Anne 00:10
Hello, you are listening to the OMNI talk Fast Five brought to you in partnership with Microsoft, the A&M consumer and retail group, TakeOff, and Sezzle. Our 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. Today is May 5, Cinco de Mayo, and I am your host, Anne Mezzenga.
Chris 00:34
And I’m Chris Walton,
Anne 00:35
And we are here once again to discuss all the top headlines making waves in the world of OMNI channel retailing. Chris Walton, we’re missing our margaritas. How did you let this happen?
Chris 00:46
I’m kind of getting frustrated by this, the sandwiching together of these two holidays that are both great, that Cinco de Mayo and the May the Fourth. I feel like I need some more separation between those two or we need to somehow figure out a way to bring them, you know, together, because they’re both great.
Anne 01:03
I was thinking the same thing. Yeah, yesterday I was like May has a lot of holidays like jam-packed right in the first week. You got Mayday on May 1st, and then you have May the Fourth, then you have Cinco de Mayo, then you have the Derby in there. I mean, so like, we’re gonna, they’re just jam-packing them all in there and then there’s nothing. Oh, Mother’s Day. And Mother’s Day!
Chris 01:27
Oh yeah, Mother’s Day. It’s like this weekend, yeah?
Anne 01:29
It is!
Chris 01:30
Yeah, my son’s birthday is this week too like it’s just crazy. I can’t take it all, but I feel like margaritas and celebrating the force should go together. Like it just it seems like the cosmic forces are all there.
Anne 01:42
Margaritas seem so much more cool than the force. I’m sorry, but like that’s like a nerd holiday so like Cinco de Mayo is like…
Chris 01:48
But like a stronger astronomy to approximate Darth Vader’s red lightsaber I think that’s a given, and I think that’s a given.
Anne 01:55
That’s… you got to a special Reddit community for that.
Chris 01:58
Yeah, right, no.
Anne 01:59
That is not here. This is not applicable.
Chris 02:03
But yeah, so those watching on video will also notice that I am not with you again.
Anne 02:08
No.
Chris 02:09
Because it’s like, I’m like the reverse Godfather under COVID, like the more I try to get into the office the more just keeps pulling me out. You know, like I just, I can’t make it happen my kids’ got COVID, I’m waiting for my test to find out if I’ve got COVID, like we’ll keep you guys updated, but like, I just can’t take this anymore. I’m at my breaking point.
Anne 02:26
I know, I know, it’s alright though we’re making it work.
Chris 02:30
I’m home with both kids, up in my attic, yep all right. Well, let’s get to it, Anne. I think, you know we got some more reviews this weekend.
Anne 02:35
We do, we do. COVID can’t hold us down Chris we’ve moved up a slot, right?
Chris 02:41
We did, we moved up to, for the first ever rank seven on Apple podcasts when you search for us.
Anne 02:48
Lucky number seven.
Chris 02:48
We got a great review from DivB on Apple podcast, don’t know who DivB is but if you want to let us know on social media, we definitely want to find out, and here is what DivB had to say.
Anne 02:59
Whoo. All right.
Chris 03:00
Are you ready for this? “Informative, witty and interesting retail information about OMNI channel strategy. I appreciate their creation of new and interesting topics in a fast moving news cycle. They’re able to contribute information to the stories that tie it all together. Definitely in my podcast rotation!” With an exclamation point at the end. To which I say DivB, I heart you. I heart you along with mja1289, whose review we’ve read a couple of weeks ago. This just melts my heart, you guys. Thank you so much for doing this. We wouldn’t be number seven on the Apple Retail podcast list without your help and support.
Anne 03:35
Yes, and please continue to leave us reviews. Good, better, indifferent – we want to know if you like us. Tell us on Apple podcast. Heart the podcast where you are listening on – Spotify, Google Amazon music, wherever you’re getting this podcast, and subscribe so that we can keep making this possible for all of you. I know it’s crazy, logistics, algorithms all go into this but we want to make sure that we can continue to provide all of this exciting retail news and we may just read it aloud one day for all the listeners to hear. People! I got more comments about Smokey Mc B this week, Chris, than I can even tell you. People are engaged in Smokey Mc B’s market the beast review of Amazon but I have to say so.
