Anne 00:04
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. The OMNI talk Fast Five podcast is a podcast that we hope makes you feel a little smarter. But most importantly, a little happier each week too Chris put on that smiling face.
Chris 00:22
Put on that happy face.
Anne 00:23
Yeah, we are about to do a podcast. Chris is sitting over here looking all like stink guide for some odd reason.
Chris 00:29
Yeah, I’ve had a rough morning Anne
Anne 00:30
Well, today, Chris is May 11. And I am your host Anne Mezzenga.
Chris 00:35
And I am Chris Walton.
Anne 00:36
And we’re here once again not to discuss your rough morning but all the top headlines making waves in the world of omni channel retailing. What the hell is going on,
Chris 00:43
Yeah, yeah, no. Yeah. Well, so first of all, you might have picked up on this, it’s May 11. So it’s not actually May 12 Which is when we typically record this podcast, we’re going to do it a day early. Because Anne you’re going to sunny California on a mom shirt this weekend.
Anne 00:56
Total diva moment like you will move this Podcast for me.
Chris 01:00
Yes. Yes. And it’s eight in the morning, too. By the way, when we’re doing this and I’ve had a I’ve had a terrible morning I woke up with a headache, which given my medical history is never a good thing. But then I then I don’t know if you’ve ever had this happen Anne, I went to shave, but instead I instead I brushed my teeth for the second time. So like, yeah, so I don’t know what’s going on. Like mentally I just haven’t been there yet this morning. So God knows what’s gonna happen with this podcast. And then on my way to work I stepped in dog poop in the parking lot like somebody left their dog poop in the parking lot
Anne 01:30
Come on
Chris 01:31
Like on a concrete surface. And yeah, and I and of course I wear my Jordan threes today to work which I never have done when they they’re not just the more stylish I don’t even know what they’re called the grey ones but they’re sweet. Shows you how not a sneakerhead I am, even though I try to portray that I am one. But yeah, so it’s it’s been a rough morning. I’m hoping I can kind of slide into second gear here try or get out of neutral Anne
Anne 01:56
Yeah
Chris 01:56
But um, but yeah. Are you excited about your trip?
Anne 01:58
Oh my god. Yes.
Chris 01:59
You got a new hairstyle. Look at Anne’s new hairstyle everyone for those watching on video and for those listening imagine Anne with a new hairstyle.
Anne 02:06
Yeah,
Chris 02:06
It’s shorter.
Anne 02:07
You know, it’s inspired by a Spice Girls poster. I saw at a 90s bar last week of Posh Spice.
Chris 02:13
Posh Spice inspired.
Anne 02:14
I like Posh Spice had a thing going back in the 90s
Chris 02:17
She still does, what are you talking about? Fashion inspired by Victoria back.
Anne 02:23
I know. So. Yeah, you know, we’re all just getting ready. It’s hilarious to hear how like moms right now are preparing for their own trip. Like I was joking with you.
Chris 02:31
Yeah, you were
Chris 02:32
Where on the playdate?
Anne 02:32
Like, what do we pack? Like this is just one
Anne 02:32
Yeah.
Chris 02:32
What am I? Do I wear athleisure?
Anne 02:35
Yeah, like, what is the dress code for this? What are we doing? Like I’m placing a shipped order tonight for all of our food and booze for the week, which is actually a great concept. Because by the time we arrive to our Airbnb in San Clemente, California, all of our booze and food is going to be there.
Chris 02:53
Seriously. That’s awesome.
Anne 02:54
Yeah, I am excited.
Chris 02:54
It’s amazing.
Anne 02:55
Yeah. So anyways.
Chris 02:55
Oh, I’ve got it. I got a lightning round question for you on your alcohol consumption plans this weekend. All right, but Anne first we have to read our latest review. And this week’s latest review comes from KJP_13. And he left us a review or he or she left us review on Apple podcasts and had this to say, how how has this show ever received anything less than five stars is beyond comprehension. Require listening for anyone in retail? And not only do I agree with KJP13, My question is damn right KJP13 Who are those people? Show yourselves I say six stars. I think there should be six stars Anne on this. It’s like the ab workout six minute abs. That’s how much that’s how many stars you should be leaving for OMNI talk. But those two or three people, they didn’t want to leave their names. I can’t find their reviews that like didn’t give us five stars. But I’m calling you out people that um, yeah, yeah, I want to know who they are. I want to know who they are. You know, and tell us because if you’re listening, you know, we want to know, we want to know how we can be better. Right Anne
Chris 02:59
Yeah, of course you do. I think maybe we can understand where five stars wouldn’t come from this show specifically based on how we’ve kicked things off. But you never know. Who knows.
