Anne 0:09
Hi, you’re 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. Today is August 11 2022. I’m your host, Anne Mezzenga.
Chris 0:30
And I’m Chris Walton.
Anne 0:31
And I for 1am back from Iceland and ready to discuss all the top headlines that made waves in the world of omni channel retailing. Not for just one week, but for the past two weeks. Chris, are you ready?
Chris 0:42
Yeah, I no, you were in Iceland man. That’s crazy. Like tell the audience Inquiring minds want to know. What’s it like?
Anne 0:48
I’m an unofficial spokesperson for the country of Iceland now.
Chris 0:52
Yeah
Anne 0:52
They don’t they didn’t ask me. They don’t want me. I’m gonna I just evangelise Iceland to every single person. You’ve had to hear more about it last week than you’d ever want to. But it was unbelievable.
Chris 1:03
Yeah, I mean, you sent me a text. It was like your text was, it’s magical. I’ll never forget that text, it’s magical.
Anne 1:08
It is, It was magical.
Chris 1:09
Maybe it was like Disneyland or something
Anne 1:11
It kind of felt like you were on the scene.
Chris 1:13
How many? Over and under? Because I actually should have put a poll out on this. And I didn’t, but over and under on how many hot springs pools you waited in on your trip?
Anne 1:23
Every day, at least one every day.
Chris 1:24
Like 10? Like how many
Anne 1:26
I don’t even know how many
Chris 1:27
It’s probably more than one every day.
Anne 1:28
Yeah, I mean, we were there for six days. I think we we were at one at least one every day. So I would say six is probably the number the total number was divided six or seven
Chris 1:39
Six separate hotsprings waiting experiences. That’s what that’s what that is magical.
Anne 1:45
It was magical.
Chris 1:47
Well I’m pretty jealous of you. I mean, you’ve been to London, Amsterdam, Germany, Madrid.
Anne 1:52
You’ve been with me in all these
Chris 1:54
I haven’t been to Iceland, but I’m jealous. But I’m excited though because we’re gonna get back on the tradeshow circuit here. We got grocery shop in September in Vegas, which is our favourite your favourite my favourite place to go Not your favourite place to go
Anne 2:05
No
Chris 2:06
We got NRF in January manifest in January.
Anne 2:09
Yes, I’m excited for manifest because you know why?
Chris 2:11
Why?
Anne 2:12
Last year they had ludicrous and I cannot wait to see who they get this year. I am pumped. And and I think we’ve learned more at that conference than we have like, in a very long time. It was just it was so eye opening,
Chris 2:26
Ya I know, for sure. I think it was like if I had if I had a an award to give out. I think it’d be newcomer trade show of the year without a doubt.
Anne 2:32
Right.
Chris 2:33
And good note here. We are actually officially the live stream MCs from the manifest show. We just got named that this week. Yeah, they asked us to do that again. If you’re interested to there’s a discount code for the show with a discount link really, that gives you $200 off your registration for the show. We’ll put that in the show notes for those of you that are interested, but join us at the end of January. It’s a really cool show. You learn a tonne about things especially in retail that you might not know that much about. Alright, Anne what today’s review what’s that review reading?
Anne 3:00
It’s review time once again.
Chris 3:02
My favourite time of the podcast, and this quite possibly is my favourite Apple podcast handle of all time. And that is Cork soaker. 11215 or I don’t know 11215 I have no idea 11,215 Cork soaker 11,215
Anne 3:20
Apparently Cork soaker is a popular name
Chris 3:23
That is really hard to say at a podcast if you’re not careful. Cork soaker?
Anne 3:27
Yes.
Chris 3:27
There’s one of the aforementioned cork soaker had to say and he said fine he or she I don’t know who cork circa.
Anne 3:33
No
Chris 3:34
That’s really hard. Five stars, the best podcast about modern retail I highly recommend which I think is an awesome review to come back to after two weeks of a hiatus.
Anne 3:44
Yeah, absolutely.
Chris 3:45
I love the modern part Anne.
Anne 3:47
Oh, we are it is very, very modern.
Chris 3:50
We’re very modern. There’s nothing old in what we do Anne except maybe my bones and the blood that flows through my body on it on a given week. But yes, thank you cork soaker 11,215, or 11215 or however you want to arrange those numerals.
Anne 4:05
Yes, and please join cork soaker and leave a review and pretty much with whatever corks soccer does I feel like that’s a good like lesson for life. But join cork soaker and leave us a review. If you’re listening on Apple podcast, heart the podcast if you’re on Spotify, Google Amazon music, but please follow and subscribe so that we can keep making this content possible for all of you. And we may just read it aloud one day for all of our listeners.
