Google Shopping, Grabango & Why Amazon May Have Just Signed Whole Foods' Death Warrant

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Today is October 16, 2024.

I'm one of your hosts, Ann Mazenga.

And I'm your other host, Chris Walton.

And we are here once again live from the Windy city to discuss all the top headlines from the past week, making waves in the world of omnichannel retail.

Chris, we're here.

We're in Chicago.

We're at Shop Talk fall.

How has the Windy City been treating you so far in the last hours?

Yeah, and I'm excited for shop talk fall.

Like, I'm really pumped for it, you know, it's the first time they've had the conference.

And, you know, I think, you know, in general, first times, they're very exciting.

They go by really quickly, you know, and I'm really thrilled to be here.

I got to have dinner with the shop talk team yesterday, and, yeah, I'm looking forward to this.

This is going to be a great conference.

Yes.

The theme is spies here, or, like, secret agents, and we are going heavy in on the theme.

I cannot wait.

You have to stay tuned.

We're going to have lots of coverage from the show this week and including our takeaway session where we have a little surprise.

So you'll have to listen or watch that to find out just what happens.

So.

And how fitting we are with the spy theme.

But, Chris, one other thing.

Every good spy has a good earpiece.

Have you noticed, like, when they have to, like, put their hand on, like.

Like.

Excuse me, sir.

Yes.

Uh, target sighted.

You know, like, I'm going to practice that.

But we have some very special earpieces today.

Also, um, we have some new Bose quiet comfort headphones that we are using, courtesy of Bose and Carrie Craig, one of our biggest fans.

So shout out to Carrie there.

Um, Chris, are you feeling that your.

Your listening experience has been leveled up right now?

Oh, 100%, I think.

I always get a lot of.

I get a lot of crap from old, old bosses of mine, particularly one about the head, the wired headphones that I typically use on these podcasts.

And I recently switched to the earbuds, and now.

Now I've got these bose.

These bose earbuds, the quiet comfort headphones.

I feel like they accentuate my lobes and I feel like they do.

I know.

I tried to get, like, on color scheme branding with my headphones today.

I have, like, a lovely little lilac purple.

So I was in inspired.

My whole outfit was inspired by these Bose headphones.

So thanks again to Carrie and to Bose.

We love you.

Thank you for getting us ready for this very secret agent shop talk fall.

Nice drop of the word lilac, too.

Lilac.

That puts us in a very calm and soothing mode, I think, before I read the.

Oh, yeah, lavender.

You're thinking of lavender, maybe.

Oh, lilac.

Yeah, lavender and lilac kind of go.

Hand in hand, though.

Oh, they're in the same color wheel.

For sure.

For sure.

Definitely the same ballpark, right?

All right, well, let's get to today's headlines.

Today, we've got news on, and I'm pumped about today's headlines.

I think this is.

I've.

I got really excited preparing for this podcast.

So today we've got news on Google Shopping's big new transformation.

Amazon bundling online shopping of food with non food items.

JD Sports new pre owned sneaker program.

Amazon testing on site robotic warehouses at Whole Foods so customers can pick up other items that Whole Foods doesn't carry at checkout.

Hmm.

But we begin today with big news that leaves a little bit of a hole in our hearts and all right.

Chris, headline number one.

That is right.

Grabango has called it quits.

According to Payments Dive, Grabango, the automated checkout technology company whose software was used by Aldi and piloted in several us convenience store chains, has permanently ceased operations.

Grabango's technology Washington, similar to Amazon just walk out tech, and that it kept track of what shoppers picked up inside the store as soon as they entered.

And then when ready to leave, customers would scan a code in the Grabango mobile app and their payment would automatically process.

However, unlike Amazon, Grabango's technology also did not rely on weight sensors within stores shelves and used cameras only.

Chris Grabango shut down this week.

Amazon called it quits on some just walk out tech, or called it's just walk out technology tech cumbersome last week.

And so I have to ask you, is this the final nail in the coffin of fixed position camera based just walk out systems?

Oh, wow.

And you're starting me off hot.

Um, I think, sadly, I think very, very sadly, I, I think I'm going to actually say that it is, I'm going to make.

This is it.

I think it is.

I think this is the nail in the coffin quite simply for the fact that just walking out of a store, as we talked about last week, isn't that valuable of an idea to consumers as a point of differentiation and also, perhaps more importantly, all the other benefits of the cameras, specifically pricing and inventory accuracy, can all be accomplished more simply and easily and cost effectively with other systems, especially via in store robotics.