Chris 04:07
Oh, this stars. This shows already an 11 Anne 11 star it’s 11 stars show.
Anne 04:11
Too many stars. But in all seriousness, as we say every week, please do if you’re listening. Leave us a review on Apple podcasts. If you’re listening on Spotify, Google, Amazon music etc. Please follow subscribe, like the podcast so we can keep making the content possible for all of you. And we may just read your review aloud for all of our listeners hear good or bad
Chris 04:31
Yeah. And chances are your username on Apple podcasts will rhyme with either P or B Yeah. Right. Because like it seems like that’s like the naming convention for all Apple podcasts names.
Anne 04:43
That terrible thing like put the P in the B you remember that
Chris 04:47
I kind of do but I don’t think I want to go there because I don’t remember it well enough and could get into trouble.
Anne 04:51
That’s true.
Chris 04:51
All right, in today’s fast five. We got news on Unilever’s robotic ice cream trucks, Adidas going all in on footlocker. Sweet green’s new digital only pickup format and close with a debate on Starbucks right to claim third place in the digital world. But first, we take off with big news out of IKEA this week. Anne
Anne 05:13
Oh, Chris, that is right. This was one of my favourite headlines of this week.
Chris 05:18
Oh for sure. Yeah
Anne 05:19
According to the Wall Street Journal, IKEA plans to invest $3.2 billion in its stores. They are planning to modify between 30 to 40% of their big box stores to include new additions like parcel distribution centres to help distribute online orders. In addition, the retailer also said that it would use part of the investment to open more city centre stores in places such as Stockholm, Toronto and London, where IKEA plans to invest 1.2 billion euro for a new store on Oxford Street. Chris
Chris 05:50
Yes,
Anne 05:51
I’m also going to once again put you on the spot right away.
Chris 05:54
Right off the bat second week in a row
Anne 05:56
Even the day that you step in dog poop.
Chris 05:57
Welcome to my nightmare. The water is warm people.
Anne 06:00
Okay, we want to hear your thoughts.
Chris 06:01
All right.
Anne 06:01
A&M also wants to know, Chris, IKEA’s massive store footprints today are perfectly positioned to become distribution centres. You’ve talked about this many times. For as long as I’ve known you, you’ve been talking.
Chris 06:14
Yes I have actually.
Anne 06:15
Almost as if they planned for this a long time ago. Can the IKEA customer experience possibly be the same if you can’t get lost in their planned smaller city centre footprint?
Chris 06:27
Whoo, that is a really good question. That actually might be my favourite a&m question of all time. I know. I see. I haven’t said that about this. I know I say this my top headline of the year but I haven’t said that that might actually be my favourite question, because Well, I think to answer it, you know, does it put there kind of, does it put their their current format in jeopardy or the way they do their business in jeopardy? I would say no, I think the reason I say that is I think IKEA is really smart about this. And I think what they’re trying to do here is hit another trip type.
Anne 06:55
Yeah.
Chris 06:56
So for example, like I bring up the story of like, they were talking about putting one of these smart formats in San Francisco, right. And they still have one out in like in the East Bay as well, like the huge mega store. Yeah. And then they have another one down south too I think at this point. But I mean, back back in bed, and I’ll use my experience of back when I was living in San Francisco, they had one of these babies. And so like that trip, type three, go the big super centre and your ideas you get lost, that is perfectly designed for the chore. And this is why I hit Wayfarer so hard where they need to go after this. Because this is a real thing where you move it, you’re going through this, you need to move into a new house, you’ve got to get a lot of stuff and you got to get a lot of stuff right then that day. And it’s not efficient to buy all that stuff online.
Anne 07:35
Right.
Chris 07:35
So people will make that trip, like within a certain distance. Right? You know, there’s a certain point that comes too far. But the trip tie for the urbanliver, though, is a little bit different. Like yeah, they might still go do that. But there are other points in time where you just want to go hunt and peck and find things that you want for that moment or get inspired by how you want to do some design. So I think in that instance, if that’s what they’re playing to here, which it sounds like they are because these are more showrooming type concepts. I think it makes a tonne of sense. And so getting back to the headline too. I love this headline. You said it but like I’ve been talking about for five years now. I first started my swingers party speech where I talked about IKEA being the perfect example of the setup for omni channel retailing cuz you have the warehouse in the back.
