00:00:09 Chris
I’m not impressed by this at all. This should have been done a long time ago.
00:00:13 Kathryn
Listen, Chris, I think you’re being a little harsh. Could advertisers come in, bid and force their way into the answer?
00:00:21 Chris
It’s going to hit the grocers on multiple fronts. It’s going to hurt your number of trips to the grocery store and it’s going to hurt your basket size.
00:00:27 Kathryn
I’m a working mom. I’m Ubering two kids around. I think I’m going to have to stick with listening to my audiobooks inside my car.
00:00:35 Chris
People already listening this are going to be like, oh my God, when can she come back? Because she’s telling Chris how she feels. This is great. Hello and welcome to the Omni Talk Retail Fast Five. Retail media, retail media. Retail media. Friends, like Fletch used to say, it’s all ball bearings these days. Well, the same could definitely be said for retail media. It’s all retail media these days. This week’s headlines took on a decided retail media and advertising ban. So I said to myself, who? Who in my Rolodex is best equipped to help me make sense of it all? And so I asked Hy-Vee’s former Chief Marketing Officer and President of Red Media, and now Barrow’s newly crowned Chief Growth Officer, Katherine Mazza, to help me sort through it all. You’re going to want to hear what Catherine had to say right after we hear from all our wonderful sponsors who make this podcast possible each and every week. This episode of the Omni Talk Retail Fast Five is brought to you by 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 Miracle, the catalyst of commerce. Over 450 retailers are opening new revenue streams with marketplaces, dropship and retail media. And succeeding with Miracle, you can unlock more products, more partners and more profits without the heavy lifting. So what’s holding you back? Visit Miracle.com to learn more. That’s M I R A K L.com and Corso. Your stores are full of data, but are your teams acting on it? Corso turns retail data into personalised daily to dos that drive sales, reduce waste and improve execution. No fluff, just action.
Help your managers focus on what matters most. Visit corso.com to see Intelligent management in motion and Ocampo Capital Ocampo Capital is a venture capital firm founded by retail executives with the aim of helping early stage consumer businesses succeed through investment and operational support. Learn more@ocampo capital.com and finally, Volok Veloc is a proven e grocery technology built by grocers for grocers. Exactly the type of technology we like here at Omnitalk. They unite proprietary software with right size automation to make same day delivery profitable. To learn more visit volock.com that’s V E L O q.com Catherine Maza how the heck are you? We actually made this happen. I’m so excited.
00:03:11 Kathryn
I know, I’m so excited as well, Chris. I’ve been pumped about this all week. I’m doing, doing well. I’m doing well. Nice to see you.
00:03:18 Chris
Yes, yes. How? Like where are you? Where, where You’ve got this really strange picture of you. For those watching the video in your background, it’s like half of a man’s face. Where are you right now?
00:03:29 Kathryn
Yeah, so, well, I’m in a little cubby right now in Tampa, Florida. So I came down to Tampa for three days to meet with my new wonderful US based Barrows team. So really excited. But as far as where I reside right now, I am still in Iowa.
00:03:42 Chris
In Iowa. All right. My home state of Iowa. That’s great. All right. Well, for those that don’t know you, we’ve interviewed you a couple times on omnitalk, mostly at conferences as part of our conference coverage. So I’m sure there’s some listeners who definitely know who you are and definitely know of you by reputation and your previous and your career. But tell our audience a little about a little bit about yourself and all that you’ve done.
00:04:03 Kathryn
Yeah, thanks, Chris. So, I mean, I am a retailer through and through. I’ve worked in retail on the inside of retail for about 22 years. The majority of my career was spent at my beloved Dick’s sporting goods. Almost 19 years I was there and led various areas in marketing, but then spent the last part of my career there. All things media. We were one of the early movers in retail media. We launched Dick’s media Network in 2022 and then I also oversaw all of the enterprise media from there. What would a career in retail media be if you didn’t go spend time with your CPG brands? So from there I went and worked for a super regional grocer, Hy Vee in Iowa and was there for a couple years leading their retail media efforts and then was the chief marketing Officer.
00:04:52 Chris
Wow. And so, and so now. And so now you, you’re. Now you’re working for Barrows. Tell us about Barrows. What is Barrows?
