would say the music starts around that time in our house.

But we do love the festivity of it all and I feel like it happens so quick if you only have December.

So I wouldn't shy away from November Christmas music in certain scenarios.

Yeah, I would agree with you there.

Yeah, I agree with you too.

I think most normal people would view Thanksgiving as the start of Christmas.

Unfortunately, normality is not something that tends to enter my household all that time, especially when it comes to celebrating the festive holiday seasons, which my family gets into very, very wholeheartedly.

Yeah, Jen, we did agree on many things today, but unfortunately we did not agree on the most important topic, which was my, my liking for licorice.

So on that note, happy birthday today to Steve Coogan, John Syeda, and to everyone's favorite favorite, Kit Lori Petty.

Oh yeah, what does that mean?

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Jen, if people want to get in touch with you about anything, pick your brain.

What's the best way for them to do that?

The best way to get in touch with me would be LinkedIn.

You can find me Jenn Hahn 2 N's j n n H A H N and then the business is also on LinkedIn and you can find us also at our company website so www.jrecruitingservices.com.

Well, Jen, thanks for joining us today.

It was a great discussion, full of insights and a lot of fun, too.

Today's podcast was produced, of course, with the help of Ella Sirjord on behalf of producer Ella, Jen, myself and all of us at Omnitok Retail.

As always, be careful out there.