Chris 04:18
Yeah, we have like two other comments, we can maybe read those next week. We have two other comments on those videos that were very similar like yeah, a little bit sunny nuanced but different but yeah, man Smokey Mc B brought in last week, DivB today. Something about the B, you know. Shortening acronym, which is cool. So, I’m gonna start calling you Anne B today even though it makes no sense.
Anne 04:37
Or it’s like Melanie b I do kind of feel like a Spice Girl. Today I’m like channeling my inner 80s Spice Girl when I got dressed.
Chris 04:44
You, I have to give you do look a little 80s for those watching on video. The hair pulled back, you know, I find it better than anfi, Anne.
Anne 04:52
For sure better than anfi yeah, this is the look. This is like hairstyles for the summer of 2022 is like, just got out of the shower and threw my hair up in a half pony.
Chris 05:02
Oh, really?
Anne 05:02
That’s like.
Chris 05:03
I wish I could do that. Yeah, I wish I could do that.
Anne 05:05
You cannot.
Chris 05:06
I envy you.
Anne 05:07
Nobody wants to see it either.
Chris 05:09
No, nobody wants to see me just out of the shower, at all. That was never true.
Anne 05:15
But Chris, they didn’t come here to hear us talk about 2022 Summer hairstyles or you getting out of the shower.
Chris 05:21
I’ll be dripping wet out of the shower. Let’s get to the headlines quick and fast. All right, in today’s past five news, we’ve got headlines on a new store from HEB, down in Texas, Verizon going all in on pickup lockers, a cool new pilot from Target that you may or may not be biting your nails about it. Bet you’re curious to hear what that’s about Anne. And Victoria’s Secret selling on Amazon. But first, we take off with the big story out of Publix this week relating to Instacart. Anne!
Anne 05:49
Chris, that’s right. You said as you often do that this was the biggest headline of the week. Coming out again from Jeff Wells, our friend at grocery dye, bringing it again. Publix has kicked off a 15 minute grocery delivery service in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood utilizing a new nano fulfilment center that was built in partnership with Instacart. So according to an Instacart spokesperson, the companies will also open two more dark stores in the coming weeks. One in the cities Brickell. How do you say that – Brickell?
Chris 06:22
Brickell, yeah.
Anne 06:22
Brickell neighborhood and another in the nearby city of Coral Gables, Florida. The service is said to offer 1000s of items that include fresh produce snacks, pantry, staples, and household items. This is the first example of a grocer utilizing Instacart’s new carrot warehouses which is so cute, right?
Chris 06:41
So cute, yeah. It fills me with warmth and fuzzies.
Anne 06:42
Cute warehouses.
Chris 06:43
I feel like Bugs Bunny all over.
Anne 06:45
Yeah. One part of the suite of retail services that Instacart unveiled last month at Shop Talk. Chris, keep us going here. What are your thoughts on this? I want to hear them all. But first, you’re gonna get put on the spot.
Chris 06:58
Oh, right from the get-go you’re putting me on the spot. Okay, let’s do this.
Anne 07:01
We’re gonna put you on the spot with our question from the A&M consumer and retail group. Instacart’s entrance into the 15 Minute instant delivery space is exciting, no doubt, and could differentiate them in a crowded market. But Chris, do you think Instacart can build out a scalable nano market and profitably deliver this service to a meaningful portion of Publix’s customer base? You ready?
Chris 07:26
I am, Anne, and I love that question. It’s a great one to get my mind going cerebrally here, right first thing in the morning. I gotta tell you flat out, I just don’t know the answer to that question. I think this is a very important announcement, but I don’t get it in a lot of ways. Particularly on the Publix’s side. Like the question I would ask would be, why test 15-minute delivery with dark stores? Couldn’t you understand the demand for it via normal third party picking first to see how valuable it is to your customer base? Because it’s kind of sexy and hot. But it’s still an open question in terms of how important this is for the market. The other part about this that I don’t love is what are these nano stores? Like how high tech are they, how automated, who is doing them on behalf of Instacart. Are they just doing ourselves? Are they just setting them up and operating them with human labor?
Anne 08:18
Yeah, they were dating a bunch of people. Remember, they were like dating around all these fulfilment providers.