00:04:59 Kathryn
Yeah. So Barrows Connected Store has actually been around for close to 20 years and they are, in my, in my modest opinion, they are best in class when you think about in store retail media and really taking the customer journey and reaching them in a very customised, curated way. So what Barrows Connected Store does, it helps retailers transform their store environments into connected media networks. So it’s not just about going in and putting high quantities of screens in stores, it’s about being very customised curated, very nicely aligned with the merchandise. And then on top of that, it’s built on a technology platform that acts as a CMS store server, an ad server, and then performance and analytics as well.
00:05:47 Chris
Wow. Yeah. So, so you, you are, I mean, you’re going to be humble, I know, because I know you want to, but you are an expert on retail media. Like you, you are definitively an expert on retail media, are you not?
00:05:58 Kathryn
I’ve been in the weeds of retail media for, for quite a long time. Specifically, you know, the last few years, you know, this Chris, we’ve talked about, I’ve been all in on in store retail media. I’ve been saying for four years, it is coming. The store journey is not going anywhere and now’s my time to make it shine.
00:06:18 Chris
Yeah, that’s what I love about you actually, because you know, you have the retail media experience from the digital side, but also you are an evangelist, a proponent of getting it to work in store. And you and I have had a number of conversations on this podcast and even more conversations via LinkedIn of like, hey, what do you think about this? Like, particularly in store audio comes to mind for me. You and I have talked about, ad nauseam about that. I know you’re a big proponent of that as well.
00:06:42 Kathryn
Yes, for sure.
00:06:44 Chris
All right, well, Catherine, without further ado, I think we should get ready, get to this week’s headlines. Are you ready to join me on your first maiden Fast Five voyage?
00:06:53 Kathryn
I am so excited. Let’s do it.
00:06:56 Chris
All right. I have no idea. We’re just gonna keep the minds open, agree and expand and see where this one goes today. All right, and this week’s Fast 5, we’ve got news on targets two brand new creator programmes, Dollar General as a normal person might say, unifying its on site and off site retail media ad inventory for the very first time. Can’t wait to get your opinion on that. One audible opening a bookless bookstore. Yes, you heard that right. A bookstore with absolutely no books. Yeah, go figure. In New York City, an Amazon pharmacy making same day delivery of the Ozempic pill available to nearly 3,000 cities across the country. But we begin today with what could be a seismic shift in how retailers advertise. OpenAI has officially launched its ChatGPT ads manager. OpenAI has essentially launched a beta self serve ChatGPT ads manager, expanded its ad pilot to five new countries and introduced cost per click bidding and new measurement tools signalling its full throated ambition.
Nice use of the word full throated there. Whoever put my notes together. Full throated. Full throated ambition to become a major advertising platform that directly competes with Google and Meta. According to marketing Dive, ChatGPT’s ad pilot, which began in February of 2026 is now expanding to the UK, Mexico, Japan, Brazil and South Korea. And OpenAI expects to generate two and a half billion dollars in ad revenue in just this year alone. Two and a half billion dollars? Catherine, that’s insane. With longer term ambitions of 100 billion by 2030, with the new ads manager, advertisers can set budgets, upload ads, launch and manage campaigns and view performance all through a single self serve portal. And OpenAI is also introducing cost per click bidding, joining existing CPM based buying so brands can align their spend more directly with the consumer actions that follow an ad impression. Catherine, I can think of no better person to start off today’s show with, especially around this headline because as a former chief marketing officer and a veritable retail media guru, I have to ask you what advice you have for retail executives attempting to navigate through the news of ChatGPT going full on into advertising.
00:09:09 Kathryn
Yeah, well, I mean Chris, who did not see this coming, I’m surprised it took this long. Right?
00:09:15 Chris
Are you? Yeah.
00:09:16 Kathryn
Platform wanting to now get in the business of being a publisher of ads in reaping that high margin revenue. Right. It’s, it’s a no brainer. You know what’s interesting is I was actually on Chat GPT the other day looking up some things around process and Six Sigma and I got fed a couple of these new ads and I will say that, you know, they’re in pilot mode right now, so the inventory is limited, but it was not particularly intrusive to me. It’s contextual based so it was something that was related to what I was looking up.
So it seems like they, they have an engine working at least appropriately from my point of view. If, if I’m Google, I’M definitely watching this, you know, closely and thinking about what our defence is. And I have no doubt that Google is. And they, you know, they have, they have their plans in place, but a lot of people are spending time on these platforms, right? I have a 13 and a 15 year old, they don’t even use the term Googling, right? It’s just all chat GPT for them. My advice for executives is this, you know, I don’t think there’s any doubt, there’s no doubt about it. People are spending time on this platform and it is an opportunity. That being said, it is in pilot mode.