Chris 4:31
Yes, please leave us a review and one up cork soaker this week.
Anne 4:35
Not possible.
Chris 4:37
Are you ready to get to the Fast Five?
Anne 4:38
Yes.
Chris 4:39
All right. Yes, authoritatively.
Anne 4:41
Do it.
Chris 4:41
Alright, today’s Fast Five is brought to you with the help and support of our good friends at grocery shop. Are you a retailer or brand thinking about attending grocery shop this year? Well don’t even think about it without using our promo code specifically for our army talk listeners. Just go to grocery shop.com and enter promo code RBOT 1950. That’s RBOT 1950 for your special discounted rate. In today’s Fast Five we’ve got news on Walmart seeking a streaming partner for Walmart plus, Amazon launching same day delivery services for a bevvy of mall base retailers, Walmart again, for its new mini retail travel experiences. Seven elevens reported skip cart acquisition. But first we take off with a late breaking story out of Kohl’s yesterday that just had to lead the show Ane
Anne 5:28
Alright, Chris. That’s right. According to accompany press release, Kohl’s has launched what it is calling self pickup at all Kohl’s stores. So this is how it works. There’s a demo link in the press release. Step one, you place your order and you select in store pickup. You get an email from Kohl’s that says your order is ready. And once you received an email, you can head into your Kohl’s store. Click on the link to open the pickup pass
Chris 5:51
The pickup pass. Well, I didn’t catch that yesterday. That’s pretty funny actually, don’t you think? Like the marketing team should have a field day with that they won’t, but they should.
Anne 5:59
They should. Alright, step two. Once you arrive in the store and find the self pickup area, wherever it is in the giant Kohl’s box, you select Start pickup on your mobile phone. Step three, you enter the four digit code that’s listed on the self pickup station to find your order. And step four, you get the location VIN number of your order, which is displayed on your mobile device, you get your order from the bin and select complete my order. And then finally, we’re not done step five, you take your kohls.com order and you’re on your merry way.
Chris 6:31
Wow.
Anne 6:31
Yes, Chris, you had a couple of thoughts about this. Just a couple. Why don’t you share those with the audience?
Chris 6:38
Well, after that five step process, I think maybe I’m not going to do to do this justice. But I mean, after you read that I’m kind of lost already. And I can’t think of rolling something out with more points of failure. I don’t think it’s possible like
Anne 6:50
Yeah
Chris 6:50
This see this headline again to me, and it’s getting a lot of press today. It was like the first thing I read this morning when I woke up. This this headline just proves to me that Kohl’s leadership is absolutely lost at this point Anne, that’s my opinion here. And it’s not like lost like I took a wrong turn in a city I’ve never been in. It’s like lost in an in that I can’t find my way around my own house. That’s how I lost.
Anne 7:09
That’s bad.
Chris 7:09
Yeah, it’s bad it is. And the picture says 1000 words and kudos to you because you found a picture of what the pickup station in store looks like.
Anne 7:16
Yeah,
Chris 7:17
We’re gonna put that in the show notes too. Yeah. But it’s basically like, it’s basically shelving with cardboard bins.
Anne 7:23
Yeah
Chris 7:24
Like the equivalent of what you find in the backroom of most retailers. Right?
Anne 7:27
Right.
Chris 7:27
That is going to be such a disaster for a number of reasons. Like one. I question. One I the thing I don’t like but it’s a question how much this has really been tested during holiday peak time. Right?
Anne 7:37
Right.
Chris 7:37
We’ve heard nothing about this. They’re now rolling this out to all stores in time for the holidays. Self pickup, because you can do it yourself.
Anne 7:43
Yeah.
Chris 7:44
Second, the process incredibly confusing as you just read. I don’t know how they’re not gonna miss pics by customers. Right? Like, if everything’s just laying out for anyone to take, right? You could just accidentally take something that’s not yours. Third, don’t even get me talking about theft.
Anne 7:59
Yeah
Chris 7:59
Right. Like the theft seems like it’s gonna be rampid with this, which makes me question how much I’ve actually tested this. And then my last point, Anne that really pisses me off the hubris of the whole thing.
Anne 8:07
Well, why?
Chris 8:08
Why does kohl’s think they can go where no one else has dared and how they’re setting this up when you have companies that are far more omnichannel than Damn, like Zara, or you know, Home Depot, they’re using pickup blockers that work just as well and don’t come with nearly as many headaches so that that to me, just the whole thing is downright laughable. But what do you think am I being extreme? Or do you agree with me? I think you probably agree with me.
