Episodes

In this Retail Technology Spotlight Series, Chris Walton sits down with Gagan Luthra, VP of Product at Impinj, to tackle one of retail's most persistent and expensive challenges: inventory distortion. With an estimated $1.7 trillion lost annually to inventory distortion, retailers have spent years investing in systems designed to improve accuracy. But what if the real problem isn't inventory at all? What if it's the data? Gagan explains how advances in RFID technology, including Impinj's Gen2X, ...

In this Retail Technology Spotlight Series, Chris Walton sits down with Brian Kinsella, Chief Product Officer at Manhattan Associates, to explore one of the biggest technology dilemmas facing growing retailers and brands: Do you start small and risk outgrowing your systems, or invest in enterprise technology before you have the size, resources, or complexity to justify it? Brian breaks down why that tradeoff may finally be changing. As customer expectations rise and growing brands take on marke...

In this Retail Technology Spotlight series, Chris Walton sits down with Julian Sellan, Senior Supply Chain Engineer at Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits, and Nick Cianfarani, Senior Account Manager at Dematic, to explore one of the biggest questions facing supply chain leaders today: How do you decide when it's time to upgrade your logistics network and when is it smarter to start over? Through the lens of Southern Glazer's ongoing network transformation, Julian and Nick break down what goes into...

In this Retail Technology Spotlight series, Chris Walton sits down with Antons Sapriko, Founder and CEO of Scandiweb, to explore just how far AI has already gone in running the operational layers behind retail and what happens when employees shift from doing the work to supervising the systems doing it for them. Antons breaks down the evolution from AI assistance to what Scandiweb calls "supervised automation," where AI increasingly handles everything from personalization and pricing logic to p...

In this Retail Technology Spotlight series, Chris Walton sits down with Soroosh Seyhoon, Chief Revenue Officer at Zello, to explore how capturing and analyzing frontline voice data is transforming the way retailers understand and manage store operations. From AI-powered in-ear assistants to real-time operational intelligence, Soroosh explains why the conversations happening on the sales floor represent an untapped goldmine of data that most retailers are completely ignoring. Drawing from deploy...

In this Retail Technology Spotlight episode, Chris Walton sits down with Kevin Billings, Vice President of Business Development at Sifter Solutions, to unpack how GLP-1 medications, SNAP legislation, and nutrition focused merchandising are reshaping the future of grocery retail. From state-by-state SNAP restrictions to hyper personalized shopping experiences powered by nutrition data, Kevin explains why retailers can no longer afford to treat food intelligence as a niche capability. Drawing fro...

In this Retail Technology Spotlight episode, Judah Berger, AI Product Manager at Unframe.ai, joins Omni Talk to explore one of the biggest questions facing retail leaders today: how do you actually implement AI across an organization without creating operational chaos? Judah works directly with enterprises to turn AI from an exciting concept into scalable systems that solve real business problems, helping companies identify inefficiencies, design AI powered workflows, and deploy solutions employ...

In this Retail Technology Spotlight episode, Armen Mkrtchyan, CEO and co-founder of Extuitive, joins Omni Talk to tackle one of the oldest problems in advertising and to show how AI is finally cracking it. John Wanamaker famously said, "Half of my ads don't work. I just don't know which half." Nearly 200 years later, that problem hasn't gone away. It's actually gotten worse. Armen breaks down how Extuitive's AD Intelligence Engine uses a fusion of real consumer panel data (150,000 people, compl...

In this Retail Technology Spotlight episode, Jeff Fish, co-CEO of Intelo.ai, and Noah Herschman, Head of Merchandise Strategy at Intello AI, join Omni Talk to tackle one of retail's most persistently under-teched problems: merchandise planning and allocation. From spreadsheet-driven chaos to agentic AI, Jeff and Noah break down why merchandise planning has been left behind by technology for nearly 30 years, how AI is finally changing that, and what retailers can actually do right now to drive r...

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

In this Retail Technology Spotlight Series episode from Omni Talk Retail, Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga welcome back Grocery Dealz co-CEOs Matt Goynes and Micheal Waldroup to unpack the rapid national expansion of their real-time grocery price comparison app. Now live in 40 states, Grocery Dealz enables consumers to compare grocery prices across retailers in real time before they shop and even push their lists directly into Instacart for delivery. The conversation dives into how the platform ...

In this Retail Technology Spotlight Series episode, Chris Walton sits down with Experion Technologies' Mahesh Vijayaraghavan (VP of Retail & Consumer Goods) and Siraj Alimohamed (Global Head of Data & AI) to cut through the AI hype. From platform-first strategies to the pilot fatigue epidemic, Mahesh and Siraj break down why AI is overhyped at the dashboard level but underappreciated where it matters most, i.e. in 6 a.m. inventory decisions and real-time store operations. Learn why building AI...

In this Retail Technology Spotlight episode, Amy Vener, Global Retail & Consumer Goods Marketing Director for Commercial Cloud & AI at Microsoft, joins Omni Talk to unpack the main takeaways from NRF and where retailers should focus next as agentic commerce moves from theory to execution. Drawing on her experience across Walmart, Pinterest, and Microsoft, Amy shares how retailers are shifting away from AI hype and toward real, measurable outcomes. From conversational shopping agents and merchan...

