Anne 00:09
Hello, you are listening to the OMNI talk Fast Five brought to you in partnership with Microsoft, A&M consumer and retail group, Takeoff and Sezzle. The Omni talk Fast Five podcast is the podcast that we hope makes you feel a little smarter, but most importantly, a little happier each week too, especially if you’re a loyal listener like Lee Dunbar who’s likely listening to this podcast on Saturday morning as he waits for his curbside pickup order at his local Walmart. Hello, Lee. Today is April 28. I am your host Anne Mezzenga
Chris 00:42
And I’m Chris Walton.
Anne 00:43
And we are here once again to discuss all the top headlines making waves in the world of omni channel retailing. And if you are in Minneapolis or watching our video seeing how absolutely effing cold is in Minneapolis,
Chris 00:56
*unintelligible* winter cold studio.
Anne 00:56
Yes I know. It’s going to be Maine next week, and it is still cold here.
Chris 00:59
It’s cold,
Anne 01:01
What in the hell is going on.
Chris 01:06
It’s absolutely insane how cold it is. And I can’t I this is I’m at my breaking point. I don’t know about you. And all those people that we talk to every week where they’re like, it’s sunny California and everything. I just want to say stop telling us that, we know we know we know it and it doesn’t make me feel any better. But Anne
Anne 01:23
Yes
Chris 01:24
We got some good reviews to read this week. We read our first review last week and it was positive. But I gotta tell you these reviews this week cracked me up. Alright, here you go. Anne you ready?
Anne 01:34
Yeah.
Chris 01:34
So the first one comes, the both both of them are on YouTube. They were comments left on YouTube and the first one comes from someone named Smokey Mc B. And Smokey big B basically quoted the book of Revelation and called Amazon’s palm payment, the “Mark of the beast.” And the other word comes to us from Shaun T who had this to add he said: cool shyt What are you talking about? This is not cool. It’s another step into going full digital currency which will allow the government to control what you can and can’t purchase based on your social credit score, which they also want to implement dopey naive slightly more convenience is not worth our freedom to which add to Smokey Mc B and to Shaun T I say what my mother used to say to me growing up and and you know what that is?
Anne 02:17
No, I have no idea
Chris 02:18
It’s a quote from the movie stripes The Great Movie stripes which is lighting the hell up Francis. Oh my God come on the mark of the beast. I mean, the only mark of the beast that I’m getting at Amazon Go are those prime cuts of beef on my discount Anne. so call me calligra But I’m so down with that. But I’m curious what do you have to say to Smokey Mc B and Shaun T?
Anne 02:40
I think you guys need to walk outside. I think you need more fresh air not in Minneapolis but somewhere else go take go take in some fresh air and man
Chris 02:49
100%
Anne 02:50
consider an antidepressant perhaps I don’t know what to tell you. But that sounds very serious.
Chris 02:57
It sounds very very ominous very negative approach to the world in my opinion. But But hey, we said we’re going to read all the reviews good and bad. Leave the leave them any which way you want because they all make us make us have a tonne of fun reading them. And we’re going to bring them up on the show.
Anne 03:11
Yeah, so reminder, if you are listening on Apple podcast, leave us a review, heart the podcast if you’re on Spotify, Google Amazon music etc. And please follow and subscribe so we can keep making the best content possible for all of you. And as Chris said, we just might read it aloud one day even if it’s talking about the mark of the beast,
Chris 03:31
The mark of the beast, Smokey Mc B which is a great name by the way, like mad props on that.
Anne 03:36
Yes, yeah, you do. Chris Chris MC Walton. Once you go read what the headlines are that we’re going to talk about today.
Chris 03:42
It sounds like a sandwich at McDonald’s. menu board. All right.
Anne 03:46
Like the the like anti meat the non meat MC rib or something
Chris 03:51
like the cold stays cool that the cool other side stays cold too. All right. In today’s Fast Five we got news on online retailer morning save launching a new store.
Anne 04:00
Yeah
Chris 04:01
Meta launching its first store. American Eagles knew what they’re calling a frenemy network, which is cool name. Amazon’s new buy with prime concept but first we take off with another big store opening this is the week of store openings. Anne would you have the honours please?
Anne 04:17
Oh sure. Let’s get into it. All right. headline number one Chris. Amazon this week opened its largest Amazon Go store yet. This time they’re going to the burbs of Mill Creek Washington is where they opened this store. And according to Jeff wells at grocery dive the store is just over 6000 square feet in total. Roughly half of that is Front of House space. But what is most unique about this store is that Jeff said it also “features a wider range of items including more multi serve packs of snacks and groceries than traditional go stores as well as fresh and made to order foods like sandwiches, salads, and of course, avocado toast.”