Anne 8:30
No, I think the important thing is like I want this to work for Kohl’s I was like, This is great. Like you’re figuring out self pickup help customers help themselves. This is like one of the cornerstones I think of modern convenience. But I am. I am I think with you, I unfortunately think this is just destined to fail because
Chris 8:48
Why?
Anne 8:49
Well, there I also love that like the analogue for this is like, well, it works for sweet green and fast casual restaurants like yeah, if I get the wrong Cobb salad, not a big deal. It’s like $15 loss. I think when you start thinking about major holiday purchases, and who like who this is saving the customers this is saving time for like, if I spent $100 on an air fryer and like it gets picked up by somebody else or I’m not there like are not there when I get there. Like that’s a big deal. That’s a huge investment. And so I think this is still going to be have to be heavily staffed. Like the only other place I’ve seen what we saw in that Kohl’s photo of how they’re doing this is at a Nordstrom store but they have like six people manning that station to like help pick like in this order. It’s not like left service component to it.
Totally it’s not left to the customers to try to like completely figure this out on their own. And I just I think you bring up a good point of like, look how everybody else is doing it. Like why not pick up lockers. You don’t have to especially like, if Kohl’s is going to roll this out to every store. Every locker company and their mother would be like, we’ll offer you a roll have discounted, like roll out to every cold store and you don’t have to do like 10,000 lockers with you like you could do a very small test with this and like scale up how many lockers you have to create a much better customer experience and set yourself up for success. I just I don’t know
Chris 10:18
I agree with you Anne isn’t isn’t the locker easier for the consumer too when you read through that thing to me like there’s all these steps where all I’ll do is get a QR code on my phone. I put it on the locker screen and the thing pops up man like magically again. Like we showed with Best Buy last year
Anne 10:31
Yeah and there’s one item in there not a whole box to sift through. I think it’s I just I’m I’m bummed holes. I’m sorry.
Chris 10:38
I mean, you know me, I’d be the one where it tells me to go to like locker or position two and I’m going to accidentally grab what’s in three. Like that’s just gonna happen. But anyway, all right, we keep moving on. So we’re both kind of negative on this Kohl’s story then you kind of came negative.
Anne 10:51
I wanted it to work for them. I liked the idea, but it’s just I’m scared about the execution.
Chris 10:57
Yeah, no, I mean, again, it just goes to a long list of things we brought up around Kohl’s. Alright, headline number two, Walmart is reportedly seeking a streaming partner to bolster its Walmart Plus subscription programme. Details are thin. But news of this headline broke in the New York Times last week after Business Insider also reported the week before that they obtained a leak memo, which claimed that Walmart is being quite aggressive to get its employees to sign up for Walmart plus, which it should be known is also free for them. Anne
Anne 11:24
Yes
Chris 11:25
That story cracks me up. According to times, Walmart recently met with executives from Disney, Comcast and Paramount about how streaming content might boost its Walmart Plus membership programme. It’s also unclear whether any of the streaming services plan to actually strike a deal with Walmart. Anne what’s your take?
Anne 11:43
I think if they can get this to work, I think it’s a win win for the streaming platforms and for Walmart like and the customers of Walmart. I mean, it’s great. It’s an added bonus. I think if though and this is the A major if they can get people to sign up, based on even the strong push they’re making to try to get their employees sign up for the service. Like they’re not even able to get their employees to sign up for the service with all the current benefits, like that’s going to be an issue. They’re not the only ones that are doing partnerships with streaming partners to try to get that that subscription. I mean, even with the current benefits, like you take a look at all the current benefits, you get free in home in fridge delivery, okay, you get 10 cents a gallon off of fuel,
Chris 12:24
Which is pretty massive, actually
Anne 12:26
Totally, you get a Spotify membership, you get scan and go in this Walmart stores. And that’s still not enough of an incentive for me to join Walmart plus.
Chris 12:37
Right it’s not know exactly, and it sounds like they’re employees too which is telling you
Anne 12:42
So so they I don’t know that like maybe Disney Plus subscription would be enough. But I think there’s still gonna have to be more.
Chris 12:50
So do you like this move? I’m curious. I want to ask you this. Do you like this move as a focus? Like should they even try to bring a streaming service on or do you think it’s gonna did you think that’s not even a big enough hook?
Anne 12:58
No, I do think so. I mean, I feel like they’re, they’re closely following the Amazon playbook. You know, like, we have video we have this. Like, they’re just kind of copying and pasting, which I still I think what you’ve said 100 times like I still think leveraging your your own Walmart assets, like what about it in your Walmart world is going to get people to join this programme. You can’t just copy and paste what Amazon is doing. Like, what about how do you bring Sam’s Club into this? How do you bring other entities into this? Like their your marketplace? Like what other things is can you uniquely offer as Walmart?