Right, right.

Talk about that a lot on our show.

So, so the implications of all this, of all of this from this announcement from Gabango are big in my mind because Grabango was actually trying to do it in the least capital intensive way.

Like you mentioned, they're doing it without shelf sensors, but yet they still had trouble getting traction.

So my prediction, I'm going to be bold here, my prediction, bold right at the start of this podcast, my prediction is that all the activity in this area is going to cease, particularly among grocers, and that more investment and energy will be put towards things like in store robotics, which, as I've said before, will make 2025 the year of the in store robot, because just walk out systems are getting pulled back.

Robotic implementations are already on the rise.

You're seeing them go from grocers to warehouse clubs.

The trend is already heading in that direction.

And this news just further intensifies that trend, in my opinion.

Yeah, I agree.

I mean, I think that, you know, retailers, like we've talked about multiple times, they really have had to focus, you know, shifting their technology investments to things that are really impacting their core business.

And to your point, like, this is, this is still kind of something on the roadmap that was more of a, like, very R and D heavy.

Nice to have even some of these Grabango stores that they were piloting.

It wasn't the only way to shop those stores either.

So I think that's the key thing.

Like, it was still in test mode.

It didn't seem like they were.

You know, these retailers were willing to, like, go all in on it, too.

And I think that, for me, it's not a no, this technology is never going to happen again or that it's.

We're not going to see it pop up again.

I just think that because of the things you said, you know, there's other ways that you can achieve some of the benefits that this provides, like robotics, like controlled entry and exit and other things that don't require as much capital investment right now from retailers that they just don't have.

They just have to focus on other things, like labor shortages shrink all these other things, and there are ways to do that more affordably than I think this technology, unfortunately, we're so big on it.

I'm so sad to make this the final, but.

But you're kind of feeling that way, too, then.

Yeah, yeah, I think, yeah.

I mean, to your point, like, even though we talked about last week, Sam's club's exit setup, you know, which uses some computer vision, but uses it in a different way with scan and go or even Instacart smart card, you can still get at that in the long run in a very simpler, less capitally intensive way to do it.

And, you know, you just get down to it, like, keeping all those items tracked in a store with a degree of accuracy that you need, and.

And then the impact it puts on merchandising, like Amazon talked about, just seems like it's really hard.

Yeah.

Yeah, I agree.

Well, we'll see.

We'll see what happens and follow suit, but, yeah, Amazon closed some ghost stores this past week, too.

It's not great.

Yeah.

And, well, and you know what, though?

We'll always have Germany.

We'll always have our summer of 2020.

We will try out all these different stores.

All right, headline number two, Google Shopping announced some big changes yesterday.

According to a company blog post penned by Sean Scott, good alliterative name the VP GM of Google Shopping, a number of changes are coming, and here is how they work.

Say, for example, Ann, you were to search for men's winter jacket for Seattle.

And then Google will now provide an AI brief with the most important things you should know before investing in a new coat for this climate.

It'll show products recommended by sources from across the web and an explanation of why they're a fit for your needs.

You also see categories that give you a more organized view of the types of jackets to consider.

And for those who want to research more deeply on the web, you can also easily click through to relevant articles, which is a key point.

In addition, your results will also include dynamic filters that let you zero in on your preferences, like if you need a certain size or want something available near you.

Also important.

And finally, Ann, because I know you were curious, I know how big of a Google fan you are.

What about pricing?

I'm sure that's what's going on in your head.

Oh, yes, I want to know shopping feature.

You want to know, right?

Yes.

The new Google shopping features not only include deal finding tools like price comparison, price insights, and price tracking throughout, but also a new dedicated and personalized deal page where you can browse deals for you by just clicking the deals link at the top of your page to explore.

All right, ad, since you started me off hot, I'm coming in hot, and I'm going to put you on the spot this week.

This is not the official a and M put you on the spot question.

This is the Walton put you on the spot question.

Junkyard version.

The junkyard version of the a and M put you on the spot.

Yes.

Okay.

Exactly right.

Last yes, I'm going to hold your feet to the fire.

And because last week you said Google's lens announcement was a headline of the year candidate, so does this week's Google shopping headline rank higher or lower in your estimation than Google Lens did last week in terms of the long term impact on retail scale?

The floor is yours.

Yes, I would say.

Let me clarify.

I think that the component of the headline of the year last week with Google Lens was really more about how it's going to be a key component to changing how we search.