Anne 08:20
Yeah
Chris 08:20
The showroom on the front. The key was thought, it wasn’t necessarily designed for E commerce fulfilment. So the fact they’re going to take you know, what is it 40, 60% of their stores and rejigger them this way. Makes a tonne of sense because you’re right, they might have two stores in a market. They don’t need to do it for both. They can service the whole market from ecommerce. It’s just it’s just brilliant. And these guys, these guys know what the hell they’re doing. They continue to oppress.
Anne 08:40
Yeah, I agree. I mean, I love this approach and you’re talking about the trip types being different and I think that’s really important. I also think that if you think about especially over the last couple of years just the evolution of buying online pickup in store for IKEA like that used to be they’re not so non existent. But now even even in their major stores I’ve I mean, anecdotally, like I’ve moved my patterns too
Chris 09:03
Great point.
Anne 09:03
I’m picking up curbside I know exactly what I want to get, I just need a you know I need another Billy bookcase or whatever. And I think that they’re really starting to shift to this mindset of now we can go into smaller footprint in urban footprint where people can order ahead of time and just pick up we’re going to take that experience that we’ve seen success with over the course of the last couple years and offer that in a smaller footprint. I’m also hopeful that we start seeing in the stores there wasn’t a lot of mention of this in that article or in IKEA’s released but I’m hopeful that we start seeing scan and go like what they launched in Shanghai last year and starting to deploy not only like the biome line pickup in store components to this but and the warehousing components but also the shopping experience front ends being simpler and and easier for people who are going through and walking through the store.
But the other thing I think is really cool about this Chris I love this concept for malls right I love this concept especially you What I really love this for, I was just talking to a local shopping districts owner landlord this week and I was like this is a perfect thing for like even an A list mall right because he’s got like he wants to draw in a younger crowd you everybody you know, regardless of income level is interested in some IKEA like people have IKEA products in you know multimillion dollar homes. And it’s this is the most convenient way to do this in a small footprint. It’s brilliant. Like I just I think the possibilities with this are endless and I love it.
Chris 10:32
Yeah 100% Anne. I love that point and like I just looked it up to you like the example Market Street in San Francisco like it’s essentially that
Anne 10:39
yeah
Chris 10:39
Like that’s what you’re talking about and and your point you about the design for you know, how do you think about this for returns the resale products that they’re trying to get into and rolling out nationwide? Like it just makes sense. It’s the right time to do it. 100% Kudos all around on this one. Alright, let’s go to headline number two. starting this summer Unilever plans to deploy a fleet of on demand mobile ice cream trucks known as “The ice cream shop, Robo Mart’s.”
Anne 11:05
I’ll take you to the ice cream shop. I think It’s candy shop
Chris 11:11
There’s a part about lollipop in there too. But hey, all right. According to chain store age, Ben and Jerry’s fans in Los Angeles, along with other delectable Unilever treats like Breyers ice cream and everyone’s favourite Magnum ice cream will soon be able to hail the ice cream shop Robomart to their location using Roobomart’s proprietary mobile app. Once the car arrives in just gets get to what you just said.
They can swipe the app to open the car autonomously and then voila, are free to gorge themselves on as many sweet treats as they desire. Payments are also all made electronically in the app based on Robomart’s proprietary RFID system that knows when products have been removed from the vehicle. I think that’s the most I’ve used proprietary in an opening in the history of the show. Anne
Anne 11:56
So proprietary
Chris 11:58
Do you see Chunky Monkey from a ice cream robomart in your future?
Anne 12:02
Oh my gosh, absolutely. I love this. This is especially good. Unilever has apparently Unilever self claimed is the largest producer of ice cream in the world.
Chris 12:14
Really
Anne 12:14
Yes,
Chris 12:14
It’s probably true.
Anne 12:15
Yes probably is true. I didn’t want to combat them and look it up.
Chris 12:20
But we won’t call BS on that on.
Anne 12:22
We’ll take your word for it. Because I think this is so brilliant for a giant like Unilever to be doing in this category. I think Chris this is the next step in with a CPG like Pepsi what we saw going into snacks.com
Chris 12:38
Yeah
Anne 12:38
Unilever has been trying already to do direct to consumer ice cream through partners like UberEATS like DoorDash they kind of have created this their own like ice cream shop and now this is the next level of it.
