Anne 0:09
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 the podcast that we hope makes you feel a little smarter. But most importantly, a little happier each week too. Today is June 23. I’m your host Anne Mezzenga
Chris 0:30
And I’m Chris Walton.
Anne 0:31
And we are here once again to discuss all the top headlines making waves in the world of omni channel retailing. Chris, how you doing today?
Chris 0:39
I’m doing well Anne. It’s summer here in Minneapolis. I am in a T shirt or a golf shirt, I should say actually is probably more appropriate which I almost never wear
Anne 0:47
Because you don’t golf?
Chris 0:48
I don’t Golf. Nope. I don’t golf don’t love the look of them either. You know, it takes me out of my hoodie zone. But uh,
Anne 0:54
Why do you get so dressed up then?
Chris 0:56
Well, you know, it’s the fast five Anne and your summer you got a summer dress on. I know that counts as a summer dress. And so I wanted to you know, keep up with the Joneses, so to speak here Anne
Anne 1:06
It’s linen, it’s linen season.
Chris 1:07
It’s also balls hot Anne. It’s like, it was like 100 degrees here in Minneapolis on Monday. We’d like in C humidity. It was like one of the hottest days of my life. Not the hottest, but definitely one of the hottest
Anne 1:17
Yeah, we just keep going back and forth. Like I was just looking at a clip from one of the episodes maybe it feels like it was just a couple of weeks ago where it was like in a like a jacket, like trying to stay warm.
Chris 1:29
Yeah
Anne 1:30
And now it’s 102
Chris 1:32
It is but it’s hot. It’s heating up. It’s heating up at omni talk. I think we mentioned this last week but we are solidly positioned on the Apple Retail podcast rankings now. And thanks to our loyal listeners that have been leaving us reviews each and every week. And I gotta tell you, boy and we have some good ones coming up you know, I can’t wait to read it. Oh yeah, there’s some fun ones you got to go and check them out. I know I’m the one that’s responsible for calling the reviews each week but as you guys know we read these in sequential order as they come in but there’s some there’s one that really cracked me up here that we’re going to do probably in like two or three weeks. But this week’s review Anne
Anne 2:03
Yes
Chris 2:03
Comes to us from this is a great name Brookie up with six Ps mind you six Ps at the end of that name,
Anne 2:12
rookie up,
Chris 2:13
I have no idea.
Anne 2:13
rookie up
Chris 2:14
I don’t know. I don’t
Anne 2:15
or giddy up
Chris 2:15
Yeah, I have no idea who this is again, we have no idea who leaves us review
Anne 2:18
Alright, let’s hear it though.
Chris 2:19
Apple podcast names are so weird. Here’s the title was straightened out by new a&m employee. Ooh, I love it. Sitting around the Kellogg School of Management dinner table we were discussing our favourite podcast and I mentioned OMNI talk that I went on to discuss how I didn’t know a&m was a big school for retail. Boy was I wrong my friend Dylan R shout out to Dylan R whoever you are will be starting a new job at a&m consulting and he’s straightening me out. How embarrassing all good though shout out to a&m Chris and Anne for making amazing informative podcast and congrats to Dylan R for starting his new retail consulting job yes congrats it Dylan R Anne
oh, maybe Dylan R will be a guest on the podcast.
Young whippersnappers perspective that’d be great. Yeah love to talk to those guys.
Anne 3:02
Well remember please if you are listening to leave us a review on Apple podcasts heart the podcast if you’re on Spotify, Google Amazon music etc and please please please follow and subscribe so we can keep making the best retail content possible for you all and we may just read it aloud one day for our listeners to hear like Brookie up
Chris 3:22
yeah, we may not we will we will 100% chance you give us a review at some point it will get read on this podcast. Alright Anne should we do the news?
Anne 3:29
Let’s do it.
Chris 3:30
All right. In today’s Fast Five we’ve got news on GNC taking their new food delivery service national which I don’t even know about. Simon is in the news again with an innovative product search platform
Anne 3:40
Dang Simon. You fancy.
Chris 3:43
You fancy. The announcement of a second Amazon style apparel store in Ohio. Walmart and Roku teaming up on shoppable TV and idea I think I like the love and and probably hates but we’ll find out here in a few minutes. But first we take off with even bigger news out of Amazon and Anne I personally think this one’s huge. But you have the honours.