Chris 04:56
Oh of course.
Anne 04:57
Jeff also says “crown jewel of the Made to Order or meal counter a first for Amazon Go is where shoppers can order around 30 different items like sandwiches, salads, egg bowls and wraps using your favourite digital kiosks.”
Chris 05:12
That’s Right Anne. That is awesome.
Anne 05:14
Chris. I know I want to hear him. What do you think?
Chris 05:17
CrownJewel. Ah, My take on this first I freaking love it. Yeah, I do. Do you love it?
Anne 05:21
Yeah,
Chris 05:21
You do. Okay, I can’t wait to hear more. But first thing I thought of when looking at the pictures. I thought this part was really interesting. I thought it looked exactly like the Casey’s general store that I went into in Davenport, Iowa recently.
Anne 05:32
Oh, sure.
Chris 05:32
Last Summer. Yeah. I mean, it shows me they’re going hard after suburban convenience with this model. Although you’ve pointed it out, the one thing I will say that I don’t love is the kiosk for ordering meals.
Chris 05:43
I think that feels a little tech trick out. I imagine it helps to triangulate the checkout free process a little bit because you’ve got like a digital interface where it’s seeing what they’re ordering who it’s attached to. But by the same token, I think that’s a slower way to order potentially for people. And there’s cooler ideas out there like a skill down menu with voice assistance or virtual ordering, like we saw from Freshy this week, where they’re having some like a screen of someone actually live on the screen somewhere else taking your order.
Anne 05:43
Yeah
Anne 06:10
In Nicaragua.
Chris 06:10
Yeah, yeah. In Nicaragua, wherever you want to do it.
Anne 06:12
Yeah
Chris 06:13
Those are cool. And, and by the way, like, either way, you’re still having a line too. You’re still creating a line to wait for a kiosk or to give your order to somebody in person. So so I don’t really love that. But but you know, like, and for those, you know, like, I hate kiosks, I think they’re silly. Like I generally tell retailers to avoid them with all passion.
Chris 06:32
Right.
Chris 06:32
But you know, that’s my initial thought tonight. Oh, one more thing to add. But I want to hear what you got to say first. Yeah,
Anne 06:36
I agree. There’s some some strange things happening on a store that focuses on no lines being like the core to its its being to have lines for the kiosks, which you’ll inevitably have, especially during high traffic times. I do love it, too. I think the main, like the main selling points for me are number one, having complete Starbucks at a convenience store is so huge for me, like you could just put them all in every single convenience store.
I mean, you can get any, I’ve been a huge advocate for Starbucks, just putting these machines in for something that’s like Starbucks where you know exactly what you want. That you know, you don’t need a barista to be making that. And now that you think about, like how many more places Amazon could be placing these go stores that have also cheap and relatively healthy food. Like it’s 299 for a kid’s grilled cheese meal. Like it that’s cheap for you know,
Chris 07:30
Oh hell yeah it is.
Anne 07:31
So if you think about it,
Chris 07:32
And a grilled cheese is a grilled cheese. Let’s be honest.
Anne 07:34
Right? Well, yes. But even though even the adult meals really
Chris 07:37
Do kids care about Gouda though,
Anne 07:38
No, but they probably will put it in there
Chris 07:41
Does your kid care about Gouda. I got the fancy Yeah, sorry. I mean, are you also
Anne 07:47
then the third thing is for me is having returns at this place.
Chris 07:50
Yeah.
Anne 07:51
So I when I think that, like they’ve created the, like, bougie version of a convenience store that essentially can be run on its own. So you can plop one of these in any place on any like, you know, exit ramp in anywhere in the country. And you start to like, be able to churn these things out. Eliminate things like you know, staffing and all the the dangers of operating a convenience store like this could be massive.
Chris 08:18
Yeah, right. No, 100% I in actually, I’m gonna make a bold prediction here. Anne \
Anne 08:22
Yeah
Chris 08:22
The thing I love about what Amazon is doing here in this space, is, you know, they have essentially, the everything they do is so scientific method, like you look at how they’ve rolled out go like small formats, 1800 square feet, roughly front of house, now they’re going bigger, they’re adding a little bit each and every time.
Anne 08:39
Yep.
Chris 08:40
And this time that this time, the new piecemeal part of the experiment is the meal counter, right, the staff meal counter that will make your food free, which is important to remember, my prediction here in is that we are looking at the coming of the modern gas station that that one of the next steps in the experiment will be evey charging stations out front of these right, or maybe even gas, like at some point,
Anne 09:02
Right?