And that's really a combination of both using visual elements to search in conjunction with the ability to use text search in that whole search experience, to use voice to help you search.

And so I don't think that they're mutually exclusive.

I think this is probably the headline.

But lens is a key component of this announcement, too, because to me, this ultimately signals Google is changing where we go to search when we're shopping for things.

And the key thing that's differentiated between Google and Amazon here is that Google is enabling discovery and like your seek and destroy mission, as you would say, Chris, to find that product and take it home with you.

And so I think that's what's fundamental here about what Google is doing.

I think it's just going to keep getting better as the algorithm learns more and the product descriptions get better and companies start to feed some of the content that's in these algorithms.

And I think lastly, this also makes a case again for own it or another platform that we've talked about on the show multiple times, because you, as the, the owner of the product, as the person selling this product, you have so much more data about that that you can start to feed into the shopping experience that will ultimately make that better for the consumer.

So I tell go to Google shopping.com, like, go down there right now, check it out.

It is so awesome.

I'm so excited for this.

Chris, it's a long answer to your question, but that's how I feel about it.

So, so if I sum it up and you basically say this is the more important headline, this is the headline.

My, my hunch, though, in fairness to you, my hunch was you already thinking about this in terms of when you were discussing last week's headline for sure, just assuming this was going to come too, right?

Yes, correct, correct.

Yes.

And shout out to, shout out to our friends at Google shopping who are putting this on our former Target store, the future team, too.

We got some people over there that are helping make this happen.

So go check it out.

Drive traffic to the site.

Yes.

Well, and I mean, I, I 100% agree because I actually, I actually think this, this trumps Google Lens.

And the reason I say this, because Google, because it works with Google Lens, right?

I mean, Google Lens is a part of it in the broader context.

And it, like you said, it ultimately changes how consumers search and buy products regardless of how many people adopt Google lens for their searches.

Right?

So the macro impact of this is potentially bigger.

But I think, I think this is, this headline is also important for a number of other reasons, because I think, like you mentioned, I think it signals and tells everyone what's coming next.

And so, first of all, there's four points I'd call out.

So first, you've got natural language based search, which is, we've talked about a lot.

It's coming.

But then the other interesting one that I alluded to when I was reading the headline, filtering searches down based on language versus preset filters divided by, decided by some random taxonomist, which has always been a crutch of e commerce.

It used to frustrate me like hell when I was running e commerce, because you can't, you can't keep pace with the amount of change that's happening in consumer trends by, you know, putting that on a taxonomist to chronicle and catalog and update your website.

So.

So that's coming to you.

The third part is, which I think this part's really interesting, it goes back to own it thing, too, the compliment, the complimenting of the searches with credible source material, which is something that Google can probably do better than anyone.

And then, of course, lastly, the showing of the market availability of the products broadly, like, where can you get them across all of retail, side by side alongside, you know, with price comparisons.

Like, that's pretty powerful stuff, and that's why Google here is very well positioned.

So, but the implications, I think the implications of this are also really important if you're a retailer or brand listening.

Yes.

Because if you don't have your site built to operate on what people are searching Google for and the questions they are asking Google, if you don't have your product information synced up to that and other people do, you are going to lose in the long run.

You are going to lose e commerce volume in the long run.

So that is something you really have to think about and you've got to start developing a strategy now to compensate for it.

Yeah, 100%.

Um, I, Chris, the other question that I have to ask you is that I think bringing Google lens into this one more time.

Yeah.

What do you.

Because Amazon, they've had visual search right on the Amazon platform for how long?

Like, oh, my God.

Started doing, right?

Yeah, I think, like probably ten years.

Close to ten years.

But don't you think it's interesting that Google, like, Lens was kind of the first, like, that was something that they launched?

And I feel like Google Lens is so, so much more widely known than any other, like, individual brands visual search functions.

So, like, this is another component of it that I think is interesting to kind of go backward into that and now, like, using our normal search language, like, we type something into Google to find products.

I just, I think it's so much more natural to, like, human behavior to search Google in this way and the results are so much better.

But what do you think?

Yeah, I mean, I think that's your point.

I mean, the statistic for me was like 20% of, what was it?

20% of product searches are using Google lens in their search, like when people are searching products or using Google lens.

So I think that's really powerful.

But the other thing, and I think we all know at this point that you love Google lens.

I think it's like, it's like you think it's the greatest thing said sliced bread.

I think.

I think that is clearly, clearly on the table.

So I don't know, I don't think, I don't think we need.