Anne 4:01
Well, you haven’t yet called that headline of the year so we’ll see if we can get there. Yes, Chris. That is right according to progressive grocer and you’ll find out shortly why that outlet is reporting on this. It is prime time once again Chris for Amazon so starting July 12 through 13th. Prime numbers will score deals on items from national brands and third party sellers and save as they always do on goods at Amazon owned stores. But
Chris 4:02
But, there’s always a but
Anne 4:05
There’s a but. New this summer is a 20% discount for Prime members to use on select everyday items at Amazon Fresh stores.
Chris 4:41
Booyah
Anne 4:41
Chris, members can enjoy this benefit year round by scanning their Amazon app at the register or purchasing with a credit card that’s registered to their prime account. Prime members who apply for and are approved for an Amazon rewards Visa card will also earn an additional 6% Back at amazon and Whole Foods Market on Prime Day and 5% your back year round and an Amazon gift card for $200. Well, Chris, this is let’s just like make put this another notch on your bedpost or whatever.
Hey, we’re getting saucy get and rich.
Ah, you you predicted this a long time ago and art was it a Forbes article? I can’t remember
Chris 5:23
I did Anne
Anne 5:24
At some point in time I know you like this is a claim to fame.
Chris 5:27
Funny. You should mention this. Yes, I’m going to take a massive victory lap here. Because yeah, I did hypothesise this. Do you know, do you know how long ago it was?
Anne 5:34
No, I can’t even remember. I just know like, this is gonna come.
Chris 5:37
Yeah, yeah, for sure. I mean, I looked it up. And I first I think I might even have hypothesised it like rough, you know, just tangentially like on a social media post or something before this. But I wrote an article about this in July of 2019, July of 2019, 3 years ago, Anne, three years ago is how on top of this, we were
Anne 5:53
Oh, can I can I pause? Are we gonna get out of this recession that we’re in? Like, do you have any other predictions you can make that will make me feel better about the state of the world right now?
Chris 6:01
Definitely not on that Anne. Definitely not on that.
Anne 6:03
Alright
Chris 6:03
But we digress. But your point is dead, right, though. I mean, we predicted this. I love this. The savings are freaking huge.
Anne 6:10
Yeah.
Chris 6:10
My only question on this was they use the term select items for the 20% discount.
Anne 6:15
Yeah.
Chris 6:15
So you know what, you know what I mean, tech fans, I had to I use air quotes on select items. Because you know, I love when retailers do that in their in their press releases. But I think it’s I had to do some research on this. So I messaged my good buddy Jamil Gohan, who happens to be the the VP of Amazon Prime at at Amazon. And of course, he had to send me to his PR team because no one’s allowed to actually talk to me about business, you know,
Anne 6:38
Even our old Target friend.
Chris 6:40
Yeah, but it actually sounds pretty widespread. Like there’s some good there spaces everyday staples are gonna have rotating deals 20% off throughout the year. But the part that I found really interesting is that they’re going to offer daily specials on their prepared foods every single day of the week. So like, for example, Monday, 20% off the salad bar Tuesday, sandwiches, Wednesday soups, on and on and Sunday deli meats and cheeses cheese pizza on Saturday. That is big. 20% savings on a prepared meal.
Anne 6:40
Yes.
Chris 6:40
For your family
Yeah, the salad bar, you know that like salad bar? That’s like a $20 salad to save 20% on that like,
Right
Anne 7:04
That’s getting me there on a Monday.
Chris 7:16
Too many jokes. Alright, we’re not gonna go there. But ya know, I mean, it’s, it’s massive. I mean, that is a And it’s a massive pull into the store, too.
Anne 7:24
Yeah,
Chris 7:24
Which is what AmazonFresh needs. So even though there’s so probably somewhere, I don’t know how many there are roughly now with 30 to 40 in the country. This makes a tonne of sense. Anne here’s the other thing about referencing the article. It’s also just an early precursor to what they can do more more overtly over time like this is the first salvo you get more of these stores. I’ve talked about them during Prime deal days, promotions on the first and the 15th of the month, when people get paid, something like that, or something to that extreme, could still be coming. They have the power because they have electronic shelf labels in their store, they can change their prices, however, whenever they want. Other retailers still seven to 14 days late on price change, because their physical science. Alright, I’m done. What do you think though Anne?