Chris 08:25
A hundred percent Fabric was rumored to be a part of this. There’s no mention in the announcement about them. I would think if they were, they would want to be, but there’s not even a sign of them or anyone else. And, so you know. So, I think the other point I would make is if you want to test the waters on 15-minute delivery and dark stores, why also do you need to do it with Instacart? If you’re Publix, couldn’t you just as easily build that out yourself and do it through your own web portal and get the benefits of micro-fulfilment too with that same investment either on site or collocated somewhere else just for E-commerce in general. So I don’t see why you would throw Instacart this life raft when Instacart seems adrift already.
Despite how sexy the marketing handle of carrot warehouses is. So this is a total head scratcher to me. I am shocked that Publix has bought into this concept in the way that they have. Which makes me wonder, you know, what is Publix really doing here? How bought into it are they even? It just doesn’t make sense. So to answer A&M’s question, bringing it full circle. I don’t know. I don’t have enough information, but I’m highly skeptical the way this is being portrayed from what we can ascertain in the media right now, but what do you think?
Anne 09:35
So I’m gonna play devil’s advocate here because I agree with you.
Chris 09:39
Are you? Okay.
Anne 09.40
And I’m confused, perplexed, trying to like figure out why they made the decisions, but if I’m trying to seek to understand Publix here, I think that they’re under attack on the grocery delivery front. Okay, they own, especially in the Florida market where this is being tested, They are the go-t, they have been for a long time.
Chris 10:02
Right.
Anne 10:03
I think that they’re
Chris 10:03
Kroger’s coming in.
Anne 10:04
Exactly. Exactly. Kroger’s coming in. They’re using Instacart. I would guess for the same reasons that a lot of groceries did during the pandemic. They need to set it up quickly to compete and this will be… They’ll give Publix the ability to offer a 15 minute instant delivery first in that market. I mean, they’re going to be the first grocer to be able to do that. And Instacart is the one that’s going to be able to power that for them.
They could learn from that experiment. I also don’t think, I mean you would know better than I, like actually operating stores, but like, I don’t think that you can run 15 minutes delivery, you can’t hit those timestamps when you are pulling directly from a store. Like it’s just too difficult to do. Otherwise, you know, all these other stores would be offering 15 minute curbside pickup or something like that. I mean, it just, it’s, the stores are not set up for this.
Chris 10:55
Yeah, I mean, that’s a fair point. I hear you there.
Anne 10:58
I think the second thing that I’m curious about that they’re really gunning for in this announcement is that they’re doing bulk items here too, which adds to the picking and packing time. When you think about those harder to maneuver things like, you know, they’re talking two pound bags of limes, five pound bags of potatoes, like multipack, you know, chip bags and things like that. Like these are bigger things, and I think also limit when you think about how they’re getting things last mile to the customers.
This is not like bike delivery drivers like we’re seeing in urban areas. This is no matter what if you’re going to offer these bulk items, you’re going to need, you know, cars driving. Like there’s just so much more complexity that I think that they’re trying to go after with this. That doesn’t make sense to me.
Chris 11:44
Yeah, I don’t know. I think the last word I missed is like the whole bulk thing. I think they’re doing that for the basket size and just picking one item to get it through that they want on this I don’t I don’t read too much into that
Anne 11:56
Even with nano warehouses, you don’t think? Like nano warehouses, they’re not big, you know, like this seems…?
Chris 12:02
Yeah, no, but they’re just trying to put, my hunch is, they’re trying to put bulk items into these small warehouses so they can get the basket size increase and, you know, scale the economics in a different way. But I think your points about 15 minute delivery, I hear, like, you’re right. That might be difficult. But, you know, Kroger’s doing Instacart without nano warehouses, in theory, from what they said. But they’ve done 30 minutes. So like, again, why do you have to go 15 minutes? Why do you have to go 30 minutes, and you’re not utilizing Instacart’s existing infrastructure of third party pickers for this. So why couldn’t you just scan up your own warehouses yourself? Like I don’t… and use human labor, which isn’t that expensive relative to automation. So, I just, I just don’t get it. I don’t know where this is going.