Chris 12:50
Yeah. Super cool
Anne 12:50
And so I found out according to convenience store news, Chris people search, People search for ice cream on go puff more than 1.7 million times and go puff delivered nearly 12 million scoops of just Ben and Jerry’s ice cream in the last year. So
Chris 13:05
Shots fired go puff ha.
Anne 13:07
Yeah, Well, I mean, I think this is just crazy,
Chris 13:09
right?
Anne 13:10
Think about Unilever is circumventing the DoorDash’s, the Go puffs here. They’re like no, we’re gonna go directly to you, we’re gonna provide this awesome experience that you can hail your own Robo Robo Mart and get they get the benefit then also of having all the first party customer data.
Chris 13:10
Right
Anne 13:13
That they didn’t have. They didn’t have and get to control the front end to back end experience. I just have to say, hell yeah, to the Unilever team, because this was not easy. I can guarantee you having worked at a large enterprise. Getting this pilot phase like you guys all go like cheers your ice cream cones, because this is one hell of a deal. But Chris,
Chris 13:49
yeah, I mean, if you hit your praising, you’re praising Unilever. I’m praising Ali Ahmed, the CEO of Robomart. I mean, nice. We’ve known him. I’ve known him for since 2017. And I think this is I’ve always thought this is a really brilliant idea.
Anne 14:03
Yeah.
Chris 14:04
And it’s one that you know what, it’s one that once the autonomous technology comes more to the fore, and government regulations keep pace, this concept is going to advance I think pretty quickly, because quite honestly, it’s better than go puff as an idea or the other instant delivery providers because think about it Anne, you kind of hit on it, but you just drive the store around autonomously.
Anne 14:24
Yeah.
Chris 14:24
And ultimately, it’s probably on an Eevee charge too,
Anne 14:27
Right.
Chris 14:28
And so and then it just has all the things you want quickly. What’s your stead about? Ice cream is perfect. Like, yeah, you know what those things are? At this point, you know those things you want it 15 minutes, so they’re just driving around. You don’t have to pick and pack them for each order. You just staged the car in the morning or however many times during the day, and you’re done.
Anne 14:45
No sketchball like ice cream truck driver and weird music.
Chris 14:49
Oh, maybe you still get the tune? I don’t know. I can’t see them playing that but but you know
Anne 14:53
Maybe it’s the ice cream shop version that I just think,
Chris 14:56
Right. Yeah was that 50 set? Who’s that? Yeah, but The only thing that I’m wishing you, honestly is that is that I had invested he came to me and said, Can you do you want to invest upfront and I was like, Nah, I don’t think I can right now and God, I’m guessing this one got away from me and I’m gonna I’m gonna be very bummed about that.
Anne 15:13
But we can we get you some ice cream to make up for it.
Chris 15:15
Yeah, maybe. Maybe a little pralines and cream.
Anne 15:18
Eww gross.
Anne 15:19
All right. headline number three Chris Adidas plans to triple its sales with footlocker by 2025. According to retail dive following Nikes pullback, Adidas plans to fill the void by going all in with footlocker. They announced Adidas being they announced a long term partnership with footlocker that includes expanding key franchises and women’s kids and apparel. And that also makes footlocker, the lead partner for Adidas basketball offerings. According to a company press release, Adidas said it’s going to be targeting over $2 billion in retail sales from the partnership by 2025, which nearly tripled its 2021 revenue level. Chris, what are your thoughts on this? I was really big on the story
Chris 15:19
All right.
Chris 16:01
You were and I don’t know I, I I’m this is where I do love when we have healthy scepticism in our debates.
Anne 16:09
Not the unhealthy kind.
Chris 16:09
Yes. Not the unhealthy scepticism. I don’t I don’t that’s not recommended by any doctor. Definitely not four out offive dentists.
Anne 16:15
No,
Chris 16:15
But I I don’t know what to make of this. And I am sceptical of this story, honestly. Okay. I think three times in three years.
Anne 16:23
Yeah that’s a lot.
Chris 16:24
Seems like a lot. And Nike hasn’t just left. It’s just scaled back. Right.
Anne 16:30
Right.
Chris 16:30
And so so you have to be real about what’s the demand here. So why do people suddenly want more Adidas shoes at the end of the day versus you’re just increasing your distribution with footlocker but you know, when I get back I mean, I from adidas standpoint, I mean, it’s like what’s the risk? You know, footlocker is probably clamouring for something to fill the shelves. So but you know, ultimately, the end of the day, my buying the hype here, where are they going to hit those numbers? I’m, I’m really doubtful. Yeah. What do you think you love you wanted to cover this story?