Chris 13:30
Well, that I love that you said that? Because that’s when I when I first read this store, I was like, Oh, that’s cool. It makes sense.
Anne 13:35
Yeah.
Chris 13:35
Then as I was thinking about it, preparing for the show, I was kind of like, I don’t think this is gonna work. Like I don’t, I don’t think it’s gonna make a difference, like so I get it as an idea. But like, it honestly wouldn’t make me pull the trigger on a Walmart Plus subscription, either when I already have Amazon Prime and can get Disney on my own.
Anne 13:53
Yeah.
Chris 13:53
Right. Like, why is that going to put me over the top to then get Walmart plus, it doesn’t?
Anne 13:57
Yeah.
Chris 13:58
And also and there’s another point about that, too, but I’ll say it again, like and you brought up a free Sam’s Club membership is much more enticed something like that is much more enticing
True.
Because that gives me something I wouldn’t consider on my own
Anne 14:09
Right
Chris 14:09
It gives me new access to something I wouldn’t otherwise try.
Anne 14:12
Right.
Chris 14:12
And that should be the like, intersection of the Venn diagram here and what you’re putting in this programme,
Anne 14:18
Yeah.
Chris 14:18
To make it enticing, not things that I’m going to do anyway.
Anne 14:21
Right.
Chris 14:21
Right, or that aren’t convincing for me. But the other point about it that I kind of alluded to is that’s interesting to me is like, my question is who leaked this story?
Anne 14:30
Yeah
Chris 14:30
Right. Because if it was Walmart, but then they wanted out there to build hype.
Anne 14:35
Yeah
Chris 14:35
You know, and then it also makes me actually wonder if it might have been the streaming services because if it was that’s good move for them on the negotiation side to get attacked to get a better deal from Walmart. Disney seems like the match made in heaven.
Anne 14:46
Yeah
Chris 14:46
But Disney just released their subscriber numbers they don’t need Walmart and if that if it’s going to be Disney, Walmart’s gonna pay through the two through the nose for this.
Anne 14:54
Yeah.
Chris 14:55
So I just don’t I don’t I don’t like that. This is where they’re focusing. I think net net is through that.
Anne 15:00
Yeah I think you have to have an exclusive deal to with Disney like you have to say Disney you can not offer your subscription as part of any if you have it because you think about Disney’s got their hands in every pot T Mobile like all your phone company like WalMart customers, they have all these other options to get the same thing. It’s still not enough of a push so like unless like right? Unless you can get an exclusive with Disney or something which your to your point you’re gonna pay up and
Chris 15:27
I can get exclusive Disney by myself for $10 a month.
Anne 15:30
You can, yeah
Chris 15:31
You know that’s true. It just doesn’t make sense. All right, let’s keep rolling.
Anne 15:34
Okay, headline number three, Amazon has launched same day delivery services for a number of popular retailers. Chris. According to retail dive Amazon is expanding its prime benefits and its services to other retailers with same day delivery for customers of packs on GNC super dry and diesel. And they plan to add to the top and 100% pure in the coming months. Prime members can now shop products from these retailers on the Amazon App and amazon.com. And they’ll have their purchases delivered to their doorstep.
As soon as that same day all with a click of a button. Right now the service is only available in select zip codes in 10 metro areas including Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Miami, Phoenix, Seattle, as well as Scottsdale, Arizona, Scottsdale and Washington DC and will also expand in the coming months. It’s limited to select items and it’s free to Prime members as long as they spend at least $25. And orders below $25 will only cost 299.
Chris 16:32
Yeah.
Anne 16:34
This is a big deal, Chris.
Chris 16:36
Yeah it is.
Anne 16:36
I think it is atleast
Chris 16:37
Yeah, I think it’s a big deal, too. I mean, the fact that you’ve got retailers signing up for it is makes it a big deal.
Anne 16:42
Yeah.
Chris 16:42
You know, by by default. I gotta tell you, though, it wouldn’t be the move I would make
Anne 16:46
really
Chris 16:47
No, I wouldn’t be and I thought really, these these topics this weekend, I probably thought more about my opinion on these than I then I have in a long time. Like some of them are pretty straightforward Week to week but this one like I went back and forth on a lot of a lot of these.
Anne 17:00
Well tell us about their back and forth. What happened in the mind of Chris Walton as you contemplated this story.
Chris 17:05
No, I mean, it wouldn’t, it wouldn’t be the move, I’d make the first call. Like, for example, the first calls I would make would be to people like shea Carr at American Eagle and his friend to me network, seeing if you can be a part of that.