And if Instacart isn’t bringing anything special to the party, like through technology, or through some partnership, I don’t really understand what the secret sauce is that they’re doing here either. So more will come I think we’ll find out. But you know, I can’t read anything out of this right now, Anne. Alright, let’s keep moving. Let’s stay in the grocery space, Anne. HEB has a new store format in New Braunfels, Texas, that is over 120,000 square feet and is the first to feature a home department which I found quite fascinating given my background. According to chain storage, the new department store features two brands Haven & Key, and Texas Proud. The Haven line includes quote, entree and seasonal items from candles, mirrors, and toss pillows to kitchen textiles, rugs, throws, blankets, and accent furniture, end quote. And the Texas Proud brand celebrates quote, Texas style and features items made by Texas-based artisans in businesses ranging from wood, and my favorite, Edler art to cowhide benches. He also says that he plans to open more home departments inside additional stores throughout the year. Anne, I fought hard for this headline.
Anne 13:51
Yeah.
Chris 13:52
What do you think about this one?
Anne 13:52
Yeah, I mean, you did. At first, I was just kind of like, well, I don’t know, it’s another store concept that, you know, different kinds of merchandising set that kind of thing which didn’t seem like too big of a deal to me until we started discussing it, and I’m sure you’ll address your points. But I think for me what this says is that your biggest advantage right now as a retail outlet with a physical footprint is you can make the Seek and Destroy mission that online retailers, even Amazon, still cannot replicate. If I need something, if I need that cowhide bench, Chris, for my, for the outdoor barbecue that I’m having in the half an hour, and it’s the only thing I can get to complete my outdoor barbecue. I can go get that and you still cannot do that even in one hour or two hour and the process to do that is difficult. So I think you still are serving the customer need of convenience and getting something exactly within the next 30 minutes of when I want it. I also think that this is interesting, the footprint size to 122,000 square feet like that’s big and that mirrors the sizes of the Target’s and Walmart’s out there too. So I think this is this is big. And I’m glad that you fought for it. Because you should tell people what you want.
Chris 15:09
You’re coming around, huh?
Anne 15:09
Yeah.
Chris 15.10
I think your point is dead on. Like, I think the way to expand upon what you just said too is like, when you have large baskets across many categories, e-commerce is still not that convenient, even in Amazon, because you have to hunt and peck to find everything, right? It’s almost like, just from a time perspective, more efficient to just go to the store, wander, pick everything up that you want. And then then you don’t have to wait for delivery. You already have it. So that’s, I think that’s fundamentally what’s going on here. And so, and I think the pandemic showed that in a way that we didn’t know before, where the One Stop Shop has this power in terms of convenience, and you’re seeing regional players particularly gravitate towards this.
So I think it’s interesting that HEB is doing this. I mean, I call, it calls to mind like, what Meijer’s been doing up in Michigan in that area for a long time. High V has been getting into this game, we’ve talked about that a lot on the show, even Dollar General on the dollar side, while they’re not combining the format’s they are to some degree with the Pop Shop concept, depending on how that goes. So you’ve got, you know, you’ve got the low end attacking this One Stop Shop idea, you have the local grocers that are really powerful in their markets attacking the idea. So it makes me wonder, you know, are we just gonna see more of this? I would hypothesize, yes. I think we’ve said that on the show before. And what does that mean, again, for the long-term outlook of the department stores, I think they’re in a world of hurt when you start looking 5 to 10 years out, if this continues to happen.
Anne 16:38
Yeah, absolutely. I think that’s a great point. I mean, this is we’ve said for a long time, like Target, Walmart, they are the new department store. They’ve got everything that you need, they’ve got it at a price point that people want. And they’re more accessible to people than the department stores are. Yeah, I think this will be fun to watch. My only thing that I’m curious about and actually what moved me away from picking this story, Chris, was the restaurant concept. Like I used to be all in, you know this from our work and sort of the future of like restaurants in these spaces. But I think that if I’m making a prediction about the store, my guess is that that restaurant will move to pick up in like a matter of months, once the space is open, it’ll move to pick up only. And they’ll see the benefits of converting the selling floor to carrying more merchandise and serving that one stop shop need and close the two floor restaurant part of this.
Chris 17:31
I think that’s a really smart ad that you just put onto the story. I mean, it goes back to what we talked about with was it Champs that did the smoothie bar?
Anne 17:39
Yes. Yeah.