I think the audience and I are very comfortable with your, with your.

You don't want to hear any more.

Good.

All right, let's get in to headline number three.

Amazon is diversifying its marketplace and fulfillment centers to allow prime members to add goods from Amazon.com, amazon Fresh and Whole Foods to one cart.

According to retail Dive, Amazon is piloting a new feature in its Phoenix market that enables prime members to shop for grocery items alongside Amazon.com products and have them delivered together.

The trial allows Amazon prime members to shop for grocery essentials, including fresh items alongside Amazon.com goods, and have them delivered together in hours.

The capability also gives shoppers access to the usual same day delivery speed and selection of multiple delivery windows.

Amazon plans to extend this model to more locations as it continues to quote, test, and learn, end quote, and anticipates more customers will continue to opt for same day delivery from Amazon for grocery shopping.

All right, Chris, where do you sit?

Are you buying or selling this consolidated grocery shopping via Amazon?

Buying or selling?

I'm a hard buy on this one and.

Oh, really?

Okay.

Yeah, I am.

I'm a hard buy.

I think it's smart.

I mean, that's my first point.

My second point, though, would be like, why did this take so long?

That's, that's my big question here.

And the other thing that, the other thing I'm going to bring to the table here is, I actually think this tells me how much Walmart is eating their lunch and e commerce.

Grocery, yes.

Because if you think back, Walmart actually had two experiences.

I think it was like two or three years ago they merged them together.

And ever since, they haven't looked back like they're just crushing it.

Right.

Which makes sense because you want to get, it's the whole idea of mass merchandise.

You want to get everything in one cart delivered to you at once.

You don't want to have to go through two experiences.

Like, that's not good from a shopping standpoint.

So Amazon is clearly playing catch up when you think about it from that angle.

But swinging back around, I think ultimately it makes sense because you can get your weekly shopping list done all in one place on Amazon and you can add any other items you want to during the course of a week or during the course of building your cart.

So.

But, and then with that said, I think retailers like Walmart, Target, Costco, they can't be liking this announcement because I think it makes Amazon more stronger in grocery part and parcel.

But my only question though, I didn't have time, maybe you had time to research this.

I didn't have time to research it yesterday.

My other question is, like, I mean, it's only in Phoenix, but how does it work with like, the up charges for Amazon delivery for grocery versus prime?

Like, that probably gets really confusing within this flow, too.

So I don't understand that either.

But, but what did you think?

You buying or something?

Yeah, yeah, I don't, you know, I think I'm more leaning towards your, why did it take this so take them so long to do this?

Because to me, this is like, from a customer perspective, this is just a slight modification to the user experience of ordering from Amazon already.

And my hope is exactly what you hit on that it actually, the benefit to the customer here is that it gets them to that $35 daily delivery threshold faster, which seems to be like the biggest benefit because before when you were adding, like, say you wanted to, do you know your Amazon stock up trip, not only do you have multiple carts going, because some things are coming from Amazon fresh, some are coming from whole foods, and some are coming from Amazon.

But to me, it actually seems like this is doing more benefit on Amazon's part than it is.

Like on the customer front, the only benefit the customer gets, like, do they really care if their things are bundled?

I don't know that that's the case.

I think, yes, maybe the delivery window being the same is nice, but to me this is like Amazon making logistical changes, testing, putting more things in one warehouse so that they can have fewer drivers out on the road and fewer, fewer deliveries going to the same destination, more so than it's really like an enhanced customer experience.

That's interesting because I don't know that's it because I don't know that I care if my deliveries are bundled, but I care that my shopping experience is bundled.

Like, this is actually been, this has been a limiting factor for me, trying Amazon for grocery because I'm like, oh, I got to go to another place to do this.

And that's prevented me from actually wanting to use it as much as I probably could have over these past few years.

Right.

Particularly during the pandemic, too, if you think about it.

So I think the consumer side of it for shopping is fine, but delivery points are interesting.

But for me as a consumer, yeah, I don't know that I care that they're bundled as long as I get them.

When you say I'm going to get them and my packages from Amazon arrive at different times right now, even if I check out with one cart.

So like, what's the big deal, you know?

Yeah.

Yeah.

I'm really curious to see that threshold because that's what kept me from doing it before.

Like you, I do want to put all my stuff in one grocery shopping trip.

I can get it from Amazon, but if I can't get same day delivery because I only have two items from Whole Foods and then one item from am, like, then I'm just like, no, I'm done.