Anne 8:00
Yeah, I think especially with inflation, there was just a report I read this morning that, you know, not surprisingly, customers are switching to different brands, they’re changing their shopping behaviours significantly, because it’s getting expensive, like we’re almost at 9% of inflation rate, like customers are going to be driving their purchase decisions based on where they can get quick cashback savings, where they can find good quality groceries and I think that it’s a big part of, you know, whole foods being a part of this Amazon Fresh store as being a part of this and you have over 150 million Prime members.
And I think that is what I’m gonna kind of be focused on here too is as customers start to tighten their belts and remove some of those subscriptions like I’m talking the shipped the Instacart like the DoorDash like all these things, I think Prime is going to be one for multiple reasons, there’s more and more to hang on to that membership and to drive people into an Amazon fresh store.
Chris 8:54
100% And the last point I’d make which I hadn’t thought about so you just said that something triggered in my mind the user experience for this is different in Amazon Fresh than what we’ve seen in Whole Foods previously. In wholefoods you had to get to the checkout and remember to scan your barcode to get the savings you have to remember folks like Amazon Fresh stores for the most part now are predominantly just walked out that’s what they’re doing so they know you upon entry so that means in my mind you pick those items that are for sale should be automatically put in your cart I’m guessing that’s how it works. I can’t see why it wouldn’t work that way
Anne 9:20
right
Chris 9:21
So that is a cool connection as well and a cool marketing hook for me as well. Alright, Anne let’s go to headline number two
Anne 9:27
all right,
Chris 9:28
GNC is expanding a food delivery pilot they began testing last year called Real eats yummy. According to chase storage, the vitamins and supplements retailer started the pilot one year ago in three markets Pittsburgh, which always seems to be a nice test markets, DC and of course Florida. The ubiquitous test market for sure
Anne 9:47
Yes
Chris 9:48
And is now delivering its meal options across the United States are plans to deliver them across the entire United States. GNC’s real eats features exclusive healthy meal bundles through partnerships with the economic honestly He named really it’s so product finally got to use the word up and ominously I probably didn’t say that right anyway
Anne 10:06
What does that mean
Chris 10:07
It means basically have the same name like derived by the same name
Anne 10:10
So it’s a waste of word
Chris 10:11
GMC’s real eats is five real eats. Yeah, it’s just that it’s the reference that fact that that’s happening anyway super
Anne 10:17
You get your quarter for using that word.
Chris 10:19
Super nerdy and I am just glad I finally got to use it and probably said it wrong. The service offers more than 60 different assortments as well as options for consumers with dietary preferences such as meat free or lower calorie options. Anne
Anne 10:31
Yes,
Chris 10:32
Fitness aficionado that you are. Gonna be going to GNC and gobble some of these meal kits up
Anne 10:37
I don’t know that I will be specifically but you mentioned like as a gym owner and having worked with multiple providers multiple times. I can tell you that the sufficiency of having specific meals the people that are going to GNC that are going to these gyms like they have very specific dietary needs and the best way to do that the most convenient way to do that for many people is subscribing to some sort of meal delivery service because trying to like buy all the ingredients make it at home like it involves a full day of meal prep with which many people don’t have so I think this is a really smart pivot for GNC.
I think that the GNC customers benefiting because like I said they’re saving a trip they’re having this extra convenience because most importantly you can do this this food delivery order alongside other GNC things so when you’re doing Subscribe and Save or whatever it might be that you have with GNC you just add the food into your basket and you’re you know you’re get it the next week, you’re earning loyalty points across both platforms on very high ticket items. So I think that makes sense. But the thing that I’ll watch out for which we watch out for in any of these meal delivery services is looking at flexibility in scheduling because this is order on Wednesday get the next like Tuesday or something like that. And then also what other variety of options you have like can I pick this up and store how to how do you allow for flexibility in scheduling and then also taste and you know, they have 62 items right now I think that’s going to have to flex too because that gets to be tired after a while.
Chris 12:13
Yeah, it really does. It is a problem to milk it’s in general your point at the point that I’ve thought about too is like the routine nature of the GNC shopper like they’re a very routinized crew.