Chris 09:03
Like to say like, Hey, what do we get in their cars, they don’t make any money and no one makes any money on gas, they make all their money on the stuff in the front. So Amazon still has multiple option values here to explore with this concept as they go forward. And I think that’s super powerful.
Anne 09:16
And I would just add, they also have the ability to start doing delivery from these places. Like they’re not even doing delivery yet. From these even with half of the space being dedicated to warehouse, they’re not doing providing any instant delivery right now, you’re not using this as hubs, especially when you start to think about putting these in remote locations where, you know, this could be the hub for Amazon packages or other things like that, like so, so many things to go on.
Chris 09:42
100% there’s so many more experiments that could still be run. All right, headline number two, according to Digital Journal, the online retailer mourning save is opening up its own physical store in Texas. The store is set to open on April 29, and promises to entice customers with a new type of treasure hunts. For amazing deals the store will feature requote digital signage, QR codes, projectors, televisions and tablets tell me what they’ve won mobile and adaptable displays and dynamic lighting to allow the events deals and entire store to transform it into entirely new shopping experience every week. Like its online counterpart, the physical store will highlight new products and offer deeply discounted savings on an ever changing assortment of items from a broad selection of merchandise categories, including home, kitchen, beauty, tech accessories, and more end quote. Anne my question for you.
Anne 10:28
Yes.
Chris 10:29
Do you like this concept? And do you foresee a trip to Plano on our horizon?
Anne 10:33
Oh, hell yeah,
Chris 10:34
You do?
Anne 10:34
Yeah, I do. I mean, so there’s a lot of these you’ll go to week. There’s a lot of these going on in Dallas and the Dallas Fort Worth area
Chris 10:42
Dallas is like the retail Mecca right now. Innovation,
Anne 10:46
right, especially for these types of concepts. So like, last summer, I think when you were out we were talking about quick lots, but also took over a giant mall space. That’s doing a similar concept like this. Again, like they have an omni channel approach to this. I love it. This is like gambling and shopping rolled into one which is like my dream state. It is it’s like, oh my god, am I gonna get the deal? Am I gonna get the deal? And then you get so excited.
Chris 11:12
Okay. All right.
Anne 11:14
Yes, I mean. Also, people have a reason to come to the store. That’s exciting. I mean, you, you see the draw that the treasure hunt brings for people to get them into places like TJ Maxx and home goods. But this is like, I can see what might be coming online first, I don’t have to be in store to get it. They also are talking about digital displays. So I’m picturing like Simon Says, and like red light green light going and like if you’re the first one to get there, and maybe you can use your phone to do it. Like
Chris 11:42
oh, 100% my mind. I was gonna talk about that too. My mind goes crazy with what this could be. Yeah, no, if it will be
Anne 11:42
Yeah. So what do you what are your thoughts?
Chris 11:42
My thoughts are my thoughts are like you, and I’m gonna, this is gonna be weird this week. But I’m loving almost all these stories. But I love this concept, too.
Anne 11:56
Yeah
Chris 11:57
You and I have long hypothesise that someone could and should do this with the right combination of technology to take the deal fever of online and combine it in a physical store.
Anne 12:06
Right.
Chris 12:07
You know, I like I said, it’s, I think it’s hard to know how it’s going to work. But there are a few things I really love about it Anne like, for example, like you said it, the mobile displays and the QR codes, make me hope that their online inventory is connected to their offline in some way, shape or form, And that they’re always running the deals in the same way in both places to create that deal feeder that you’re talking about. Like, oh, are you getting it online? Are you in store, right? And you’re watching it like decrement? Down? Like that is such a merchandising trick that I think would be gangbusters. I gotta hope that’s in this store, like, I really do,
Anne 12:38
And even if but I’d like to play on that a little bit. Like even if you didn’t have it online and offline, just adding the like QR code or like mobile purchase point in a scenario like this, like you think of like the outlet centres doesn’t have to be tight. Like even if they didn’t have it even showing on on omni channel. Like if it was just in the store. And I could see that in the the like price changes right in front of you in the blue light goes on. And like I can click it and buy it right there like that That is huge.
Chris 13:06
It’s cool. Yeah, it’s cool. But I think the omni channel nature is pretty awesome, especially since we’re OMNI talk.
Anne 13:12
Yes.