I'll go pick it up at Target or Walmart, which I'm, I'm wondering if customers might start to do anyway.

Yeah, it feels like this is, there's a lot to still figure out here on how this is going to work with all the different things they've got going on in this, this whole idea.

And it doesn't seem, I don't know, it's, yeah, we're going to talk more about this.

We got, we got a complimentary headline and headline five, which I cannot wait to get to.

But yeah, there's, it seems like there's a lot, lot to this enchilada, and this is not a chunky yet.

It's an enchilada.

All right.

Headline number four, it's still wet and sloppy.

It's sloppy.

Wet and sloppy enchilada.

JD Sports just opened a new shopping platform called Rejd, a place for consumers to shop pre owned shoes at huge discounts according to the always in my weekly rotation.

And sneaker news.

Oh, yes, Sneaker News.

Sneaker news.

Yes, Sneaker News.

Rejd is one of the few aftermarket platforms owned by a retailer as opposed to a sneaker brand.

As a result, its selection is far more broad and isnt positioned as a hot destination for hyped up shoes, but rather under the raider styles as well as performance and casual footwear like sandals and slides.

Every pair of shoes gets inspected, cleaned and repaired as needed, then assigned a condition grade so buyers know exactly what to expect.

And as our resident resale maven, what do you think of JD Sports new re JD concept?

You know, I love the, the fact that JD is doing this from like an umbrella sporting goods brand or house perspective because one, they, you know, the best part about this is that they, in theory have all the data from the original purchase because they're collecting not only pre loved, like gently worn items, but they're also taking into account returns that have come in open box product that's come in.

And they're putting this on this RejD marketplace, which they're doing in conjunction with arrival e commerce, which is a platform Rochelle Snyder, we've talked to several times.

I believe in that platform and I think what they're ultimately trying to do is, yes, get product back into circulation faster so it doesn't end up in landfills.

However.

Chris, there's a big but here for me.

A big but.

A big but.

There's always a but.

Bloomberg recently reported that sites like Thredup, Depop and Realreal are having a really hard time right now being profitable because they still have to hold on to product.

And that's what I am concerned about here with this JD RejD platform because, yes, you know, you can authenticate it quickly because, you know, it came from you.

You can have it cleaned and put out back into the, into circulation.

But how much money are you really going to still make on that product?

That's the big question here for me because I think that when, when you see sites that are doing this, when it's just peer to peer, there's no, you know, pulling product back in and have somebody having to own and manage that.

I think that's where you stand to be most profitable.

So I'm a little surprised that JD didn't go that route, especially with such adored brands that they have in their, in their stable like Nike, like new balance and others.

But, um, but where do you, where do you land on, on the whole jdeh, like resale this Rejd site?

I mean, I don't have a lot to add.

I think what, the point you're bringing up is really interesting to me is right.

And you're right because like even those companies are struggling, even the peer to peer sites are, you know, apparently struggling.

Right.

So, like, and so I just, I do struggle with how anyone makes money doing this in the long run.

Like, it just seems like a really hard thing to make money when you're shipping, you know, shoes back and forth multiple times or holding inventory for that.

So, like, I don't know.

But I think with that said, the one point I take from this story is JD Sports is clearly going for it.

I mean, multiple headlines where we've talked about them this year, which before, I don't even think JD Sports was in the lexicon of american retail all that much.

But they're making headline after headline and taking some pretty unique approaches in the marketplace.

Like we had them on talking about video commerce and everything they're doing there now.

The question is they have to be careful they don't get too far out in front of things and keep their eye on the ball operationally in terms of the day to day.

But, you know, we've talked to Arian, Ariane Parisi, their head of digital commerce there, and she's on top of her stuff.

She gets it.

And so, like, I think they're, they're just, I think they're a retailer to watch here in the US because they could be on an upswing.

They're just doing some really creative things and they're entering a space that honestly, you know, needs somebody to kind of come in and be like, hey, we're going to do this differently.

We're going to do it better.

And so I applaud them for that.

Yeah, I agree.

All right, let's move on to headline number five.

Chris?

Amazon is testing the addition of robot warehouses to Whole Foods so shoppers can pick up other orders at checkout.

Okay, according to CNBC, Amazon is building a micro fulfillment center attached to a Whole Foods location in the Philadelphia suburb of Plymouth meeting, Pennsylvania.

Once the facility is operational, within the next year, shoppers will be able to order items from Amazon's website and its online grocery service, Amazon Fresh, while browsing Whole Foods and pick it up in the store as they're checking out.