Anne 16:58
I did, I agree with you. I mean, I do think that the goals are lofty, but you got to have goals. So we’ll see. We’ll see what happens.
Chris 17:04
To you it’s not a plan until you write it down Anne someone once told me.
Anne 17:08
Do you ever do you have a word for that?
Chris 17:09
No. I’m like visualising quotes today.
Anne 17:12
Okay, so here’s why I want to include it. Currently, in the US there are only 176 Adidas brand stores. So if your goal is
Chris 17:20
I am surprised there’s that many Wow.
Anne 17:21
Yeah, I know. I was surprised too. There are 851 footlocker locations. So I think if you think about this in comparison to Nike, who has 1000 stores, and they are planning on, you know, going bananas, building out more of the the local Nike local store formats, I think that this could be an opportunity for Adidas to really start to kind of take over share in the US, which they don’t have. Globally they’re a bigger brand. But I think that this could be a strategy for Adidas to use footlocker as their footprints.
I also think, you know, they hint at it in this article, but I think we could start to see them doing what Nike and Dick’s Sporting Goods are doing, where they’re starting to emerge, like loyalty programmes, they’re starting to offer like combines, like exclusive releases, like this does give them a footprint to do those things. I think it’s a smart strategy for both brands here. Will it pan out? Can they reach out the reach the goals that they’re setting? Will people seek out Adidas in these formats? I don’t know. But I think that if I’m either these brands, I’m signing up for this strategy.
Chris 18:27
Yeah. I mean, I think that’s a fun thing about the strategy. Like, the final word here is like, you kind of have to.
Anne 18:33
Right
Chris 18:33
Like, they both kind of have to do this.
Chris 18:35
And so again, my question just comes back to I agree with all your points about the stores. I mean, it’s interesting, Adidas, you know, being relatively understood in the United States. And I imagine this is you know, but like there’s still so much so much demand you can push through the bottleneck, right? Like how much demand is out there for Adidas is there that much there? I don’t know. Time will tell. All right, headline number four. According to chase store age, a sweet green. This is when you fought for too Anne.
Anne 18:35
Yes, yeah.
Anne 18:58
Yeah,
Chris 18:58
Well open its first ever location dedicated exclusively to the pickup of digital orders. On August 1 in Washington DC is Mount Vernon Square neighbourhood, the store will not have an inside dining area or front service line. Instead, customers will place their orders via sweet greens website or mobile app, and then can retrieve their orders from pickup shelves inside the restaurant. You can see that ordering from a mobile app is a theme that is becoming more and more prevalent each and every week. The site wide offers no indoor seating will also have outdoor patio seating Ane your thoughts.
Anne 19:31
Okay, I’m gonna go on a rant here.
Chris 19:33
Oh, wow. Anne.
Anne 19:34
I’ve been saying this for the last few weeks, especially about
Chris 19:37
Careful, Steve Dennis might go nuts. If you go on a rant,
Anne 19:39
That’s fine.
Chris 19:40
Okay,
Anne 19:41
Okay, This is just, people have to accept that this is what we’re going to start seeing a significant shift to in QSR restaurants especially and fast food going in this direction, especially with what we’re hearing in the news with payroll increases the problems with staffing, the unionisation that’s happening among especially places like Starbucks, this is just so much smarter in approach. And I think where everybody you and I all of us are going, this is the direction we want to go. I can order I’ve learned how to do this through the pandemic, I can order things exactly as I want them. With all my modifications. These are scripted things sweet green puts exactly one quarter cup of tomato in a salad like these are all very prescriptive recipes. In there’s no reason to have a line to wait in to watch somebody assemble this, I do not think so if I can get it quickly. I can, you know, pay for it in app, this is the most brilliant way to tackle this. No lines actually quick serve food and allows the human workforce in the stores to focus on helping people with orders or any other issues that they have. Not to be like giving your dirty money to me and then I have to hope that you took your gloves off before making my salad.
Chris 20:59
Okay. Okay, so Wait, so you’re ranting. So that’s your rant.
Anne 21:02
That’s my rant.
Chris 21:03
Okay, so your rant is essentially that your position is that everyone should do this, every QSR restaurant should go with this model.
Anne 21:12
Yeah, if you’re a larger chain,
Chris 21:13
You kind of post it notes on this.
Anne 21:15
I am not saying this is like for the barista that you go to at your local corner coffee shop, like no, this is not necessarily the browser that touched it. But anything from like, Chick fil A Starbucks, sweet green, like all these things can be drastically improved if they just did mobile work.