Chris 13:13
But the other the other cool thing about this, too, is I was checking them out online, they have a membership online, 599, I think it is you get free shipping. And so my question would be would customers pay a membership fee? to maybe have their products shipped to them? Or do you have an experience like this. And when you think about it, like, it already works, it’s in the cards with Costco. So this is just a potentially supercharged digital version of a very cool idea around the treasure hunt. So cool, fine. So I think it could totally work to get that extra revenue stream to help support the model.
Anne 13:46
Yeah, I have a question for you, though. Being a former operator, running stores, what challenges are they going to be looking at like, so that they this doesn’t turn into like, full on like Texas bar fight, trying to like fight over these items, especially when you have items when you’re using the stores is like ship from store? Like how does that work in this like, feverish time?
Chris 14:09
100%? I mean, I think I’m glad you brought that up, because we’re gonna talk about that too. I think there I think there’s two really key things that are required to make this work.
Anne 14:15
Okay.
Chris 14:16
You have to have great merchandising, and great inventory management. So the part on the merchandising the thing that’s hard there is like, online, you can curate deals like you can decide roughly how many of them you want. In physical stores with multiple locations, where people like different things, it’s much harder to get that right and you got to go the well on what those really compelling treasure hunt finds are that bring you into the store each and every month or each and every day.
Anne 14:42
Yeah, right.
Chris 14:43
But the more important part is now you’re going into a situation where you have one pool of inventory in a DC most likely servicing ecommerce to now go into multiple pools of inventory. And that means much more complication. You could get some of those merchandising bats wrong. And that could be in markdowns and that could mean hits to profit down the line. So you have to have really fluid inventory systems, which is another reason why I kind of give you crap before about not bridging the inventory. I think it’s actually inherently important that they try to figure out a bridge the inventory because it’s a liquidation strategy. Should they make the wrong bet on the merchandising, but what do you think?
Anne 15:18
I don’t know. Like, that’s like, I guess that’s another question for me too, is, I mean, how much like is if I’m online and that thing got purchased in store and they and I can’t get it anymore? Is that like, part of the benefit of going to the store? Like is that what’s getting me in and that’s better for the retailer anyway, because then they don’t have to ship it like,
Chris 15:36
like it could be but you could actually systematically decide what pools of inventory get to be seen by whom,
Anne 15:41
Right right
Chris 15:42
as well. So like there’s ways around that if you think about this in the right way, that’s why it’s a really a really cool concept to watch. But let’s let’s keep on rolling.
Anne 15:49
All right, let’s go to headline number three. So meta is opening its first ever store, dubbed the quote, meta store. According to Business Business Insider, it will sell headsets and offer demos to help people connect to the metaverse. The first store will open on May 9 and is located in Burlingame, California. Chris, what do you think of the meta store?
Chris 16:11
Yeah, you know, I think, you know, despite people would probably people want me to send this I don’t have like really huge hot take on this one Anne I’m pretty tempered, I think would be the right word.
Anne 16:19
Well you also already own an Oculus.
Chris 16:21
I do own an Oculus, which is a key part of this. I mean, I think generally I think it’s a smart move. You know, you have to get people used to or are accustomed to using the Oculus hardware.
Anne 16:31
Yep.
Chris 16:31
And this is a fun, free and safe way and emphasis on free. Yeah, big letters there. For people to get addicted to what the metaverse is because I think you did this. When you put those goggles on. I will bet anyone listening to this, show that to some degree, and especially if you’re down with getting your sweat on to the supernatural Dr. wising programme, which got Anne hooked on a trip recently, um, you’re gonna get addicted to it somewhat, you’re gonna want to keep trying it, you’re gonna want to experiment with it. So I think why the hell not, you know, it’s a page out of the apple book, for sure. Even in the design aesthetic, it looks similar to that. But it’s a very, very different type of thing that they’re actually having to walk, walk consumers through, I think relative to like an iPhone or an actual, you know, laptop computer.
Anne 17:15
Yeah, I think there’s I agree, Chris, I don’t think there’s a reason not to do this. Like, it’s it’s a great idea. I think that the success of the store, hopefully is being measured by engagement with consumers. And it’s treated more like a marketing expense than how many units are going out the door as a result of this store. Because I think it’s for that very reason, like, you need to get this more headsets on more people. So they can start dismissing the like, oh, it’s VR. And that’s just like for the kids. And it’s not for me, like, I think this is a great way, they’ll get a tonne of traffic in a mall, or wherever it ends up going in, to just try this out. And I think then down the road, you’ve established your presence there as a physical store. And I think could even like you alluded to earlier how it’s looking like the Apple Store could even be a place where you know, when your cord is too short, and you can’t charge your Oculus, like you can go in and get help with that. Or there’s more like a set of accessories you can buy in these places, too. So I think I think it’s a great move.