Anne 17:14
Yeah
Chris 17:15
Or the front door collective as another potential outlet for you doing the same thing. There’s other ways to get at this. Versus like, basically signing up with Amazon, you know, because but I can see the appeal of doing it. This is where I was conflicted on this, like, you’re going on Amazon’s marketplace, it’s kind of a it’s kind of a cheat code, in a way
Anne 17:33
Yeah
Chris 17:33
To good omni channel website functionality. Because you don’t have to invest in all the capabilities that show you how these same day services can be delivered for your customer on your own website, which as we know, is very difficult to pull off.
Anne 17:45
Yeah.
Chris 17:46
But the downside is that you’re gonna you can expect your products now when you’re selling through that website to be aggressively priced against by third party sellers, because now they’re there and they know exactly how much to price them, you know, in competition against you. And so, net net, I don’t like where this is long term. And there’s other avenues to explore before you say okay, we’re going here.
Anne 18:04
Yeah. Okay. I, well, number one. I don’t know if I completely agree with that. Because this, first of all, this is a pretty damn compelling offer for your customers, especially, you know, for GNC for packs on legs. Basically, you’re saying, you get free delivery, same day, we’re gonna get this to you for free. Any of the items that you if you look on the Amazon site that catalogues all these items, like anything over $25, if you’re buying a pair of jeans, for sure, whatever, like you’re, you’re getting free delivery, same day when you need it. I think it’s a major curveball for DoorDash and Instacart, and others who are trying to bring these retailers into their world so that they can get that subscription revenue, because now people already have Amazon, what do I need DoorDash for now, if I can you know if these these benefits that they’re offering me of, it’s not just food, it’s now it’s all the RE its beauty, its home, its apparel, it’s all these other things? Well, if Amazon’s going to start doing this delivery, like I don’t need that DoorDash or Instacart subscription. So I think that, you know, your other point about you may have some competition from third party sellers. I don’t know if I agree with that. Because I look at like this product
Chris 19:16
The brand and stand up to it
Anne 19:17
Yeah, I do
Chris 19:18
On it’s own relative to the competition.
Anne 19:20
That the stuff on the site is not coming from the GNC in your own neighbourhood. It’s getting it’s coming from a third party who you maybe don’t know as well. You don’t have confidence. Like if this is the wrong product, if it’s expired, when I arrive at like all these things, you can’t bring into that store or go back and say like this, this I have a problem with it today. I need to fix it today. It becomes a larger problem. And I agree with you I’d be a little sceptical as a retailer partnering with Amazon, but I kind of think this is something that you just need to maybe experiment with.
Chris 19:52
So you think you look at as a test and experiment but you’re still developing other capabilities in the background?
Anne 19:56
Yeah, I just I think that you’re I think It’s something that you will see a lot of customer satisfaction from I think people are going to really appreciate that they’re getting free same day delivery because they can’t get that anywhere else. You you’re paying $10 for that from Amazon or from DoorDash sorry, or from Instacart or another company and final point not to beat a dead horse.
Chris 20:17
Yeah
Anne 20:18
but now that Amazon is doing fulfilment from all your local mall stores
Chris 20:21
Right
Anne 20:22
What’s stopping them from turning the entire mall now into the taking the anchor store in that mall and turning them into like a consolidation centre? or Amazon fulfilment centre? And or doing whatever the hell they want in that space? Now that they’re already shopping GE and they’re stopping at GNC they’re stopping at PAX on all these places.
Chris 20:40
Oh, yeah, that’s definitely a real long term play. If Amazon style you know, has any legs to stand on here as it gets going. Like that’s, you know, they’re definitely got to be something they’re thinking about. Yeah, I don’t know. I just I feel like it’s I just feel like once you put that needle in your arm of selling on Amazon, it’s going to be really hard for people to take it out. And it’s going to ultimately potentially be your downfall too because then Amazon has your first party data you’re in a more competitive situation with third party sellers which there’s plenty of brands out there that will tell you they hate the third party sellers right alongside them
Anne 21:10
Yeah
Chris 21:10
Right like like the was the lollipop conversation that was in the news recently to like, so I don’t know I just I just wouldn’t be going down this road right now. I don’t think the situation is that dire or the need for that type of delivery that quickly is that dire.
Anne 21:27
I think that’s a valid question.
Chris 21:29
You need to link up with Amazon for this.
Anne 21:31
Yeah, I agree.
Chris 21:32
Sure the top Why do I need my cookware today?
Anne 21:35
Well, maybe a gift.