Anne 12:21
Very
Chris 12:21
they live their lives by the hour by the minute very much focused on what’s going into their body particularly but but I mean not not for me and I like it a lot too. It was one of those like, huh I never thought about this before but it makes sense for GNC right like it just it hits you over the face like that you know but the question for me as well that I would add the little wrinkle I’d add to it but kind of an one is especially with all the news around Blue Apron and Walmart recently is why isn’t A Milk company gone out and set it a white label meal solutions like this for multiple grocers right like like maybe they maybe one has we just haven’t heard about it but I kind of doubt it but it seems like a smart way to get economies of scale without trying to dine your short as a brand and what is likely as we’ve seen a very tough business to stand alone
Anne 13:05
Right
Chris 13:06
Within
Anne 13:06
Right
Chris 13:07
Like why hasn’t that happened? I just I don’t I don’t understand it seems like a smart move. It seems like whoever this What is it real kits
Anne 13:13
Real eats
Chris 13:13
Real eats Excuse me? Sorry. Sorry for that mistake. It seems like it seems like it’s just just seems like a natural no brainer.
Anne 13:19
Well I think that the thing that people are trying to do or we’ve seen grocers like what Kroger was trying to do is trying to bring in like the local angle to this which is as we found out is very hard to scale which is you know why I think GNC is going with a company like this that it’s not it’s not like day of meals it’s all pre Suvi you put the Suvi each item is in its own packet and you boil it you Suvi it like yeah don’t microwave it unless you absolutely have to
Chris 13:47
fan this up yeah you’re right and then we’ve also seen the ghost kitchen area which we almost talked about this week Walmart opening up the ghost kitchen down in Plano, Texas, which is another kind of variation on this theme, but Anne it’s getting hot in here. Do we turn on the air conditioner? I feel like Nelly it’s getting hot in here. It’s hot I’m hot. But let’s keep on rolling because these headlines are gonna get hotter as we go along
Anne 14:08
Is that that was a lot of work for a transition I hope everybody appreciates that. According to headline number three according to a Simon press release the mall owner is back in the news because they are releasing a new capability they’re calling what else but Simon search
Chris 14:25
love that name. Love it.
Anne 14:26
Oh, it’s trademarked so you can’t do anything with that. I love I love that the trademark had to be put behind that.
Chris 14:32
Sorry wait before you read that before you read the details. Do you remember the game as a kid Simon says the little like
Anne 14:37
Yeah obviously that’s what they tried.
Chris 14:39
Oh, did you remember that? Like game? Did you ever play it?
Anne 14:41
Oh yeah, they still have it.
Chris 14:43
Were you good at it.
Anne 14:44
Um, I could get through a few rounds, but I kind of got bored with it after a while.
Chris 14:48
I honestly don’t think I’ve ever played it. I totally remember but I’ve never played it.
Anne 14:52
Really?
Chris 14:52
No. I don’t think I have
Anne 14:53
Yeah, my kids have one i i got rid of it though because it made too much noise. You know how I feel about noisy toys. Chris, Simon search. gives shoppers the ability to research in stock products available at participating retailers located within a Simon property. It’s available to shoppers through the Simon app property websites and the interactive directories that are located at all Simon properties nationwide. The participating retailers that are involved in this so far include Errol postal Anthropologie, Athleta, Banana Republic gap J. Crew, JC Penney and Old Navy. The initial version of the platform Chris is being tested at 29 Simon retail centres across the US with the generic broader rollout plan for later this year. But Chris
Chris 15:38
Yes, Anne, I’m still trying to get over the I hate noisy toys comment, but yes, please
Anne 15:41
Why? Who loves noisy toy?
Chris 15:43
Nobody, I guess.
Anne 15:45
Oh, yeah. No, you put the tape over the sound speaker thing you got to do a
Chris 15:49
Like firetruck that keeps going like
Anne 15:50
I know. And like two o’clock in the morning, when you’re sleeping. You’re like, Oh, my God, there’s a demon in the house. Okay, so Chris. Most importantly, this is the question that a&m has chosen to use to put you on the spot. So Chris, and answering the question about Simon search.
Chris 16:08
Yes.
Anne 16:09
Aiden wants to know, they say we admire Simon’s ability and willingness to promise real time in store inventory, based on the customer’s typical shopping journey, is the search capability as relevant for mall apparel as for a category like, say, grocery? And when do you think we’ll see that?
Chris 16:26
That’s a really good question. Um, yeah, 100%. It’s relevant. I mean, I think search is, is a necessary condition for any consistent ecommerce experience, whether you’re apparel, whether you’re grocery, I mean, I would say through the years, given the proliferation that we’ve seen in terms of where e Commerce has happened first, I could even make the argument that it’s probably even more useful in a place like apparel rather than grocery. I don’t know that for a fact. But I think one could make an argument on that. The question for me on this, though, is, is what will consumers do? Right? Like it’s, it’s a requirement for the experience, but can you get consumers to go to a malls website, to do this versus the individual brands himself? That’s, that’s the chasm that has to be crossed here. I think as we’ve talked about, we think it’s a smart move for malls to do, because it gives them a position in the minds of their consumers.