I have heard that CPMs are a bit inflated compared to Google and Meta. Now I think that will normalise once inventory raises on the platform and it starts to get its algorithm going and comes down to market rates. But it is pricey at the moment. My thought is, you know, as a Chief Marketing officer, I always had, you know, a test and learn budget, a kitty of money for exactly this type of thing. I would certainly dip my toe in the water and start getting used to the platform and seeing what the results are.
00:11:03 Chris
So, Kevin, let me ask you, do you think this is, do you think this is like that revolutionary or is it just more like an evolution of, of search? Because for, for me, like the way, the way I. My thoughts on this, and this is why I led with you with this headline for you particularly because you’re the expert far more than I am on this. It seems like we as retailers have been down this road before in terms of like understanding, like search engine optimization and paid search via Google. And so but now it’s just like a slight pivot towards doing it or understanding how to do it in chat GPT. The way I’d equate it to it is like, you know, I might know how to dribble with my right hand, but I may not know how to go left. And so I could be a better basketball player by learning how to go left. And I think the same thing goes here, but it just seems like something that is close to what we know how to do, at least right now in this first wave. And so to your point, it’s about jumping in, getting experience with it and understanding where it’s going to go in terms of, you know, how a retail executive on average should think about it. Do you agree with that?
00:12:01 Kathryn
I. I would agree. Like Chris, when I think about search, I think about two different buckets of search. I think about Google SEM search search, high intent. You’re searching something you Get a result. If you’re on a brand’s website, you know, and you search something, there’s the banner ads that come up that should be relevant. I think that is comparable to this. And then there’s the search as far as sponsored product ads when you’re in the grid and brands paying to come up closer to the grid. So my, I think my, I won’t call it a concern. I’m just trying to understand, I understand the banner ads portion of this right now. But could advertisers come in, bid and actually force their way into the answer that chat delivers to the consumer? And could it actually hurt the integrity of the results that are being served? And could there be some bias that comes into it? That, that would be my concern.
00:12:56 Chris
Right. And that’s, and that’s the hunch that anthropic and cloud are playing. Right. They’re thinking that that actually might happen and they’re trying to market themselves in that way. So let me ask you this then before we move on. Would this, if. So you said you, you said you’d like have a reserve budget to do this type of experimentation on the consumer facing side of AI. Is this where you would be devoting the bulk of that budget or would you be thinking that there’s some other realm that you’d also be exploring or would this be where you’re going first and foremost?
00:13:26 Kathryn
I think this is where I would be going, yeah.
00:13:29 Chris
Yeah, I think so too.
00:13:31 Kathryn
It’s search that somebody’s going in, they’re searching something with the high intent. So it’s, it’s a performance digital tactic.
00:13:39 Chris
Right? Yeah. So and by that, but, and by that, like when I think about the things I could be investing in technologically, like, you know, like agentic checkout as an example, I’d be looking at this and understanding this fully. And you agree it sounds like.
00:13:51 Kathryn
Yeah, because I think, I think it’s ready, I think it’s ready for you to start testing and start using it. You know the agentic checkout. I think yes, you should be looking into that, but I just don’t think it’s there for like the immediate need. I think it’s surely coming, but this is where I would start for sure.
00:14:08 Chris
Yeah. 100%. 100%. Okay. Yeah. So we’re pretty aligned so far on headline number one. I’m wondering if that’s going to change with headline number two.
00:14:15 Kathryn
Possibly. Okay. Headline number two. Chris. Target has launched two new creator programmes. Club Target, a gamified experience for emerging and mid sized creators on TikTok and Instagram and Target Ambassadors powered by LTK influencer shopping platform for established partner creators According to Chainstore Age, Target is the most followed big box retailer on TikTok and nearly 75% of US consumers have purchased a product because of creator content. That is according to the Target’s own data club. Target is designed for emerging and mid sized creators and features weekly Instagram and TikTok challenges, tools and tips in a multi tiered reward structure including Target gift cards, features on Targets owned and social channels and commission opportunities.
Thousands of creators have already been participating in Club Target pilot with plans to scale over time. Now Target Ambassadors Powered by LTK officially launched May 1 and is designed for established influencer partners, giving them an integrated experience inside the LTK platform to create and publish original content, track performance and access expanded commission rates and deeper brand access. Target Chief Digital and Revenue Officer Sarah Travis called social commerce one of the biggest shifts in retail in a generation and said flatly, target is built for this. Chris, what are your thoughts on Target’s new social media creator programmes?