Chris 21:38
I deliver a gift I don’t know. I don’t
Anne 21:41
No like I’m going to a party today and like I want to order like a gift from Scylla Tabata and you want to bring it to a party that night.
Chris 21:48
I don’t think there’s that many cookware emergencies. But anyway, all right, let’s keep rolling. Walmart is launching many experiences for travel according to Axios, which is I think the first Axios mentioned in the history of this show.
Anne 22:00
I don’t know
Chris 22:00
I I don’t know either, but it is fascinating for me to think about. Walmart is embarking on a mini retail journey with health and wellness hospitality company getaway to add small general stores at select travel outposts across the country. Walmart said that it will open the first general store by Walmart in August at getaway Hill Country in Wimberley, Texas, located near Austin and San Antonio getaway for those unfamiliar is a network of modern cabin retreats and says it will have 28 quote unquote outposts by the end of the year. The stores are approximately 75 square feet holy crap that small. And after the first store in Texas opens there are plans open for more general store locations through the end of the year. Those plan locations include get away matching Buddhists and Buddhists Connecticut hope I said that right get away Big Bear and running springs California.
Getaway Western Catskills in Roscoe, New York and get away Ozark highlands in Osceola, Missouri. Missoura. And, yes, you want me to include this story this week when you first talked to me about is like no way we’re talking about this, but enlighten our audience with your thoughts, because I thought it was I thought you brought up some really, really interesting points here.
Anne 23:08
Well, I mostly have questions about this. Like, there’s a lot of questions that came to mind here. Because after reading the story, like I feel like this is great for getaway and Walmart, it just I’m like, why? What are you doing here? What’s the Why are you focusing resources on this partnership? Like I’m all for partnerships for big retailers and thinking about how to like get down to the local level. But this really leaves me mystified.
Chris 23:34
But didn’t just didn’t Walmart just laid off people too?
Anne 23:37
Yes, like 200 people
Chris 23:39
and they’re focusing on Yeah, right. That’s great point.
Anne 23:41
Um, so my question is, the biggest question for me is Walmart, you have Amazon coming in, they already have 40 Fresh stores right now, in the US, they’re breathing down your neck, they’re offering just walk out technology, and you are not even experimenting with a small format cashierless store of your own right? Like, if I’m going to the if I’m Walmart, I should be thinking about what kind of efforts I can focus on creating my own small format stores. How can I get Walmart into more places? And how can I leverage technology to make those experiences hyper convenient, and then figure out how to roll those out to my my stores to like, get go against Amazon and the impending doom that I feel like they’re going to be facing? And then second, what’s the pricing strategy here?
Like you’re you’re now talking about a camp store, a tiny general store? That’s 75 square feet, like is there any like brand love for Walmart in these places? That’s going to justify like putting the Walmart name on that and is it going to be is it going to be low price? Is it going to fill the Walmart promise and
Chris 24:50
75 square feet?
Anne 24:51
Yeah, exactly. Like you’re gonna have to You’re, I mean, a camp store, they up charge everything smores to you know, right. You got to have the product there. So is it going to fulfil the Walmart promise in here? I don’t know, I just have so many questions, especially the selection in these areas like Walmart, you could build a small format store of your own in the same places to still serve that audience. But then you could be like, redefining what kind of categories you sell there. And unlike using technology to modify the store, based on what you are finding people need in that area. I just would have done it this way of don’t understand, Chris.
Chris 25:28
Okay, so net net you don’t like this?
Anne 25:31
I just don’t understand.
Chris 25:33
But you also don’t like it right?
Anne 25:35
I’m not a fan. I would not put if I was at Walmart, I would not be putting resources towards,
Chris 25:39
So would you tell Doug McMillon to kill it?
Anne 25:41
Yeah, I would say, Doug, let’s look at the budget for this. And I think I would, I would recreate a strategy here.
Chris 25:48
So you just laid off. I think it was like 150 200 people and you’d be like, Why are you keeping people on this project?
Anne 25:54
Exactly. Yeah
Chris 25:55
Laying off people. 100% you would? Yeah. 100% you would and everyone listening should know that and realise that and everyone at Walmart I feel for you, especially if you’re laid off because they’re focusing on this it’s total BS. It is absolute BS. And I’m so glad you brought this story up to me and put it the way you did because it is actually downright insane. It is downright insane. Your point about 40 Amazon Fresh stores using just walk out technology really brought it home to me. It’s like it’s just a pure waste of time like and by the way don’t most of these markets already have like Walmart’s to like,
Anne 26:27
Well, that’s an excellent point.
Chris 26:28
When I go up north to travel to travel outposts, you know, in Minnesota like that’s when I shop at Walmart right? That’s where that’s how Walmart grew to be what it is today.