The arrangement would allow shoppers to buy staple goods from brands that aren't carried at Whole Foods Markets.

For example, the Pepsi soda and Kellogg's cereal that is on top of your kids list and may prevent some people still from going to a Whole foods to complete their trip.

And now it taps into the vast online Amazon catalog of items.

Chris, this is the a and M.

The real, real, the real one.

Put you on the spot.

Question A and M wants to know in Amazon's play to consolidate trips and increase baskets through Whole foods.

Will the end of.

Will the end consumer impact here be more trips to Whole foods from non Whole foods shoppers or just fewer trips by whole food shopper to other grocery retailers?

Oh, man.

Oh, Jesus.

That.

That might be my favorite question all time from a and M.

Yeah, but before I answer that question, I gotta give a shout out to Plymouth meeting, Pennsylvania.

Did you know there was a Plymouth meeting, Pennsylvania?

I didn't, but I didn't question it.

When I read it, I was like, sure, this makes sense.

Like, Plymouth meeting feels like where all the Pilgrims came and had.

Would you like to know where the.

Town created their name?

Like, I would love to abandon that route.

What should we call ourselves?

Well, we're meeting.

We're near Plymouth.

Plymouth here.

Let's call ourselves Plymouth meeting.

I don't know.

But anyway.

All right, back to the question.

So.

So will the end consumer impact here be more chips to Whole foods from non Whole foods shoppers or just fewer trips by whole food shoppers to other grocery stores?

It's amazing question.

I'm going to go.

I'm going to go bold on this answer, and I'm going to actually say that.

That when you combine this with what's going on in headline three and where Amazon is potentially heading, I think the answer is actually c.

I think it's going to mean, yes, fewer trips by whole food shoppers to other grocery retailers.

But if these headlines both play out as intended, it will also mean less trips to whole food stores by whole food shoppers as well.

Okay.

Because how come?

And I say that for a couple reasons.

First, the use case is just freaking silly.

Like, I can't stand the use case.

I'm standing in a Whole Foods and I'm going to go on my phone and order Pepsi.

No, it's not going to happen.

I can do that much easier from my couch based on what you're trying to put forward in headline number three.

So if you believe the consolidated idea, people are going to gravitate towards that which ultimately leads, if you play this out, which ultimately means you're going to have less shoppers in Whole foods, which is going to mean less margin for Whole Foods over time, less long term investment in whole Foods in store experience.

And here's the thing, and this is where I'm getting bold, which ultimately is the eventual death of Whole Foods as we know it today and love it.

Wow.

Okay.

Which brings up an interesting.

And here's why I say that, which brings up an interesting question.

If Amazon were to sell Whole Foods right now, would it be worth more or less than they originally paid for it?

Oh, God, I have no.

What do you think?

I don't know.

My guess is it would actually be worth less because Amazon has done nothing with it.

And now I think this headline, if they keep playing this out the way they are, this is essentially going to kill it because Amazon's mass market dominance is so strong in e commerce, that's going to pull people out of the actual store, which is going to create the death of Whole Foods down the line.

That's, that's my prediction here.

Oh, man, you've given me so much to think about in this.

That's why I love this show.

I got, I got, went down a big rabbit hole on this.

I kind of think it's gonna happen.

Like, if this is how it's gonna play out, like, if you're trying to get people to buy Pepsi while they're in Whole foods, like, what are you doing here?

I don't disagree with you.

I mean, I think that that's what I was thinking.

Like, my biggest concern here is, like, these are mini warehouses right now, and how much product can you actually fit?

Like, yes, we know Coca Cola and Pepsi and, you know, Doritos.

You can't buy in a whole foods.

But then, like, what?

So then I'm like, well, does it just make sense to start carrying these products inside of a Whole Foods if you know that that's what it is?

Like, why are you going to put this to a mini warehouse and put the friction point on the consumer then to have to, like, order that separately?

Like, why wouldn't you just start carrying it in your store?

But then you defeat the purpose of Whole Foods as a concept to begin with.

So, like, that, to me, that brings up a really interesting point.

You know, I will say that this does kind of put some clarification to what Claire Peters was talking about last week at grocery shop when she said they were trying to consolidate trips and make shopping easier.

I wish we knew about this when she was talking because I think that would have straightened things out a little bit, at least under, given us an example of what to expect of what they're trying to do.

But ultimately, I just keep getting back to how much can they fit in there?

And are you still going to force me as a consumer to do another trip?