Chris 17:39
Like the demand just isn’t there for the combination of restaurants in the spaces to a degree. Or we don’t know how large or extent that the demand is there now could be depending on the rest. And this store is really unique. It’s like a double level and like has a massive restaurant experience. So that could actually potentially work differently. But I think I think it’s a brilliant point, Anne.
Anne 18:01
All right, let’s keep talking about future store prototypes, Chris. Headline number 3.
Chris 18:07
Kind of our specialty, Anne.
Anne 18:08
Yes, that’s right. Verizon has already rolled out pickup lockers to 250 of its US stores with plans to roll out the idea to more stores in the coming year. So according to freight waves, Chris, bills are some tasty waves. Oh, my God, I can’t believe this. Can you tell that Chris is writing the copy for this headline? I can’t believe you got me to say that out loud. All right. According to according to freight waves, Verizon said it will be rolling out Express parcel lockers at locations around the country where customers can make pickups quickly and at certain stores 24 hours a day. This effort coincides with the continued efforts around Opus and same day delivery. Chris, thoughts? Not about the tasty waves.
Chris 18:56
Yeah, I mean not about the tasty waves. Yeah, like, I wish I could remember the entire quote that he says to Mr. Hand and text I originally had but I can’t right now. No, I think my thoughts are pretty simple on this one. I love this story. I think it’s great to see, there’s also an important element to the story, which what’s not talked about right now, I would imagine Verizon is thinking about it, and that’s that 24/7 lockers can also be traffic drivers, you know, you don’t just have to think about them within the scope of your own operations. Like, you know, yeah, you can get, you can use them to have people pick up their packages get access to their packages, 24/7 a day, 24 hours a day. But they don’t just have to be used for your packages, like you can have anyone delivered to them if you think about this more broadly. And that brings people to your stores. And so what I extrapolate from this, going back to what we just said before about the one stop shop is, why haven’t the local grocers, the Targets, the Walmarts of the world, the Meijer’s of the world, the heavies why haven’t they gone into this idea? Uh, for that reason, it’s probably because they’re thinking that myopically in terms of their supply chain network of, hey, we don’t need this. They already come to our stores for curbside, so we’re good. But they’re missing the boat on. Yes, but there’s other things that people need to pick up and can utilize you for as that hub spot. That’s really important to think about here.
Anne 20:21
Yeah, I agree. I mean, I second all the reasons that you just said, I think lockers are one of the things that, you know, retailers could very easily be exploring and investing in that they are not yet, that could provide a lot of change to their business, getting more people in the door and ultimately serve their customers in a way that they have not even come close to fully realizing yet. But for the Verizon store, Chris, this makes sense to me in a different way.
So I’m going to add on to what you were saying. I think that the benefit of doing this for Verizon is when you think about a reason that you’re going to the store, and in many cases, for a lot of people that’s fixing something that’s trading in a phone, it’s getting new phone, or like chargers or gear, and none of that needs to be done by an associate in those stores. And they are one of the worst places to have to go to and sit in line because you have Ethel trying to figure out how to make an outgoing call for 24 hours ahead of you in line. Like there’s just, it’s one of the places where I think that lockers could still speed up this process and make the customer experience even better. Because you know, it frees up the associates in store to spend that time with Ethel that they need to so that they can hold on to her.
But then, you and I, Chris, when we just need to get the screen, the cracked screen on our phone replaced, we can go scan a barcode, put our phones in there and go do whatever we need to for a couple hours and come back and just have somebody that’s like running that giving the associates time in store to really focus on those higher touch customers. And again, these places are trip drivers. People are going to come… The Verizon, the Apples, the T-Mobiles, they are trip drivers to malls, to strip malls, to wherever so like putting lockers on top of this just makes complete sense.
Chris 22:09
Yeah, it’s why Walmart and Target have staffed, you know, mobile counters, you know, mobile phone counters, but I got… before we move on next door I have to, Ethel, is Ethel your name for the older generation, is that the name we’re going with?
Anne 22:23
I’m not even saying it’s gotta be the older generation. There’s Ethels that are Millennials and Xennials and Gen Zs, I’m sure but some people require we’ll call them high touch
Chris 22:36
I like to go with Mod. I feel like Mod is the more appropriate one, but you can go with Ethel. That’s okay.
Anne 22:40
Whatever, whatever. You know, whatever works for you.