And if you can add to this, not just search capabilities, but by capabilities in the long run, like we’ve shown with the Mall of America and talked about ad nauseam with a deep mind to on this show. That makes your life a lot easier as a consumer because you can shop multiple retailers coordinate your pickup and delivery across those retailers for your given location in a mall, it’s hard to understand exactly what this is from the press releases, I tried to do a little bit more digging. It sounds like it’s definitely giving multiple retailers visibility on a website is essentially the intention, the degree to which you can purchase and see the inventory is still a question to me. The big question, too, is what is that? Those are a lot of big retailers.
Anne 17:53
Yes. Yes.
Chris 17:53
How thorough are those integrations? Like are we seeing are their order management connections? Right, pos connections? Like how deep is this time will tell as this continues to roll out? But it’s one of those things? Actually, I want to get out and try to try for our listeners if we can to see you know exactly how this is working at some point.
Anne 18:11
Yeah, I agree. I mean, this is only going to be as good and beneficial to the consumers as the number of retailers they have and and ultimately the quality of the data like Is it real time inventory? To answer a&m’s question? I would say yes, if you have a bricks and mortar business, anytime you can give inventory visibility to a consumer, it’s a good thing. It doesn’t matter what the the industry is.
Chris 18:34
It’s essential
Anne 18:35
Yeah, exactly. If I’m if you’re going to if I’m going to go to your mall or to your store, I want to know that the thing I’m going to get because otherwise I’ll just order it online. Like I need to know that the thing I’m going to get that day is there and that’s going to drive like we’ve talked about multiple times. That’s top of the funnel decision making that drives where I go and who I shop with.
Chris 18:55
Which Anne also brings up another point too, this is not just about search too, because the other important function is browse right people like to browse online the different options they have available to and that is actually more important in apparel, relatively speaking than it is in grocery and grocery you kind of know what you want you go and you hunt and peck it especially for those things that are the repeat items. Which is why grocery has been kind of a difficult thing to get off the ground but the Browse nature of this is still also important and they’re going after that too with this even though it’s classified and called branded Simon search. Important distinction, though.
Anne 19:26
Yeah, but I think that’s also important, Chris too when you’re thinking about who you’re getting on the platform the retailers are getting on the platform like right showed in the in the Mall of America debt mind video, like being able to search snow pants and being able to get 15 different retailers showing those results. that simulates the mall experience. That saves me time. That’s more convenient.
So I think that’s a really important thing to be thinking about here. And yes, it’s just early stages, but hopefully Simon will be able to get this on. And I think that the important most important point too is that they’ll be able to start Offering this and lease terms like not only anymore when you’re signing a deal with a mall or you just gonna get the four walls and some TI money to like in marketing shared marketing expenses but like being able to offer this as a service to your tenants is going to be huge for the future of the draw of big name retailers to malls
Chris 20:19
It’s a great point and I’m so glad we picked this story actually because we were debating whether or not to put it in I’m glad A&M pick the made the made it to put you on the spot question this week. But you’re right it’s about critical mass of retailers. That’s what’s going to make it successful. And these are this is the first time we’ve seen really big retailers at least from from what’s stated sign up to be a part of a programme like this because that’s what you need.
You don’t need to the local mom and pop shops nobody’s nobody’s going to spend a waste time to go to that interface for that they want to see the Lululemon as a JC Penney’s, the gaps and all that stuff and make their lives easier. All right on that front let’s talk about making our apparel shopping even easier and gotten them like Master of the Segway today. Just weeks after the first Amazon style store opening California Amazon announced a second Amazon style location that will open in the Easton Town Centre in Columbus, Ohio this coming fall. According to the noted Columbus Dispatch, shout out to the Columbus Dispatch pack. Yeah, the store will take over a vacant 26,000 square foot forever 21 space in the mall, which and if you stop and think about it is an ironic statement in and of itself. Taking over a space from Forever 21
Anne 21:24
Because it’s not forever.
Chris 21:25
Exactly. All right. It will feature men’s and women’s clothing and got
Anne 21:28
Thank God I am here to translate .