Chris 18:13
Yeah. And I think it’s also if I read it right to you, I read the article, right? It’s, it’s on one of the Facebook campus locations. So they’ve got the ability to test and learn from it very easily. It just seems like it’s really a smart move. It’s like yeah, why the hell not like I don’t want to be mad if they weren’t doing this. You know, in a lot of ways. Yeah. All right. headline number four American Eagle Anne yeah, it’s doing some really interesting things in logistics. I teased it at the open, like building out what it’s calling again a frenemy network.
According to CNBC, a friend and former target colleague and shake our Natarajan since joining American Eagle over three years ago has been hell bent on a quest to what he calls Uber rise the global supply chain ie make American Eagles logistics service a shared service for other retailers. Now you’ll remember over the past few years Anne then American Eagle has purchased a couple companies like air Terra and quiet logistics to accomplish this and as my buddy Shekhar told CNBC quote, the only way that you could actually have Amazon like scale, Amazon like cos and Amazon like capabilities is that you have to share collectively we can have the same package volume as Walmart, and that way companies are only competing on what they do best which is the product marketing and the customer experience. bold move and statement for sure. Anne, first Are you buying what shaker is throwing down or better yet?
Anne 19:32
Yeah.
Chris 19:33
What is your response to a&m put you on the spot question this week? Are you ready?
Anne 19:38
Oh man yeah
Chris 19:40
Haha better you than me. All right. Here’s the question a retail offering supply chain as a service is a really interesting concept as a way to build scale and efficiencies for all what’s your take should competing retailers band together with American Eagle? Go vertically integrate on their own or wait on the sidelines to see how this plays out? And second part of that
Anne 19:59
Oh my Gosh a two parter
Chris 20:00
Two weeks in a row you got a second part Second part of this question, who is each of your best frenemies? Oh, I like this one.
Anne 20:08
oh, you have to answer this one too.
Chris 20:09
But let’s take those take the most important question. Firstly, what’s your thoughts? Would you partner would you buy into this idea?
Anne 20:15
Yes, I would like I was talking about last week with when we were talking about the Amazon shareholder letter. And what really stuck out to me is like, how are any Okay, retailers compete against Amazon. And I think that Shekhar is the saying the right thing, like retailers are going to be better together, when we saw that some of this happen because of the pandemic and you know, barges getting stuck, or, you know, retailers banding together to just get their products in hand.
And I think that the only issue that I see here is that this is going to require a lot of forward thinking people like shaker and I don’t know that there are a lot of people who are either as progressive as, as he is, or who are empowered in their organisations to be making these decisions. And so I think that’s really what’s going to hold things back. When in reality, like, Yes, this is, this is a great idea. Yes, you should be playing to your strengths and how you’re marketing yourself to the consumer. It’s better for everybody. If you have merchandise on the shelf, like people are going to go to malls, then if they know they can get something or you know that people are going to continue shopping, if they know that they can have something shipped to them, like all of that is dependent on you banding together, I just don’t know if it can happen.
Chris 21:30
100%, which is why we do this show to try to put in the minds of all the retail executives out there. There are new ways to think about things, you know, and you can decide on your own, whether you want to approach them in this way or not.
Anne 21:42
Right,
Chris 21:42
But I’m 100% with you. I think it’s a great idea. Yeah, I know, Shekhar I’ve worked with him. I’ve worked with him on store the future actually. Yeah, is a big, bold ask thinker, like one of the biggest ones I’ve ever met. And yeah, I remember one time, man, we had a whiteboard session, where he was writing over things on the whiteboard. Like he wasn’t even erasing it just writing over what was there before. And I had so much fun with it. And we had a great relationship. He’s a great guy. But yeah, I think this is exactly what the apparel industry needs. The apparel industry, specifically more based industry, more based retailing needs to find more profit.
Anne 22:13
Yes.
Chris 22:14
And hell I wrote about this idea, too. I think it was two or three years ago, when I called the I coined the term commune fulfilment is what I called it in an article for Forbes, where the idea is that getting together like this creates scale economies, And apparel retail this the other point I’d make in closing, like, apparel, retailers need to realise there is no advantage to how they run their logistics, their back rooms, all of that. All of that can be farmed out for the benefit of shared expense. Because at the end of the day, I say this all the time, and I wish people would get the punchline this joke which is what I think you’re alluding to about the you know, how much will people gravitate towards this?