Chris 21:33
So that’s what you’re angry about. That’s what the rant comes. So you essentially feel like people should be trying this more business.
Anne 21:38
It just makes sense.
Chris 21:39
It just makes so much sense.
Anne 21:40
Yeah
Chris 21:40
Interesting. Okay. Um, I didn’t know you’re gonna say that. Alright, I again, I’d like to show because I’ve got I’ve got this is healthy debate where I disagree with you. I don’t know if I agree with that. I mean, I think I’m not as bullish on the ubiquity of this idea like that It’s applicable to everyone in quick service restaurants.
Anne 21:59
What’s an example of where you need to wait in line?
Chris 22:02
Well, don’t let me tell you why. Because I yeah, I think particularly I think, because if you go this route,
Anne 22:08
Yes,
Chris 22:08
There’s some segment of your business of your demand of your volume that you’re going to lose. And what comes to mind for me is particularly the large family order, where it takes me way too much effort to customise my order for everything my my particular family wants in a mobile application, like it’s easier for me to go through the drive thru or even potentially go inside and relay that information to someone else. Now, it’s not saying I wouldn’t do it. But I think there’s a portion of the population that if you went this way, it might not. It might make the restaurant not top of mind on there.
Anne 22:45
What do you guys do when you order takeout?
Chris 22:47
For takeout? I mean, we do that, but it’s
Anne 22:50
At short dash and stuff. I mean, you have to personalise and customise everything on that. So
Chris 22:53
Yeah, that’s a good point. But I don’t know anything about restaurants is like restaurant deliveries a little bit different, too, because restaurants, you don’t customise your order as much. But I think you’re right, but I do love it. I will say this, I will concede your point for the repeat and I think is what you’re getting at the repeatable trip types. Where we’re like, salad restaurant is a great example of this, I think where we’re, you know, you know, what you want day in and day out, it’s probably the lunch crowd, it’s probably a single individual ordering that item like that, actually, I 100% agree with you. They should anyone that has that trip tight is in a core part of the business or core geography of the business should be going after this.
Anne 23:34
See, I completely disagree
Chris 23:36
Alright, go disagree.
Anne 23:37
I for large orders, I think it’s even better because you have in front of you the entire listing, like so I used to work on photo shoots, right, I’m going to pull this back out, I will be
Chris 23:45
Pull it back out Anne
Anne 23:46
I will be working and I have to order lunch for like 25 people. And I loved mobile ordering because for the first time I have an exact print out on my phone of exactly how I can specify each order. And you’re not telling a human being this thing you’re actually entering it into of space so that they can see written instructions of rebuilt the tomatoes, add the onions, like do all these things instead of having to rely on hoping that somebody through a drive thru window heard the correct order that you’re trying to put through.
Chris 24:17
Yeal alright? I mean, you might have convinced me Yeah, and ultimately, the interfaces can get better too. Like we talked about that story the other day, like why can I talk to somebody on my mobile phone and convey my order through that way and it could be a live person on the other end even voice you know, voice technology still has places to go immediately from the people that are in that space but but yeah, you could you could be doing the doubt you know, like you could do it that way. The other thing I do love about the story Anne I know real quick
Anne 24:38
Yeah.
Chris 24:38
Is it cost of mind another point of friction for me in the QSR restaurant space, which is how do I pay? I hate that I ordered at the drive thru and still have to hand my credit card to someone
Anne 24:50
Yeah.
Chris 24:50
Why haven’t they combined the ordering kiosk with like an Apple Pay kiosk or a card swipe thing right then and then I just go to a location or to another window, why do I have to still go and pay separately? That’s my rant here. That annoys me. And so if it gets me out of that, too,
Anne 25:07
yes,
Chris 25:07
there’s something to that there’s two sides to this story that I think are important.
Anne 25:11
Yeah. Overall, though, it’s better.
Chris 25:13
Yeah. All right. I think you got me I think you got me I’m not gonna die on my sword for this, but I think I agree with your rant. All right, let’s close out the show at the last headline
Anne 25:20
Alright headline number five. So in addition to being a physical third place, Chris Starbucks, the unofficial sponsor of this podcast since we’re drinking it this morning, and just about every morning, Starbucks thinks it can also become a digital third place as well. Ina corporate blog post Starbucks Chief Marketing Officer Brady Brewer said, quote, in the hyper digital area that we live in the community connection that Starbucks has always created as equally powerful as we extend the third place connection wherever customers experience Starbucks
Chris 25:49
Warm, fuzzy, alert Anne warm, fuzzy alert.