Chris 21:30
Along with long standing brands such as Calvin Klein, Lacoste, and Levi and some Amazon brands who will be in the store for the first time said Amazon. Anne do you think this is significant? Or are you Pooh poohing this? No doubt of the like countless others throughout the country probably are
Anne 21:45
okay, no, this is a tinfoil hat warning.
Chris 21:48
Oh oh, look out. Tinfoil hat rant.
Anne 21:48
It’s been a long time listeners. But I’m getting my head out because I think that Amazon style is going to be like Gremlins you just start getting them wet and then you start multiplying all over the place. Okay, Chris, I know you made a joke about forever 21. And how ironic it is. But how many of those are in malls across the country? Like vacant, vacant anchors
Chris 22:09
vacant spots
Anne 22:12
Yes, exactly. There’s a lot there’s a lot or better yet calls how many vacant calls will there be in the next several months
Chris 22:21
After they acquire, probably a lot more based on that place. But
Anne 22:24
And once Amazon gets into like one large anchor space in the mall, Chris, what’s to stop them from just taking a little bit more and a little bit more and a little bit more? Until they own the entire mall? And so I think this is a huge
Chris 22:40
Jesus okay I didn’t expect you got in that direction. Wow
Anne 22:42
Yes. I think that this is like we know
Chris 22:45
Domination
Anne 22:46
We know that Amazon style. You know, they this is just a test market for other things too. Like it’s yes, you’ve got the front facing like great. This is a new apparel shopping. I think we said it before, but we’ll see what that experience actually is like people like to shop at whatever. But the number one thing here is that Amazon instantly gets prime warehouse space that’s close to tonnes of rooftops, and a storefront in one building that they can do whatever the hell they want with. They can go beyond style. They can start doing grocery they can do what ever they want. And that’s what I think is at play here. So
Chris 23:21
Yeah, wow, okay. Yeah, tinfoil hat. Yeah, you know, it’s funny, I never thought about that. I mean, you went the extreme on this one your friend but like I never thought about like if wafers doing a home furnishing store. Why the hell can’t Amazon do it? And honestly, Amazon could probably do it better the wafer I think
Anne 23:34
Or the return, or just a return store. Like all the things that we’ve talked about for the last however many years
Chris 23:40
Oh, yeah, yeah. Right. I mean, yeah, they could do this with any category there. I mean, they’ve, you know, thrown around ideas and beauty over in London and stuff. But yeah, I mean, it’s not outside the realm of possibility.
Anne 23:49
Oh yeah, hair salon.
Chris 23:50
Yeah. Right. The hair salon. But I don’t think you’re I don’t think your tinfoil Hattie. At all. Because, I mean, I think this is a really, really important announcement. There’s now going to be two of these.
Anne 23:59
Yeah.
Chris 23:59
And the other thing I like about it, I love the audacity of this. Because one can make the argument that Columbus is actually the retail capitalist.
Anne 24:06
Oh, for sure.
Chris 24:07
Right?
Anne 24:08
This is a slap in the face. It’s like Elle brands. We’re incharge now.
Chris 24:13
Right so here’s Amazon’s saying after one store in LA we’re gonna now open our second store right in your backyard, which is what’s the other thing I love about this? It’s 2000 miles away.
Anne 24:20
Yeah,
Chris 24:21
No, most retailers are like, let’s pilot this in a market Anne let’s see how we can saturate the market
Anne 24:26
New York, LA yeah.
Chris 24:28
Amazon does this a smart way they piloted in two completely disparate locations. One is probably going to be really hard to make it work because you’re right in someone’s backyard, but if it works, then you know you got something and that is what I applaud about this. And gotta can’t wait to see it and so glad it’s in Columbus because that is a much quicker flight than LA.
Anne 24:46
True. Yes. You got it all out.
Chris 24:48
I did Anne. Well, I got it. I thought mine was paltry in comparison to your rant. Yeah, you’re not you didn’t really rant you kind of you kind of you know hypothesised about the future, right? You shut it down. At Notre DOM
Anne 25:00
With a tinfoil hat
Chris 25:01
Yeah with a tinfoil hat on. Alright, let’s finish the show.
Anne 25:04
Let’swrap it up. So headline number five according to Chang storage, Walmart has entered into an exclusive partnership with roku. The collaboration will enable customers to buy items with just one click on their Roku remote while streaming television programmes to purchase a product. Walmart product via Roku viewers just press OK on the remote when they see a shoppable ad and proceed to checkout with their payment details easily pre populated from Roku pay Roku is a payments platform. From there tapping OK on the Walmart checkout page quickly places the order and a Walmart purchase confirmation is then emailed with shipping return and support information. Chris, I know you are just like going to slobber all over this. I love it.
