Hello Omni Talk Fans! The day has finally come, my friends. Denny’s cracks (pun very much intended) the Top 3.
In today’s Retail Daily Minute:
- Kroger and Instacart announce an expanded partnership with AI-powered Cart Assistant.
- Pinterest pilots visual-first AI shopping assistant for U.S. users, offering personalized product recommendations through natural language prompts and visual search.
- Denny’s Corp. agrees to $620 million all-cash acquisition by TriArtisan Capital, Treville Capital, and Yadav Enterprises, taking the 1,484-unit diner chain and Keke’s Breakfast Cafe private amid ongoing turnaround efforts.
Plus, a new Spotlight Podcast that gives you the inside scoop on Amazon’s social commerce strategy from the executives in charge of it and a quote from a movie about the birth of social media.
👇 Listen now
Today’s Top Headlines
1. Kroger and Instacart Expand AI-Enhanced Grocery Partnership
Kroger and Instacart expanded their partnership to enhance digital grocery shopping with greater efficiency, faster delivery, and new AI-powered “agentic shopping” experiences. Instacart remains Kroger’s primary fulfillment partner for nearly 2,700 stores, introducing the Cart Assistant to personalize meal planning, streamline orders, and improve convenience for millions of customers. (Read More)
2. Pinterest Rolls Out AI-Powered Shopping Assistant in Beta
Pinterest has launched Pinterest Assistant in beta, a visually focused AI tool that helps users shop and discover items through natural language prompts, drawing from personal and similar users’ content to offer tailored, personalized recommendations, acting as a “personal collaborator” for discovery and online shopping. (Read More)
3. Denny’s Goes Private Following $620 Million Investor Acquisition
Denny’s Corp. has been acquired by TriArtisan Capital Advisors, Treville Capital Group, and Yadav Enterprises for $620 million in an all-cash deal. Priced at $6.25 per share—a 52% premium—the transaction will take the company private, including its 1,484 Denny’s diners and 74 Keke’s Breakfast Café locations. (Read More)
4. Walmart CEO Warns AI Will Transform Every Job
Walmart CEO Doug McMillon warned that artificial intelligence will “change literally every job,” signaling major workplace transformation ahead. Despite this shift, Walmart expects its 2.1 million-strong global workforce to stay roughly the same over the next three years while the company retrains employees and adapts evolving roles to new AI-driven demands. (Read More)
5. Amazon and Whole Foods Introduce ShopBots to Expand Grocery Options
Amazon and Whole Foods are piloting “ShopBots” in a suburban Philadelphia store—robots that fetch items like Tide Pods and Pepsi for shoppers wanting more variety. The project aims to expand grocery options while preserving Whole Foods’s 45-year commitment to strict ingredient standards and maintaining its reputation for natural, quality products. (Read More)
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— Chris, Anne, and the entire Omni Talk team
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.