Anne 25:51
What if Starbucks he went on to add could create a new global digital community, a community defined by collaboration experiences and shared ownership, all centred around coffee to start and then perhaps expanded into the many areas Starbucks has played in in over the years as a coffee, house art music books, and beyond
Chris 26:10
getting fuzzier Anne getting warm and fuzzy,
Anne 26:12
What if we could this is like, this is?
Chris 26:15
This is It’s like all these questions, right? It’s great.
Anne 26:19
What if we could create a new model of what it means to be connected to the Starbucks community? I feel like Elle Woods right now.
Chris 26:25
Yes, right. Yeah. What a passion speech Anne.
Anne 26:27
Whatif we could create
Chris 26:29
A creative business?
Anne 26:31
A creative Business? Sorry, I don’t even I’ve never used that creative business adjacent to our stores that ultimately benefited our partners, community and business. And Chris, what if we could do so using a technology that supports our commitment to sustainability? So Chris, I asked you and my fellow Americans What do you think of Starbucks 3.0?
Chris 26:53
Well, John F Kennedy oh my god, like yeah, now that you’re playing that back I’m like, Whoa, let’s let’s slow the roll on this. Yeah. Um, I mean, at its core, I I like what it is right now in terms of like, how he’s when he goes on in this is know what he describes, but I don’t agree with how it’s publicised. It’s been publicised as like Starbucks playing the metaverse, which I don’t think this is I think it’s actually about how do you digitise Starbucks experience for web 3.0 principles, which as he states are, namely NFT’s and blockchains like NFT’s for sure.
Like people go apeshit for Starbucks cups. So like, you know, why wouldn’t you? Why wouldn’t they get a place with NFT’s and then sustainability for blockchain? Yeah. 100%, I could see that being applicable too, but the idea of like, you know, where people are trying to take the story of extending Starbucks into the metaverse and creating a third place in that digital world. I, that’s a hard pill for me to swallow at this point. Like, why would I want to, you know, interact with Starbucks in that way, when it’s so much about the physical third place in my life?
Anne 27:54
Right,
Chris 27:55
Which is how it’s been successful. I don’t know. What do you think?
Anne 27:58
I mean, I agree with you, I think, and I agree with our good old buddy here, Brady Brewer. But I think that it makes sense for Starbucks to be thinking about where they’re places in the web 3.0, the web 3.0 version of Starbucks. The Metaverse version of Starbucks, NFT’s makes sense, like you said, I mean, Starbucks has had the most one of the greatest successes in, in social media of any other brands, like they have the ability to do that. But the stuff is still centred around the products to me like the the tick tock, you know, hacks for your Starbucks,
Chris 28:33
Right, that’s a good point.
Anne 28:34
Like all these centred around the product of the coffee. So I think it’s gonna be really important for Starbucks to figure out what’s the Starbucks product in this virtual world. I think there’s a place for them, certainly, but I don’t know I agree with you. Like, I don’t know that it’s a third place like I was even hypothesising with my son this morning. Like, if you could get more health on fortnight by going into a Starbucks and ordering a drink on the fortnight game like would you be incentivized to do that? He was like, actually, yeah, that could be
Chris 29:03
Yeah, that’s kind of cool.
Anne 29:04
But that’s not just creating a Starbucks in the metaverse.
Chris 29:07
Yeah, right. Exactly. That’s totally different. It’s a totally different idea
Anne 29:10
What your placeis in this these virtual worlds. And I don’t think it’s just rinse and repeat. Like the metaverse is the third place already. So I think that you know, Starbucks being a place you have to go in the metaverse just as is doesn’t work.
Chris 29:24
Yeah. And I think that’s, that’s important. I think that’s why we do this show, too, is because there’s a lot of, I’m just gonna say there’s a lot of junk out there when you read the headlines, and you have to click in them to understand what’s fully going on.
Anne 29:35
Right?
Chris 29:35
There’s digitization for web 3.0. There’s Metaverse, those are really different ideas, how you your point about fortnight, and the interaction with Starbucks in that to incent purchase behaviour in and out of that world, so to speak, is really interesting, and it’s important to understand all those subtle differences here as we go along. Alright Anne great show Anne.
Anne 29:55
Yes,
Chris 29:55
I’m pretty excited by the show. We’ve got a good pace going here too. Let’s close this out with speed questions.