Chris 22:43
Yeah, right. You know, but hey, let’s keep rolling. But that is fascinating stuff. All right. Headline number 4. Live right now. On Target’s website. Target is offering manicures in minutes by a robot in 6 stores and whew, exclamation point myself. The offering is available at 1 store in Minneapolis, 3 in Texas and 2 in California, and can be found at the URL like clockwork.com/target for $8 and 10 minutes of your time. Anne, it appears a robot that, of course, utilizes AI and 3D technology. I have no idea how AI is involved in that but it will give you a manicure right in the store. The URL also has a cool video which if you have a second you should check out. And Anne here’s my question for you since I have not painted a nail on my body since my toenails around 1997, when they were all the rage, feels like you should go first on this one. So what is your take?
Anne 23:50
I am going to go first. Okay, look, I love this idea. I saw it was sent in to us by listener, Brian G and he said he sent this to me. He’s like hey, have you seen this? And I had not. So I went on the website last night I tried to go and do this I made an appointment, drove – this is not in Minneapolis, mind you, this is at a store that is 25 to 35 minutes outside of Minneapolis in Chaska. So I tried to go out there last night I made my appointment. I got to the store and they cancelled my appointment.
Chris 24:24
No way.
Anne 24:24
Anyway, that’s the story. Yeah. So I was totally bummed out. They were communicating with me live on you know, via text. So we’re getting it figured out. I’m gonna go before my girls trip next week to try it out again on Wednesday. So we’ll post photos and video. So here’s the deal. Love this idea. Target knows their audience, right? This is another perfect example of that. This is basically like $1 spot for teens and the female customer that’s shopping in the beauty section. female or male like just you can go in there. It’s set up right next to the pharmacy. It’s a tiny little box that’s on a table and you literally stick your fingers in this thing and in 10 minutes, you have a full on manicure. So like, for me, it’s like, okay, $10 for a 10 minute manicure not a big deal at all. Like that’s, that’s a drop in the bucket for a lot of the people shopping in that space, and they can do it while their kids are in the toy section. Like it’s just it’s so brilliant. I think that this is, you know, another, the theme of this week’s show is one stop shop and I’m really excited to see more retailers starting to do things like this starting to do things like the locker to really incorporate this into their shops, how this works and the logistics around it are still clearly in pilot phase so I’ll have to report back but I’m pretty excited about it.
Chris 25:43
Yeah, for sure. And those types of things are you know, part and parcel of trying to do new things like so you know, I don’t hold anyone out for that but I love this and I’m going to take some pride in this too because now that Target is doing this I can say this is something I was looking hard at on the store in the future like I thought this was a cool OMN channel expression.
Anne 26:00
I remember I talked to another company that was doing it.
Chris 26:03
Yeah, for technology, like a great way to use technology to augment the in store experience from an OMNI channel perspective like it’s a job that has to be done, which you talked about the ones I think your point about one stop shopping the theme of this show unintentionally is great. It’s a job that has to be done people want to do it can you give it to them at a value can it be done quickly? This is, this hits all those marks and so I think why not experiment with this to see what the appetite is and you get, there’s no points lost if it doesn’t work, but it could work right? That’s the key thing here.
Anne 26:34
Exactly, a great use of space like, it’s not like it’s interrupting, they do have to have an attendant right now which one Target team told me last night but in the videos, and I think the future concepts of this or that no, you just go in, you put your hands under you, you know, you can scan a QR code and you’re all good to go like that seems brilliant. I think we’re gonna start to see this in like Zara, like when we like go check out the Zara store in Madrid. Like this is another great example of like how do you just capture that extra quick $10 add-on and this is like a foolproof way to do it once you get it up and running.
Chris 27:09
I just want to single out your dedication to this show to like I had no idea you were trying to do that yesterday and you’ve got a lot going on right now. So, wow. Fair-play to you, my friend. You’re an amazing partner to try to just bring that knowledge to OMNI talk, to the how it works.
Anne 27:23
I also wanted to get my nails done. Yes. All right.
Chris 27:25
I get my nails done.
Anne 27:25
Yes, okay, so…
Chris 27:27
You gotta shot a video about that. Actually, yes, we do.