How people get their product is like the airlines we don’t care. We just want to get it we want to get it with a certain level of service. And so if you can partner with somebody that can do that just as well as you can that probably has been doing it American Eagles been doing that forever, with all these great companies out there behind their backs. Like just try and get on board with that and see and you might be able to save some money and find ways to defend yourself against the coming onslaught that’s out there. And just the negative drain that digital commerce creates on the profit.
Anne 23:21
Yeah, American Eagles showing their cards Why don’t you like they, they’ve been doing it for a long time. They’re willing to go all in and you know, cool together. Why? What’s holding you back from that? That’s what
Chris 23:32
I mean. It’s so funny when you talk about it’s like, what is the point of competitive differentiation between gap fulfilling an order American Eagle fulfilling order J Crew fulfilling an order name your mall based apparel retailer? There isn’t one
Anne 23:44
Exactly.
Chris 23:45
That’s the point here guys.
Anne 23:46
Yeah. All right. Let’s move on to headline number five speaking of oh, wait
Chris 23:50
the frenemies question. Oh, gosh.
Anne 23:51
Oh, no. Okay.
Chris 23:52
Who’s your who’s your Who’s your favourite frenemy?
Anne 23:55
Okay. The person that I thought of right away was Robin Arsone the peloton. Instructor because I like love her think she’s amazing, but man, she can kick your ass on it.
Chris 24:10
So it’s a love hate relationship that you have
Anne 24:12
Yes
Chris 24:13
You know what mine is i think i You probably don’t but I don’t think it’ll surprise you and I share it. Okay, so I don’t think anyone that’s listened to the show, Mark Laurie 100% Guys My frenemy of course. He’s my frenemy. My favourite person to to talk about and my favourite person to have beers with
Anne 24:27
That’d be friends though. Right now because we need the Timberwolves
Chris 24:30
Yes, i know.
Anne 24:31
Okay, so just like pull this through today on the front side. I
Chris 24:34
I mean, I think that could be crushing to his ego or not.
Anne 24:37
Alright, headline number five Amazon has introduced buy with prime a new way to enjoy the shopping benefits of prime from online merchants whether they sell an Amazon store or beyond. According to an Amazon press release buy with prime is a new way to extend prime shopping benefits including fast free shipping a seamless checkout experience and free returns to merchants own online stores ultimately increasing selection for all prime members. Participating merchants will display the prime logo and expected delivery date on all eligible products in their own online stores.
They will offer a simple convenient checkout experience, as we mentioned, using Amazon pay, and also leverage Amazon’s fulfilment network to deliver orders. Amazon will also manage free returns for all of those eligible orders. It should be noted as well that buy with prime is initially available by invitation only right now, for merchants who are using fulfilment by Amazon FBA. You’re cool. And will be rolled out through by invitation only again throughout 2022 as merchants are invited to participate, including those who are not selling on Amazon or using fulfilment by Amazon
Chris 25:49
FBA Yeah, that that last part is key.
Anne 25:51
Yes, Chris. Yes, I we’ve we kind of have discussed this briefly in a car ride on the way to get you a new phone. But so what do you
Chris 26:01
I forgot about that? Yes, I got a new iPhone.
Anne 26:03
But What do you what do you think about this?
Chris 26:06
I think well done Amazon.
Anne 26:07
Yeah.
Chris 26:08
I mean, I think I’m five for five on kudos today. I mean, this is the Chris happy podcast. And so Sorry, Steve Dennis. There’s no major rant.
Anne 26:14
Yeah he’s not listening today.
Chris 26:15
Yeah, no, no major rant, like this episode. When I mean, when I think about what this means on the consumer side. And the confidence it gives me in selecting a merchant that I want to transact with I think it’s enormous.
Anne 26:25
Yeah
Chris 26:26
It’s way way more powerful in my mind and say, like shop pay, right, as the closest equivalent I can think of right now in the space.
Anne 26:33
I don’t even think you can compare.
Chris 26:34
I know. Yeah, it’s really hard, like, but like, you know, like, especially some of the experiences I’ve had lately. But on the merchant side, too, like it brings scale efficiencies, especially if they as described, you know, as it is described goes to people not selling on Amazon or using FBA in the long run. And it consequentially could be a good hook for Amazon to get those people to start selling on Amazon or to use FBA. Like, it’s just really interesting in that regard to me, and I think, I think it’s just a really brilliant move. And, and actually, we know the person that’s incharge of this.
Anne 27:07
Yes, right. Yeah, I know.
Chris 27:08
Shout out to her former targets or the future.
Anne 27:10
Yeah.