Anne 30:00
Let’s do the lightning round Chris, Kanye West just launched a new video called Life of the Party. Which if you haven’t watched this, go on YouTube and watch it that has a variety of old photos of yay, that are retouched so that they’re all wearing Kanye’s new Yeezy and blends Yaga for gap line of clothing. Chris, we watched this
Chris 30:19
Yeah, we did
Anne 30:19
Yesterday. One did this inspire you to attempt to purchase any of the clothing items and two to listen to any more of Kanye West music?
Chris 30:28
Well, number one no, like it was it just wasn’t my style, you know, and it’s all very, it’s all very it’s all very similar in style too so I was like one no, you like it a lot. Yeah. All right. So I’m sure I’m sure. I’m sure it’ll inspire lots of other people.
Anne 30:41
What about the music?
Chris 30:42
Well, I’ve always been a Kanye fan. Yeah, gold digger. Gold digger was always on my running playlist back in the day before I could when I actually could run before health stopped me for running. But um, but ya know, I was a big Kanye fan of his music is pretty good. But you know what, you know, God’s waiting him. All right. Anne
Anne 30:59
yes,
Chris 31:00
Kraft Heinz is taking mac and cheese ice cream a step further now expanding into other products like Grey Poupon wine? Will you and your girlfriend’s would you actually let me rephrase that? Would you and your girlfriend’s ever considered drinking Grey Poupon Wine this weekend on your mom’s trip to California what would it take?
Anne 31:20
It depends on how late into the night we’re talking and and what else what our other options are. If it’s between like that, and a Boone’s Farm like hard seltzer or something then yes, so we might be reaching for the Grey Poupon wine, we’re gonna have a terrible heartburn
Chris 31:34
It’s to be paired with a sandwich. It’s like the sandwich wine you know?
Anne 31:37
It’s meant to be paired with like salmon charcuterie board?
Chris 31:40
I’m sure it is. Maybe it works. I don’t know.
Anne 31:42
All right, Chris DoorDash’s revenue rose this week and Instacart revenue took a nosedive if you were investing in instant delivery providers right now. This is not investment advice, by the way,
Chris 31:52
Yeah right
Anne 31:53
Where would you be putting your money?
Chris 31:55
Man? I don’t I don’t think I’d be sitting on the sidelines, honestly.
Anne 31:58
Yeah.
Chris 31:58
You know, but like we said before, on the show, I think, you know, what we’re seeing here come to fruition is that DoorDash and particularly Uber Eats too with the Uber taxi side of the business are a little more diversified here because of their angle with restaurants and restaurants need restaurants, I would say needing the marketplace angle to how people interact with them. Yeah, a little bit more than say a retailer does, which is an important point of differentiation.
Anne 32:22
All right. Makes sense.
Chris 32:23
All right Anne last question. Noise soft, bizarre.
Anne 32:27
Yes.
Chris 32:27
Whew, that was hard to say. One of your favourite Instagram sites launched their own peer to peer platform this week. Which item or category from the site are you most looking forward to adding to your cart?
Anne 32:38
Okay, I’ve been scouting swimsuits for my trip. So potentially a swimsuit. There’s a few on there that I really liked. And also a utility jumpsuit. I’m like all in on the utility jumpsuit,
Chris 32:48
What’s a utility jumpsuit.
Anne 32:50
It’s basically like a fashionized janitor outfit. But
Chris 32:54
I there a belt.
Anne 32:55
No, well, some do
Chris 32:57
Like a full belt. Like a full belt right?
Anne 32:59
Yeah, it has like gathering cinching.
Chris 33:02
Oh, right. Yes. Yes.
Chris 33:03
Right. Right.
Anne 33:03
Accentuate your curves in your janitor outfit.
Anne 33:05
But they are pretty cool.
Chris 33:06
I keep thinking of like, Welcome Back Kotter images right now. I have no idea why. All right, Happy Birthday today to Tony Hawk, Emily VanCamp and Gordon Bombay himself, and highschool crush Emilio esta vez. And remember if your
Anne 33:19
You sound like a dad
Chris 33:22
Yeah, but you know Mighty Ducks from the Minneapolis you know I went with it. Alright, and remember, if you can only read or listen to one retail blog in the business make it on me 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 to us and just for you. And if it’s all within the preview pane of your inbox, you can sign up today at http://www.omnitalk.blog. Thanks as always for listening and please remember to like and leave us a review wherever you happen to listen to your podcasts or on YouTube. And of course, as always, be careful out there.
Automated 33:55
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