Anne 27:31
Okay, last headline Victoria’s Secret, Chris, the beauty line, thank God, is coming to Amazon. I know you’ve been worried about this. You want your Dream Angel’s fragrance spray?
Chris 27:41
I was waiting with bated breath. Yes.
Anne 27:43
So according to CNBC last Friday, Victoria’s Secret launched about 120 of their beauty products across fragrances, lotions, body scrubs, and your favorite, body washes via a new storefront on Amazon. According to Greg Kunis, the CEO of Victoria’s Secrets beauty business, which has their own CEO for some odd reason, we can talk about that on another show. He said that quote, the intent will be to expand the offerings over time based on what customers are looking for, end quote. CNBC went on to add that they could eventually entail adding some of the company’s bras, underwear, and loungewear. Though the story also added that Victoria’s Secret does not have any near-term plans to do so. Chris, I feel like this is a really odd one to go to you first on but do you like the move of beauty from Victoria’s Secret being put on Amazon? And will we see the expansion of more product lines on Amazon in the years to come?
Chris 28:40
Yeah, great question. I mean, first, I do want to go on a rant about the CEO thing like I looked up that the rough volume of this is like under a billion dollars and this guy is CEO of this inside the company. I don’t get that.
Anne 28:51
He’s an entrepreneur of an angel body spray. What’s wrong with that?
Chris 28:57
I just don’t get it. Like I ran a business that was far more, did far more volume than that. I wasn’t calling myself the CEO of home furnishings. It’s just so dumb and asinine. Like, just anyway, and I know a lot of people will appreciate that rant that particularly and see that it’s maybe, you’ll like this one, because I think this one’s pretty justified. But anyway, getting back to the point of do I like this move the way I would summarize that is I think it’s a move of desperation in a lot of ways. But I would also call it smart desperation. I’m dying to hear what you would say.
Anne 29:28
Smells like desperation.
Chris 29:29
Smells like desperation that’s brought to you by Victoria’s Secret. But I wish more people would do this quite honestly. And, I’ve to me, the Commission’s you pay Amazon on the scale when you do something like this, at this point are no different than the rate that you’re paying mall operators to operate a store. It’s no different to me. It’s the same thing conceptually. Amazon is the online mall, it’s where all the traffic goes. So it’s about damn time that people just own up to it, take their medicine and start profiting from it as best they can. Yeah, there’s no sense fighting it anymore. Why push water uphill? So do I think this is going to signal more to come from Victoria’s Secret and others? Hell yes, I do.
Anne 30:12
Yeah, I think that’s a great point, Chris. I mean, especially when you put it in the context of like, this is what mall retailers are going to have to start doing this as the online equivalent of the mall. And until those mall owners start doing more to make the mall shoppable like Amazon, like we saw this week with the debt mind, and Westland mall in Florida. You know, kicking that off again, trying to figure out how do we bring them online and giving retailers like Victoria’s Secret more opportunities to have OMNI channel experiences, you know, this going to Amazon and doing wholesale on Amazon is something that these kind of brands will have to consider.
Plus, I think it’s really good for the customer like you know you’re getting verified product that, you know, is coming to from Victoria’s Secret when you’re buying on Amazon, you get free shipping, I mean, you’re not getting free shipping on Victoria’s Secrets own site. So if you’re a Prime member you’re getting this, you can try this, which is really important with beauty brands like you can’t do anything yet to have smellovision right, so like if I paid $6 for a $20 body spray, and now I have it and I hate the scent like that. That’s hard it’s bad customer experience. So I think this is great for you know, adding that Prime value onto a category that includes trial, not probably great for Victoria’s Secret, but overall this is providing their customers a much better shopping experience. So I love it.
Chris 31:36
Yeah, I have a problem with it. Yeah, I mean, I just, yeah, I struggle with like not wanting to do this more resolutely across the mall based industry, because like you said you get the logistics network, you get the recurrence availability that Amazon has put in the marketplace, like I just think it makes a ton of sense, and until the mall owners get together and figure out how to make their malls have a storefront, or Macy’s starts leading that way, like I would be experimenting with this for sure to at least see what happens. You can always pull at the back, if you don’t like it, but my hunch is you’re gonna like it once you get down to it financially. All right, Anne, let’s do a lightning round.