Anne 26:37
Exactly.
Chris 26:37
I don’t get this.
Anne 26:38
Yeah, it’s that you don’t have the convenience, I guess of like being able to walk up the trail and go to the camp store. But But I mean, I think your point is exactly right. Like if you need some of this stuff, odds are, especially with a limited selection of products, you’re probably going to need to go to the Walmart that’s in town or 20 miles away or whatever.
Chris 26:56
I have no idea because I don’t know exactly where these are. But I have to ask that question. Is it skills nationally? Right, there’s probably a Walmart near San Antonio in Texas, I gotta think
Anne 27:05
Yeah.
Chris 27:05
But so I mean, Doug, if you’re listening, probably not. But if you are, kill this idea, invest in computer vision in some real tangible Walmart way. Enough said in our opinion.
Anne 27:18
All right, let’s go to the last headline, Chris. According to the information 7-Eleven has reportedly acquired skip cart, a white label delivery startup providing same day and on demand delivery. Restaurant dive is also reporting that no terms or conditions of the deal have been clarified, and neither company will respond to requests for comment as of press time. But according to the report, Chris, the deal will allow 7-Eleven to compete directly with DoorDash, which 7-Eleven has partnered with since 2015. And also go puff.
Chris 27:48
Yeah.
Anne 27:49
We had to include this one. What What are your thoughts on it?
Chris 27:53
I think, you know, honestly, I actually I think this is interesting. I think it’s more of a defense against go puff than anything about the DoorDash things that are going out.
Anne 28:02
Okay.
Chris 28:02
Media. Yeah. Because, you know, the beauty of it to me is like 7-Eleven has what go puff and the other delivery guys don’t which is warehouses and those warehouses are called stores.
Anne 28:12
Right
Chris 28:12
So getting them to work against this potential threat is is really important. Now, the crux the issue to me, though, is does crowdsource delivery, which is what skip cart specialises in work in the instant delivery game or in the ultra fast
Anne 28:24
right
Chris 28:24
go puff would tell you it does not. But I think effectively the jury’s still out on that because the game is so new.
Anne 28:30
Yes.
Chris 28:30
And you know, when you bring in an element of like 7-Eleven, and all its stores and where they’re located that could change the game, potentially. So so I don’t know. But time will tell. I think it’s interesting to watch. I asked, I emailed the CEO yesterday, Ben Jones about this, of Skipcart to see if you can give me any until he couldn’t. But if he’s listening, hopefully he’ll at some point, he’ll give us some retort to our commentary here. But But and this also happens to be in for loyal army talk listeners, they’ll notice that we did not ask the a&m put you on the spot question yet.
Anne 28:58
Okay.
Chris 28:59
And so this happens to be where I’m going to put you on the spot.
Anne 29:03
All right,
Chris 29:03
So here’s this week’s question from an a&m. Okay. 7-Eleven’s acquisition of skip cart is exciting. They’re excited by it. Wow. But could potentially turn their current delivery partners ie DoorDash and UberEATS into competitors. Once up and running. Do you see 7-Eleven Having a 100% self delivered model via skip cart, or more of an ecosystem approach that still includes its current partners? That’s a really good question.
Anne 29:27
Yeah. So I don’t I don’t know that there’s this is an either or situation.
Chris 29:31
Okay,
Anne 29:32
I think that it’s still important for 7-Eleven to maintain the relationships with these delivery partners until they get things up and running. And I think we saw something very similar happened with target back before they acquired ship like they were testing with Instacart they were testing with other delivery providers. And they made the decision like once they acquired ship to pretty much go exclusively with ship from that point on so I think that there’s a potential that they do at a&m is talking about that they go in this direction, but I think The important thing to think about right now is that like 7-Eleven is just has to think about, look, this is a land grab right now, as you said, we have tonnes of stores, we already have all these locations, we need to think about where our customers are gonna go first, when they need convenience items, and how do we create a platform that that executes on that that best supports them.
The other thing you have to consider with 7-Eleven is that you’re you have tons and tons of franchisees. And so we’ve seen 7-Eleven In the past, build their own tech in house to fulfil like scan to do scan and go in stores, because they have to be in control of how that gets communicated how that experience remains consistent among 1000s of these, these franchisees. And so I think that, will we see 7-Eleven eventually go the way of yes, they they acquire this company they take on their own delivery? I think so. And that’s just because of kind of maintaining control and maintaining that consistency throughout. But I don’t know if you if you agree with that, or
Chris 30:59
Yeah, I think I agree with you for though I think I agree with you 100%. I mean, I think like, it’s not a mutually exclusive question, right? Like, I think you’ll probably see them move more of their business away from the other providers all the time. Like that just seems to make sense, like as a proportion. But I also think the other thing that’s important too, is like it depends what you’re using each of them for like the delivery game is so varied at this point, you’ve got ultra fast, you got 30 minute you got same day you got next day, all that kind of stuff.
