Chris and Anne are back with another fast-moving episode of Omni Talk Retail Fast Five. In this week’s episode, A&M’s Ken Cochran and Jon Malankar joined Chris and Anne to discuss the retail stories shaping early 2026. From Amazon pulling back on bold grocery experiments to Walmart escalating the marketplace wars and BJ’s rethinking the club format, this episode is packed with insight, brought to you by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Ocampo Capital, Infios, Quorso and Veloq:
• 00:05:10 – Amazon Shuts Down Palm Payments & Fresh Stores
• 00:12:18 – Grocery Ecommerce Hits 19% Penetration
• 00:24:50 – Walmart Launches Cross-Border Marketplace Shipping
• 00:31:26 – eBay Bans AI Shopping Bots
• 00:39:26 – BJ’s Wholesale Tests Small-Format Stores
• 00:46:18 – Lightning Round: Olympic Fits, Cracker Barrel Rules & Kelly Clarkson
Tap in for sharp debate and real-world perspective from the frontlines of retail.
Be careful out there,
– Chris, Anne, and the Omni Talk team
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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.