Anne 32:08
Okay, Chris, Nike and RTFKT released their first virtual shoe line Cryptokicks last week and some pairs are netting six figures online already. Chris, which pair of your current Nike kicks would you like to see made into a Cryptokick?
Chris 32:23
Oh, Anne, that one is so easy. It’s my Patchwork Air Jordan.
Anne 32:27
I think you just love saying Patchwork.
Chris 32:29
I love saying Patchwork, and Anne, those things are hot. You have to admit those are pretty hot.
Anne 32:33
They are, they are. Alright. Okay.
Chris 32:35
All right, Kohl’s has boosted its membership rewards for card holders from 5% to 7.5%. And my question for you is what was the last thing you bought at Kohl’s and how much are you bumming that you didn’t take advantage of that extra 2.5%?
Anne 32:48
I’m not gonna lie, this took me a while to figure out what the last thing I bought at Kohl’s was and it was a bottle of water while I was waiting in line to return an Amazon product. And no, I’m not missing the extra 2.5% that I would have paid for that $1.59 bottle of water.
Chris 33:04
The funny thing about this for me is given the markups at Kohl’s that like, you know, they discount everything 50% off right this inflated rate price How did it ever start at 5%? Like competitively.
Anne 33:15
And like the credit card processing fees alone that they’re paying on top of this. It’s just like how, what’s going on here?
Chris 33:22
How do you carry yourself with the red card at 5% with Kohl’s high low discount strategy is just kind of asinine when you start to think about it, so not surprised they’re doing this but hey, who doesn’t love free money? All right.
Anne 33:33
Chris, Madison Reed announced another $33 million of funding including some money from Jay Z himself to expand their store footprints. Chris, if H to the Izzo B to the Izzay asked you to be in a demo video for the new stores what color would you agree to dye your hair
Chris 33:53
I can’t believe you just did that.
Anne 33:55
Who doesn’t love that song? It’s amazing.
Chris 33:59
I don’t even know what song that is. But the new Top Gun movie’s coming out and it’s also garnering some serious reviews from the critics by the way, so I gotta go.
Anne 32:12
Seriously good or bad?
Chris 32:13
Seriously good. Like it’s supposed to be really good, which is I’m guessing why they’ve delayed the launch of it for like two years, but I’m gonna go as my boy Iceman, Mr. Val Kilmer, myself, I’m going with the frosted tips, Anne. I’m not dying the whole hair I’m just dying the tips.
Anne 34:26
Oh no, just dying the tips. Oh good God, all right.
Chris 34:29
All right, Anne, let’s close it off. Snapchat announced a new partnership with cameo this week to help fuel the Creator economy. If you could pick a B-Lister from one 80s show to sing You Happy Birthday. Who would it be?
Anne 34:43
I don’t know if this is B-Lister but I want to pick 21 Jump Street Johnny Depp, okay, because he was B-Lister then he’s not he wasn’t A-Lister
Chris 34:52
He’s gonna be B-Lister again.
Anne 34:53
He’s going back down. Yes. Not the current courtroom version of Johnny Depp. But if Johnny Depp from 21 Jump Street was like, Hey girl, happy birthday. I wouldtake that I would take it in a second.
Chris 35:05
Nice. Nice so good. I’m glad you did not say Kirk Cameron from Growing Pains that would have really creeped me out. All right, Happy Birthday today to Henry Cavill Adele and Michael Palin of Monty Python fame. And remember, if you can read, if you can only read or listen to one retail blog in the business, make it OMNI time. Our fast live podcast is the quickest fastest rundown of all the week’s top news. And our twice weekly newsletter tells you the top 5 things you need to know each day and also features special content exclusive to us. And it’s just for you. We try really hard to make it fit all within the preview pane of your inbox. You can sign up today at http://www.OMNIblog.com. Thanks as always for listening in. Please remember to like, and leave us a review wherever you happen to listen to your podcasts, or on YouTube because like I said, we are moving up the charts and of course, as always, be careful out there.
Anne 35:55
The Omni tech Fast Five podcast 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 and is 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 toward 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 grocers can seamlessly integrate the robotic solution into their existing businesses. To learn more visit takeoff.com And Sezzle is an innovative Buy now pay later solution that allows shoppers to split purchases into four interest repayments 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. 