Anne 31:25
Good point
Chris 31:26
To see the world is like this myopic like, it’s this or that I think kind of misses the point of the discussion. Right, you know, and so I would, I would imagine that everyone’s going to be feeling their way through this. Yeah, I
Anne 31:37
think you’re I think you’re right to seven elevens smart and how they do this, they’re going to want to make sure, you know, to my earlier point that they can get their stuff to the customers exactly the way that they need to in each geography and if that means still partnering with some of these third parties, I think they’re still going to have to but, Chris, we’ve done it. Are you ready to go to the lightning round?
Chris 31:58
Yes, I am.
Anne 31:59
Okay. All right, Chris. Question number one, Amazon bought iRobot this week, the maker of the Roomba you have this was an important story and wanted to cover it because of the insight that Amazon might now be able to access about the size of your home, where you supposedly spend time based on how dirty your floors are etc.
Chris 32:19
Yes.
Anne 32:19
What would you what do you think that your Roomba would transmit to Amazon about you, Chris Walton,
Chris 32:26
if Roomba had the capabilities to do anything that I’m ultimately dreaming of it? Like I think it would find out that Cheez-its are very loved in my family by what’s on the floor. I would get served up so many goddamn ads for cheese-its from Amazon, till the cows come home and my life would be better in my wife, my life would absolutely be better because my cheez-it habit across the Walton household would be funded at a much lower discounted rate.
Anne 32:50
Yeah I don’t know about that.
Chris 32:51
Yeah, I think it’s great. All right, Anne recent tweet highlighting the George Jetson was actually believe it or not, guys, George Jetson was born on July 31 2022 that tweet went viral. And my question to you is what is the one jetsonian perk you would like to see in your lifetime
Anne 33:05
oh, I want to pick two
Chris 33:07
Really?
Anne 33:07
Flying cars 100% and 3d printed dinners probably I would say 3d printed dinners first
Chris 33:14
100% down on flying cars. I don’t want to fly a car you know how many people get hurt if I flew a car?
Anne 33:19
Yes, I will. Hopefully they’re self flying cars and you don’t
Chris 33:23
self flying cars?
Anne 33:24
Yeah, I don’t think we want you in charge of flying although they did still have traffic when they Jetsons itself okay, so I’m gonna say I want to go back to 3d printed dinners I want to sit at my table and like punch in something.
Chris 33:36
I can get on board with that.
Anne 33:37
Alright, Chris. Which of the following is the name of an actual dollar store in the UK Chris?
Chris 33:44
Yes?
Anne 33:44
Pound for pound, bring it on pound or pound town
Chris 33:51
All those are hilarious by the way. Unfortunately I’m gonna I’m gonna say that actually know the answer this it’s pound town Anne pound town. Is the name of the UK dollar
Anne 34:02
All of our all of our listeners in the UK Phil Thorne.
Chris 34:06
We Feel we feel for you
Anne 34:07
All over banks why Sophie how have you not told us about pound town
Chris 34:12
Next time i’m in London I’m going to pound town Anne. I am definitely going to pound town. Alright. Last question. Bed Bath and Beyond is discontinuing its recently introduced wild sage private label line. What other brand names do you think were left off Or left on I should say the cutting room floor when whoever decided to go with wild sage?
Anne 34:33
Perhaps Mary Jane for Bed Bath and Beyond. Or perhaps the grass we pass
Chris 34:40
The grass we pass. Let’s look great. I love that. All right. Well, that wraps us up today. Thanks for sticking with us Happy Birthday today to Chris Hemsworth. And a gun and the one man my mom would Google verbally out loud during Saturday night’s main event when I was a kid, Hulk Hogan Hogan she was like into him pretty big time. Yeah. Remember that was kind of weird. 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 we try really hard to make it all fit within the preview pane of your inbox. You can sign up today at www dot Omni talk dot blog. Thanks as always for listening in. Please remember to like and leave us a review wherever you happen. Listen to your podcasts or on YouTube. Remember also to use your promo code RBOT 1950 To register for grocery shop that’s RBOT 1950 and of course as always Be careful out there.
Anne 35:38
The Omni talk Fast Five is a Microsoft sponsored podcast Microsoft Cloud for retail connects your customers, your people and your data across the shopper journey, delivering personalised experiences and operational excellence 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 take off. 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 that 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 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. 