Specialty retailers keep asking us: handheld scanners or overhead readers? So we settled it the only way we know how: with a knockdown, dragout debate between two RFID experts. In this Retail Technology Spotlight, Anne Mezzenga moderates as Madalynn Lauria (Team Handheld) and Pareiya Gupta (Team Overhead) from GreyOrange make their cases for the best RFID solution. From proving ROI on a tight budget to cutting inventory counts from hours to minutes, this conversation tackles the real questions ...

In this Retail Technology Spotlight Series episode, Doron Hazan, Director of Data, Product, and AI at Wiliot, joins Omni Talk to discuss the concept of "physical AI" and how it ultimately improve retail operations from the ground up. From ambient IoT sensors to real-time inventory intelligence, Doron breaks down how battery-free Bluetooth pixels are creating self-aware supply chains, how retailers can start small and scale strategically, and why the future of retail operations is about connecti...

In this Retail Technology Spotlight episode, Nick Matthews, VP of Solutions and Architecture at Wiliot, joins Omni Talk to reveal how Walmart is deploying Bluetooth-enabled IoT technology across all 4,600 U.S. stores and 40 distribution centers. From wireless energy-harvesting tags to real-time pallet tracking, Nick breaks down how Wiliot's ambient IoT technology is reducing food waste by tens of millions of pounds, improving inventory accuracy, and improvingg store operations without requiring...

In this Retail Technology Spotlight Series episode, Julie Haleluk, Global Head of Growth at Amazon Shopping Video, and Wayne Purboo, VP of Amazon Advertising and Amazon Shoppable Video, join Omni Talk to reveal the future of social commerce and how AI is transforming the way we shop. From the evolution of shoppable video to agentic commerce, Julie and Wayne break down why social commerce isn't going away, how to measure video content beyond the live moment, and why brands need to clean up their...

In this Retail Technology Spotlight Series episode, Matt Goynes, co-founder and co-CEO of Grocery Dealz, joins Omni Talk to reveal how a Texas startup is improving grocery shopping with AI-powered price comparison. From fighting inflation fatigue to building transparent marketplaces, Matt breaks down how Grocery Dealz is becoming the "Gas Buddy for groceries," why price transparency is finally possible now, and how AI enables seamless product matching across hundreds of stores. If you've ever ...

In this Retail Technology Spotlight Series episode, John Mabe, Product Manager at Dematic, joins Omni Talk to break down the real applications of AI in warehouse operations—separating the hype from what's actually working today. From optimization algorithms to computer vision systems and LLM-powered insights, John explains the three distinct categories of warehouse AI and where each one stands in terms of real-world deployment. Learn why the smallest players struggle to adopt AI, how humanoid r...

Omni Talk sits down with Krystina Gustafson, co-founder of RetailClub and former Shoptalk content chief, to talk about the new AI Deep Dive Retreat launching this September in Huntington Beach. In this candid conversation, Krystina explains how RetailClub is reinventing the retail event experience—ditching the booths and buzzwords in favor of real conversations, collaborative learning, and hands-on AI training. 🔥 What to expect: – A sneak peek into RetailClub’s first AI-focused retreat – How ...

Join Omni Talk’s Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga as they sit down with JOOR CEO Kristin Savilia to explore how JOOR is transforming the wholesale fashion landscape. Kristin shares exclusive insights on digitizing the buyer-brand relationship, enabling smarter assortment planning, and helping independent retailers thrive globally. Learn how JOOR's Shopify integration, AI-powered prospecting, and strategic tariff navigation are reshaping the fashion industry for 2025 and beyond. From shrinking shi...

In this Spotlight Series interview, Catherine Dummitt, VP of Marketing at Narvar, explains how the post-purchase journey is evolving from a cost center to a powerful “trust center.” With insights from over 42 billion consumer interactions annually, Narvar is helping retailers rethink shipping, returns, and communication to boost loyalty, reduce costs, and drive revenue. From AI-driven delivery confidence to smarter shipping perks, this is a must-watch for anyone shaping the future of e-commerce....

🎙️ In this special Omni Talk Retail Technology Spotlight episode, Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga sit down with Bryan Chan, Senior Director at E Ink, to explore the journey of electronic shelf labels (ESLs) and why they're finally catching fire in the U.S. Key Moments: [01:03] What is E Ink? — Origins as an MIT spinout and Kindle beginnings [2:52] Why ESLs weren’t the original goal — from newspapers to shelf labels [4:45] Learning from “belly loaders” and how real-world store operations shape...

In this deep-dive Omni Talk Spotlight, Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga are joined by Rajat Nigam, Chief Product Officer at ClearDemand, to unpack the critical role of competitive intelligence in modern retail pricing. Formerly leading pricing innovation at Amazon, Rajat explains how engineering, data quality, and normalization are central to making pricing intelligence truly actionable — and profitable. From assortment gap analysis to real-time pricing enabled by electronic shelf labels, this epi...