Chris 27:10
God everyone we used to work with do great things. And
Anne 27:12
I mean, yeah, obviously, I know, right? Like we are super smart. Yeah, congrats, Nicole, this is really exciting for her and her team. But I agree, I think there’s so much opportunity here, both for sellers and for their customers, sellers get to tap into Amazon logistics, which I think is huge. And I think we’re gonna continue to see if I’m making a prediction that we could continue to see a better deal with them as Amazon builds their logistics, their own logistics and shipping capabilities, and almost circumventing UPS and FedEx in some ways to getting products to people, especially when you start to think about, you know, the pickup points that Amazon has set up, they talk about returns, like how much better that’s going to be for customers now.
I mean, think about the whole foods locations, the Amazon return lockers, like all of the Amazon Fresh stores, the Amazon Go store we talked about, like, if you could bring everything that you bought back to that one return point, that’s a huge win for consumers. But two things are gonna be watching for Yeah. One, what will the fees end up looking like, for the merchants who are engaging in this in this option, because right now, to sell on Amazon, you pay a $40 a month fee. If you’re a merchant,
Chris 28:25
Okay.
Anne 28:25
Plus, the average is 15% of each product it can be, it can be from 6% to 45%, depending on the product type. So I think that, you know, that’s something I’ll be looking at and how that fluctuates was, as Amazon offers these things. And the other thing, you sent out a really good article about this on Seeking Alpha, and they’re talking about if Shopify bans their retailers from having this prime buy with prime option. I doubt they will do that, because they will lose their major enterprise clients if they succeed. But I think that could be really interesting if you either if like all the millions of Shopify merchants can’t do this option, like that’s, that’s really isolating for a lot of the especially the smaller SMBs that are, are working with shoppers.
Chris 29:13
Yeah, that’s a that’s an interesting point like in God, that’d be a bold move by Shopify. I think my last thing I would say on that is like, I don’t really see that, you know, people trying to draw the comparisons with Shopify here.
Anne 29:22
Yeah
Chris 29:23
I don’t. When I step back from this, I don’t actually see this as necessarily a threat to Shopify. I see. This is the thing. I think that’s smart about what Amazon is doing here. And I’m sure it’s Shopify is part of this, but like, I think it’s actually just a very nice compliment.
Anne 29:37
Yeah
Chris 29:37
For for Amazon to institute to that, get them get some of the shared value of creating business out of Shopify as a merchant, like, you’re just going to basically create a piece of, of software that essentially enables them to reach more customers do better business and Amazon is going to take a cut of that from natural what they do well, which is ultimately the logistics at the end of the day. And so I think the two can really coexist here because the point you’re bringing up like Shopify, Shopify has is nowhere close. I mean, there’s some talk about deliver and you know, that acquisition but shopper is nowhere close to having pickup points and all those types of things that you know what this is really all about. And so, I don’t know, I think of it more as a compliment than, say a disintermediation tactic by Amazon because Amazon still has to get into to disintermediate Shopify fully, they’d have to get into the web interface.
Anne 29:52
Right.
Chris 29:57
Which they’ve had to shudder. Right, that same article said, you know, they’ve tried that it hasn’t worked. Well. That’s just gonna be a hard bet for them to do. Maybe they can still go there. But I think it’s a hard sell, and they definitely will go there if Shopify does what you say and makes us not use it.
Anne 30:42
Well, the payments part is a big part though. Chris. I mean, Shopify is making 50% of their revenue, it said, on payment transaction fees from a million plus merchants. Like that’s a that’s a huge amount of money that if now, that moves over to Amazon and people are paying through Amazon, that could be a significant hit to the business.
Chris 31:02
Yeah, I don’t know. I don’t I have no idea what those numbers are off the top of my head. But yeah, I mean, I guess Yeah, but I would doubt that that’s, I don’t know. We’ll see.
Anne 31:11
Okay, well, let’s go to the lightning round. We will see. All right, Chris. Question number one. Winston Fisher, the creator of area 15 just announced that they purchased a 747 jumbo jet from Burning Man for their next installation in Las Vegas. Chris, my question for you is what is the most memorable experience that you have had on an aeroplane?
Chris 31:32
Oh, that’s a fun question Anne that’s a really fun question. God, I would have to say my favourite airline memory is when me and my buddy Nerons we were on a layover to Vegas. I think we’re in San Jose. So you’re flying through San Jose. I have no idea why. But I’m from somewhere and I have no idea where that was. But um, we didn’t change planes is one of those layovers where We don’t change planes. We’re the only people on the plane two dudes. Like I think we’re like 24 And you know, he’s probably 21 I was 24 Cuz I’m like few years old than him. And this and the flight attendant just started bringing us beers. And we’re just drinking on the plate. We had like three or four beers during the layover. It was it was totally
Anne 32:08
How long were you there for?