Because I don't know that, you know, in your mini warehouse, you're going to have all the things on my list that I could just let to your point, walk into a target or walk into a Walmart and check all off my list in one, in one trip and be home and not have to do anything else.

But here's the thing.

You will from home because of number three, you will from home.

You will be able to get that delivered to your house from home because of the consolidation effort.

So see, I actually, I actually disagree with the point on Claire Peters too.

Like I actually think this is just further emphasizing the fact that I have no idea what their grocery strategy is.

When you look at everything they have under their banners, like they have Amazon fresh, they have the Amazon website, they have, they have whole foods, they have these other retailers that are, the other part of this too is the other retailers that are selling through Amazon as well that I'm assuming will be part of this consolidated effort.

So if you have all of those happening, Amazon's going to pull a hell of a lot of e commerce volume from consumers over time.

But I don't think those same consumers are going to be the ones going into stores anymore to the same degree.

And so that means that the stores they used to frequent are going to struggle and Whole Foods is going to be the prime one in my mind that struggles.

Right.

And again, like, you just made me think of something else.

So the other part of this is still the stores issue that Amazon has.

And like the whole like problem with what the shopping experience is going to be like in the whole food store because I think this also takes out like you're still not having the discovery that happens product in.

Like, it shows you that Amazon's not thinking about the merchandising of that disc.

Like how are they going to put sock, are they going to put socks on display?

Is there going to be signage for Pepsi that you can order?

Like how do you have that?

Those moments happen in a physical environment.

Fine.

That you know how to do it in a digital environment like you said, and you'd order all that stuff to your house.

But like, what's this going?

How are they thinking still about what their groceries footprint strategy?

That's a great point because my biggest lesson leading the store, the future project at Target is the last thing I wanted was a consumer to be on their phone looking for a product.

They can't get inside my store.

Yeah.

Because then they're missing all the merchandising that I am making the effort to put in front of them in the store.

Right.

So yeah, that's a big disconnect when you get right down.

So what do you think is going to happen?

Like, do you think that they're going to, like one?

Do they have enough product to test this in those mini, like, I still go back to like, what's in the mini warehouses, how many?

I just don't think it's there.

You don't think so you think this will be, like, killed as a test and it's not?

I think it's a fun thing to talk about.

I don't think consumers will actually do it.

I think they'll either do it, they'll either coordinate the order before they get there, or they'll just order from home and never leave their house.

Like, that's what going to happen.

Like, I'm not going to be standing in the chips aisle and go, oh, you know what?

I can pull out my phone now and I'm going to order a bag of tostitos for the party I'm going to have.

Like, it's just not going to happen that way because it's maybe as a one off, but that's not going to move anything.

So ultimately what I think is going to happen here is I think Whole Foods is either going to go struggle or it's actually going to get sold, which is why I thought of the question of, like, how much is it worth right now?

Is it worth more or less since Amazon took it over?

Right?

No, it's a great point.

Maybe it could be worth more to somebody because they could probably do something creative with it.

I don't know.

All right, people, we want to hear.

Send us your.

Send us.

Slide into the DM's and tell us what you think about this one.

I always love when we get thinking in real time.

We never know which way the conversation is going to go.

And we start thinking in real time.

It's always dangerous.

Oh, my God.

All right, let's close this out with the lightning round.

Chris, question number one goes to you.

Walmart just posted a job and hired a full time meteorologist, which would have been my dream job as a five year old.

What did you want to be when you were little?

Really?

You wanted to be a meteorologist?

Wow.

Oh, I wanted to be a meteorologist because I was terrified of storms and I love retail.

So, like, this would be the marriage of my two favorite things.

Wow.

I had no idea the meteorology history with you.

All right.

Oh, yeah.

Well, funny story for me to answer that question, I remember the day like it was yesterday.

I was outside shooting hoops in my driveway in Phoenix, and my grandmother came out.

She was visiting, and she's like, I don't know how it started, but she's like, Chris, what do you want to be when you grow up?

And I was like, you know what I want to be?

I want to be Mike Royko, grandma and Mike Royco.

Mike Royco was an editorialist, famous editorialist for the Chicago Tribune and other Chicago papers as well.

And I'd read his column, like, every week.

It would get syndicated to the Tempe Tribune, where I grew up.

And I always liked it.

And I was like, yeah, that's what I want to do.

And so, so, and basically the cool thing is that that is kind of what I do now, you know?

And I'm not at his stature by any means, but you got to start somewhere and.