Chris 25:47
Howdo you know that I’m so okay. Yeah, you’re right.
Anne 25:49
I have teased it at the beginning. You’re like I’m gonna like it Anne’s not going to.
Chris 25:53
I told you we can’t talk about it yesterday, because I knew you’re gonna poopoo it but no, I love it. Anne I love it. And I will give you a little backstory here backstory to who I am, too. So when I was interviewing with Jason Goldberger to become the head of home furnishings for target.com.
Anne 26:07
Yes,
Chris 26:07
This was in 2013. I remember I said this to him. It was I’m roughly paraphrasing, but it was pretty close to this. I said, What excites me about this job is thinking about how the physical substrates of ecommerce will continue to evolve, even say on ones TV. super dorky, right? I’ve heard that it sounds super dorky, to say substrate to interview because it is.
Anne 26:28
Not for you. I mean, what was the word you tried to use earlier
Chris 26:31
It is but there’s a there’s a there there.
Anne 26:34
Okay
Chris 26:34
With this idea. And ultimately, it’s been hard to crack the code on it, because you’re talking about a user interfaces, a user interface, that’s to work across multiple hardware devices.
Anne 26:43
Yes.
Chris 26:44
And that’s the tricky part. And then you have to have the software inside of that to make it happen. But this is the best UI that I’ve heard of yet. To make this happen. You see a shoppable ad alongside potentially something you’re watching on television, you immediately click the button, Walmart has a huge assortment that allows you to sell a lot of goods this way. And you’re immediately it’s connected to one retailer. So you don’t have to worry about it, your payment details are already in in the system, boom, you’re done. If you want it, that seems pretty efficient. To me, it’s all low hanging fruit in terms of incremental volume that is just there to be had for whoever wants to do it. The cost to experiment with it is really low. And it’s probably really up to Roku and the Walmart development team to just make the user interface through the system that much better over time. So so I like it. I think it’s a smart move. It’s a hell of a lot better than drones, for example,
Anne 27:32
For sure.
Chris 27:32
You know, I think it immediately paid some dividends, whether they be small in the beginning or are larger in the long run. I don’t know. But this is a it’s a cool precursor to me.
Anne 27:41
Yeah, I think
Chris 27:42
Go ahead. Rain on my parade Anne
Anne 27:42
It’s showing math. Got mass, you got Walmart, you got roku. But okay, Amazon’s already been doing this. They have a much better interface with it. I mean, I shouldn’t say that. I don’t know because they haven’t used the Walmart one. But when you say shoppable ads popping up on the screen, I don’t I have negative conversation of how that works. Like if they’re coming up,
Chris 28:04
I want to shoot this.
Anne 28:04
Yeah, if they’re coming up on the screen in the middle of a show, I don’t like it prime is letting you pause the show. See things in the prime viewer just like you can see it with the like, who’s the actor? What’s the you know, what else have they been in like that? That view to me is much simpler. You have a larger category of category set of items, because it’s Amazon. And I think you have many more people that have already set up Amazon accounts or prime accounts who are you know, instantly connected? That’s all on one platform, one retailer one entertainment option.
So I think that and then YouTube’s been doing this too. And I think when you start to think about how YouTube can do this, and that, you know, I guess the question for me is, will the Walmart Roku checkout be as simple as it is for me to just go on my mobile device that I’m already holding while I’m watching the show to find that item? We’ll have more success with that. Right now. I think YouTube and Amazon beat that out.
Chris 29:00
I don’t know. See? I don’t know I think I kind of like it because and I think what I like about it is the ubiquity of we’re just doing this with one retailer that has a lot of products so then you just know real quick boom that’s where it’s coming from. You don’t even care as a consumer. That’s where it’s coming from. I’m getting it versus like having to go on your mobile phone go into another website, multiple retailers website to make it happen. That’s a different flow. So I think I think they’re onto something here which I think you know, makes us really unique. Do you have a Roku at home? Yeah, I do. Alright, sweet. We’re gonna have to try this out.
Anne 29:26
Yeah,
Chris 29:26
Give you guys a demo as well. Alright, Anne it’s still really hot in here. Let’s get let’s close this up.
Anne 29:32
Somebody’s like you’re having some hot flashes here, Chris.
Chris 29:35
I’m having male menopause.