Chris 32:10
Almost like an hour, you know, down three or four because generally
Anne 32:14
Half century club on the tarmac
Chris 32:17
I’m Sure that’s not allowed, but that’s what we did. It was great,
Anne 32:21
Oh my God.
Chris 32:21
Alright Anne. Question number two, Twitter’s Jack Dorsey came out this week and said “In principle, I don’t believe anyone should own and run Twitter and wants to be a public good at a protocol level not a company, solving for the problem of it being a company however, Elon is the singular solution I trust I trust his mission to extend the light of consciousness” aside from me thinking Jack Dorsey may now be one of the douchiest people in human history second only to stuff from pretty and pink. Anne what are your thoughts on this quote?
Anne 32:49
Oh man in Elon we trust is not a motto to live by Chris that’s what I have to say about this
Chris 32:55
It’s kind of scary to me too.
Anne 32:57
Alright, Chris, question number three US Weekly launches usnow.com an ecommerce shop featuring the hottest celebrity inspired products including Tom Brady’s favourite blue light blocking glasses
Chris 33:09
Ooh really
Anne 33:09
Interested listeners want to know Chris, how many pairs of blue light blocking glasses that are Tom Brady’s favourites are on their way to you right now?
Chris 33:18
I hadn’t heard of this Anne this is this is
Anne 33:20
I don’t think anybody has
Chris 33:21
No I would say every colorway Anne
Anne 33:24
Oh my god. The dorkiest picture of Tom Brady sitting in a computer like totally nerded out with these like glasses on it’s
Chris 33:31
ridiculous. I probably draw the line at Tom Brady much Tom Brady support trestle. I think glasses
Anne 33:36
If you’re a good football player, you know blue light blocking glasses. I guess there’s like a blocking and tat like there’s like a thing there. Yeah, like Okay, okay.
Chris 33:44
All right. Last one T Mobile Park in Seattle is said to be the first major league baseball stadium to offer Amazon Go convenience with palm one payment aka mark the beast. How important is it you shop hands free at the ballpark and why?
Anne 33:58
Critical? You need one hand free for pass the cup. And you need one hand free for your $22 surly beer.
Chris 34:05
Right? Extremely overpriced beer. Yes, yes. Right. Yeah, wave that hand to pay for it.
Anne 34:10
Yes, exactly. I just want to walk right out
Chris 34:12
to win Stadium as soon as possible.
Anne 34:14
Right that’s right.
Chris 34:15
You Got beers to consume. All right, Happy Birthday today to Jay Leno, Harper Lee and to the woman who rocked my 16 year old world in 1993 when grumpy old man debuted the one and only Anne Margaret and remember if you can only read or listen to one retail blog in the business, make it OMNI talk our Fast Five podcast is the quickest fastest rundown of all the week’s top news. And our twice weekly newsletter tells you the top five things you need to know each day and also features special content exclusive does and just for you and it fits all within the preview pane of your inbox. You can sign up today at http://www.Omnitalk.blog. Thanks as always for listening in. Remember, as Anne said at the outset, please remember like and leave us a review wherever you happen to listen to our podcasts or on YouTube and of course as always be careful out there.
Anne 35:01
The Omni talk Fast Five is a Microsoft sponsored podcast. Microsoft Cloud for retail connects your customers, your people and your data across the shopper journey delivering personalised experiences and operational excellence. Also brought to you in association with the a&m consumer and retail group. The a&m consumer and retail group is a management consulting firm that tackles the most complex challenges and advances its clients people and communities towards their maximum potential. CRG brings the experience tools and operator Like pragmatism to help retailers and consumer products companies be on the right side of disruption. And takeoff, takeoff is transforming grocery by empowering grocers to thrive online. The key is micro fulfilment, small robotic fulfilment centres that can be leveraged at a hyperlocal scale. Takeoff also offers a robust software suite so brochures can seamlessly integrate the robotic solution into their existing businesses. To learn more visit takeoff.com And finally Sezzle, Sezzle is an innovative Buy now pay later solution that allows shoppers to split purchases into four interest free payments over six weeks. To learn more, visit sezzle.com
Omni Talk is the retail blog for retailers, written by retailers. Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga founded Omni Talk in 2017 and have quickly turned it into one of the fastest growing blogs in retail. 