Right.

I mean, so, yeah, so that's amazing.

How old were you?

How old were you reading Mike Royco?

Some kids peanuts.

Chris reads like twelve or 13.

I got twelve or 13, but I remember that conversation vividly.

Yeah.

I wanted to be a.

I want to be a columnist, you know?

And that's kind of how it played out, you know?

All right, second one.

KFC is issuing a battle cry to its fast food rivals with the launch of an integrated ad campaign for its new original recipe.

Tenders rank the following fried chicken restaurants in order of your preference, and KFC, Popeyes, chick fil a, and raising canes.

Okay.

Without question, Popeyes is the number one.

This should not even be a question.

It is the best.

I never had Popeyes ever.

Oh, my God.

Chris, do yourself a favor.

And popeyes love that chicken from Popeyes.

Okay, num.

Then I would say raising canes.

And then I would say I would pick McDonald's chicken nuggets, which he didn't even put in the running because I would take those over any of the other ones.

Chick fil a, KFC.

No thanks.

Not my.

You went out on your own on that one.

Wow.

Okay.

I did.

I threw in.

I threw in a dark horse with the McDonald's chicken nuggethe.

Maybe I can.

Donald's chicken.

Big Mac.

Right?

I was just going to say.

I forgot about that.

I forgot about that.

That would be my next thing to try, probably.

All right, Chris.

Target announced an exclusive Taylor Swift Black Friday release, the official Taylor Swift the eras tour book, and the tortured poets department, the anthology in hopes to drive more shoppers to target during this high holy day of shopping.

What deeply discounted product would be worth waiting in Black Friday lines if not the t.

Swift eras tour book?

Oh, wow.

Yeah, that's easy.

I mean, my son and I were in target on the weekend, and he spied this bumblebee transformer Lego, and it was like, over $100.

So I was like, no, we're not getting that.

And so he's like, maybe it'll go on sale for Black Friday.

I was like, yes, maybe it will.

Or maybe it won't.

You've taught him well.

You've taught him well.

Yes.

Oh, yeah.

The discerning shopper.

All right.

And this one's a fun one.

Meat stick maker.

Meat stick maker.

Chops is, believe it or not, now the fastest growing snack in the United States.

When was the last time you snapped into a slim gym or something similar?

Not high on my list of things that I like to snack on, but I did do a two star cycle ride.

We are getting a new thing.

It's like a soulcycle esque place.

We did a ride last week, and they had bison jerky sticks that were being given away as samples.

So I tried it.

My thing is, I used to love dried meat, but then I went to the bodies exhibit.

You know, the body, like, the bodies where they had, like.

Yeah, I went to the bodies exhibit at the science museum, and I had a hard time going back to dried meats after that.

So maybe.

Maybe I'll.

Because of the texture, the way it.

Yeah, the muscle.

Seeing the muscles and the texture of the jerky was a hard.

See, I'm gonna.

I'm gonna call B's on that.

And because I swear to God, I've been on conference trips with you.

And the beef stick is, quite frankly, an overused, like, sample that gets put in, like, the conference bags.

And I have seen you.

Because I avoid those.

I have seen you eat those pretty regularly over the years.

Yeah, pretty regularly.

I would say, like, I have eaten one, but I'm trying to remember, like, the last time.

I mean, that would be, like, an extreme case, you know?

I know there is a moment that.

I know is in both our heads where you ate one of those.

I think that's what you're trying to grab right now.

Yeah.

But, yeah, I can't do the stick.

I can do the jerky.

I can't do the stick.

You know, I just can't do it.

Yeah.

Are you more of a bloody jerk because of the bodies exhibit?

Yeah, I think so.

I think this.

It depends.

I don't know.

I'm very discerning about my meat sticks.

They gotta be a certain.

They can't be a certain texture.

Like, they can't have any, like, chewy bits in them?

I don't know.

So, yes.

I mean, I'll take a bite, but it's not gonna be my go to snack, for sure.

Yeah, I feel the same way about meat sticks that I do about hot dogs.

Like, just.

They didn't neither water going in my mouth unless I have it, if I got anything to say about it.

All right, happy birthday today, Roberts.

Before this show goes completely off the rails, Kelly Martin.

And to the man who played general Behringer of NORAD during a time of eminent global thermonuclear war, the great Barry Corbin of war games.

And remember, if you can only read or listen to one retail blog in the business, make it Omniton, the only retail media outlet run by two former executives from the current top ten Us retailer.

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