🕔 Fast Five | Target’s ChatGPT Gamble, Kroger’s $2.6B Pivot & Gap’s Viral Comeback

Hello Omni Talk Fans! This week’s Fast Five podcast is LOADED with retail drama, and I’m not just talking about Target’s ChatGPT integration (though we’ll get to that).

Our latest episode is a veritable Thanksgiving week feast of retail earnings, automation headlines, and unexpected comebacks.

Here’s a taste of what you’ll get in this week’s podcast:

• Our retail earnings roundup — Target’s sales were so bad, their 4-year stack is now NEGATIVE, while Walmart, TJX, Ross, and even Abercrombie blew the doors off. What the heck happened to the bullseye? Anne thinks these results were to be expected, while I am not so sure.
• Target’s ChatGPT shopping integration — I tried it myself and, sadly, it’s exactly what you’d expect from a company in crisis mode: launching two days before Thanksgiving with a half-baked experience that puts an app inside another app. Is this innovation or desperation? (Spoiler: Anne and I REALLY disagree on this one!)
• Kroger’s $2.6 billion automation write down — They’re shutting down three automated fulfillment centers and pivoting to in-store fulfillment.
• Gap’s viral comeback — A 7% comp increase thanks to Katseye’s ‘Milkshake’ denim ad. Has Richard Dickson finally turned the ship around, or is flashy marketing still masking deeper issues?
• Bath & Body Works on Amazon — They’re launching on Amazon to fight $60-80M in gray market sales. Anne loves giving customers options; I think they should wait for LLM search dominance instead.

There’s all that, plus AWS’s Daniele Stroppa announces our November Retail Tech Startup of the Month, and a lightning round that includes my Thanksgiving food rankings and why you can never have too much gravy.

Listen to This Week’s Fast Five Podcast

Be careful out there,

— Chris, Anne, and the entire Omni Talk team

P.S. How do astronomers organize a Thanksgiving day celebration?

They planet.