Anne 29:36
Oh my god. All right, Chris. Amazon took over the opulent para Derro resort in Mexico and rebranded it as Amazon resort to host and recruit influencers and members of Amazon’s influencer programme for some reason we didn’t get an invite. I don’t know why. Okay, but Chris,
Chris 29:54
I think it’s in the mail.
Anne 29:58
You’re already hot in the recording studio. so they don’t want you to go to Mexico and overheat. Okay, let’s get on to it Chris What is your go to drink order at an all inclusive resort and how many drinks are required before getting your frosted tips to the foam party at Senor frog’s?
Chris 30:12
Oh zero like you can get me to the party senor frogs with basically no alcohol probably. But my go to resort trick and this one is for for Chad at A&M is the pina colada. It’s cool it’s sweet and it’s very refreshing. Alright Anne residents of rural Rockford California who apparently just found out that Amazon will soon begin testing a six foot by four foot Amazon drone over its over its flipped that will fly over its Ranches are threatening to use the drones as quote unquote target practice. Anne what’s your over under on how many get shot down within the first two weeks of tests under
Anne 30:45
I think that, okay,
Chris 30:46
But how many? How many they get shot down? Honestly, how many?
Anne 30:48
Oh, how many? Oh, I thought you were sending how many weeks? Okay, I would say we’re I’m talking like so many that Amazon has to like shut down the programme.
Chris 30:59
Really? You think so? I’m sitting over under at one, no at two. It’ll be at least one. And the question will be is it more than one?
Anne 31:06
It is more than
Chris 31:06
You think so? There’s gonna be some jackwagon that shoots it. And that is gonna get sued like crazy by Amazon.
Anne 31:11
Oh my God yeah.
Chris 31:12
You’re gonna come out but who knows. But yeah, and rightfully so because you’re destroying public property which we do not condone on this show.
Anne 31:18
No we do not.
Chris 31:18
We would love to talk about although
Anne 31:20
it’s a six foot four. It’s like a dining room table that’s like floating in the air. It’s like the mass you could shoot. I could shoott that down. Probably if I had to.
Chris 31:28
It’s crazy. All right Anne.
Anne 31:29
Okay. Chris Kellogg’s announced this week. They plan to separate into three companies to give more room for the growth of their snacks category and better support a struggling cereal category, Chris, which struggling Kellogg’s cereal should get the most support to stay on shelves.
Chris 31:45
The frosted flakes Anne, flakes, Frosted Flakes, Frosted Flakes,
Anne 31:51
Frosted Flakes.
Chris 31:52
Got the best of me. That’s the R and F in the art.
Anne 31:54
Yeah.
Chris 31:54
Frosted Flakes Anne because they’re great.
Anne 31:57
Great. You’re supposed to do great. Yeah.
Chris 32:02
All right Anne after 85 years, Kraft macaroni and cheese is getting a makeover that includes a new name and updated logo and a noodle smile. The Kraft Heinz Company said the product will now even be called Kraft mac and cheese as opposed to Kraft macaroni and cheese.
Anne 32:17
Oh
Chris 32:17
Anne my question for you is this to close the show. When was the last time you personally feed bagged an entire box of Kraft mac and cheese?
Anne 32:24
I mean that’s pretty easy to do. Which is embarrassing. I feel like that is like air going into your body like doesn’t
Chris 32:29
I can’t get you bag a whole bag a whole box anymore.
Anne 32:32
It’s been a while since I tried
Chris 32:35
When was the last time
Anne 32:36
Oh man I don’t know probably in college.
Chris 32:40
Oh it’s that long ago.
Anne 32:41
Yeah
Chris 32:42
Wow. Oh, I thought it’d be like oh you know you’re tired with the kids. You you whip up some mac and cheese. You say oh you know what? That sounds good. I’ll make another box for myself. They’re like 49 cents.
Anne 32:50
No, they had to remove the orange colouring because it was like bad you know so now it doesn’t taste as good.
Chris 32:57
Alright, that wraps up thank God this show. This was a blast. I’d have fun fun time today. Happy Birthday today to Zina Zina Dean’s a Dan. Hopefully I said that right. I think I did, Jason morass and the man who almost made cocktail worth watching Brian Brown. 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 to us and just for you and we try really hard to make it all fit within the preview pane of your inbox. Yes, we do. I spend countless hours every Thursday making that happen. 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.
Anne 33:46
The OMNI talk retail 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 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, 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. 