00:15:47 Chris
Oh man, oh man, I don’t want to do this, Captain. I don’t want to do this. I feel like I’ve been on the nice train lauding Target as of late and I’ve seen a lot of people, you know, kind of fawning over this announcement on social media and I got to tell you, I 100% disagree with them. I’m not, I’m not impressed by this at all and I really wanted to be when I thought about it and read it, but I’m not. And you know the reason I say that, and I’m going to go on a little bit of rant here in true style, but to come out, to come out in the press release first, Katherine, and say that social commerce is one of the biggest shifts in retail in a generation. That to me is, is downright ridiculous because it’s like, yeah, no, no, no, duh, like that’s, of course it is, but that shift happened like 10 years ago.
So to come out and take credit for it now in your strategy is just purely silly to me. When you step back from it and it asks the question of like, this should have been done a long time ago. It’s table stakes for any large retailer at this point and Target is actually late on it. But where the rubber is going to read the road is that the actual digital platform experience has to work for the creators. LTK is a great experience, but Target, you’re paying them unnecessary commissions and it takes the customer off Target site. LTK is who ultimately wins here, not Target. So in essence, Target has set up a me too scheme where they’re just prostituting themselves out to creators via LTK the way anyone can. So the problem with that is it costs that creators as well are fickle.
They’re fickle as they come. I know this for a fact. And they’re gonna go wherever they can convert more. They’re gonna go to Walmart, Amazon, to your old stomping ground, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Ulta Beauty, Sephora. Because this isn’t merchandising. This is just basically saying like, hey, there’s creators out there, let’s just allow them to sell our stuff. And the devil is in the details. So I think Net. Net. And as I get to the end of the rant here, Catherine, I think Target would have been better off investing and creating in something entirely unique that captures the brand love of Target rather than doing what is essentially at the end of the day, a me too strategy. But I don’t know, what do you think? Am I being too harsh? Do I have some good points? What do you think? Catherine, you are the expert here.
00:18:04 Kathryn
Yeah. So listen, Chris, I think you’re being a little harsh.
00:18:09 Chris
Okay?
00:18:10 Kathryn
I think you’re being a little harsh. But listen, Target, you read everything in the public about Target right now. And their new CEO and their leadership team, they are openly stating that we got to get this train back on the tracks. Yeah, right. And between this initiative. But then how they’re investing in AI, My favourite thing is what they’re thinking about reimagining the historic scale experience. They understand that they owe the shareholders and their, their consumers answers on what they are doing. So listen, I think, I think that they’re trying to get their Target back.
I think they know that their, their Target customer spends a lot of time on these platforms and they need to start rebuilding that relationship. I would certainly be one of those Target consumers. Right. And I remember, you know, my daughter’s 13. Eight years ago, I would be checking out at Target and I would say, gosh darn it, Target, you did it to me again. $300, Right. And I just came in for a bag for a birthday present. Right. And so they got to reconnect with the people like me. And I think, you know, well, maybe they’re late to the game. Okay. I’m more concerned about seeing how the creative comes to life. I think content is king and I think until we see the content and the way this comes to Life. We won’t truly know if this is differentiated versus what other retailers have been doing, you know, for. For close to a decade. So, listen, I am. I’m a huge believer in Target. I think they’re going down the right path. I think you’re being a little harsh. I mean, listen, there’s. There’s retailers out there that are still doing print advertising, Chris.
00:19:56 Chris
Oh, I know.
00:19:57 Kathryn
Yeah, right, right. I mean, that, that, that went up that ship sell two decades ago. So I think you’re being a little harsh.
00:20:07 Chris
Okay, okay. People are already, People already listening. This are gonna be like, oh, my God, when she could. When could she come back? Because she’s. She’s telling Chris how she feels. This is great. This is great. But so I take a couple things from you, and this is why we have these conversations, to understand where we’re right, where we’re wrong. It’s, it’s. The purpose of the show is to debate and discuss. And so what I take from you is like, you know, maybe getting the table stakes is good. That’s what I’m hearing from you, Catherine, is like, there are some table stakes strategies that just might be smart to do as Target right now.
And I think I can get behind that, you know, if that’s what you’re saying. And then the other point too, that I want to highlight is because what I’m hearing you when you say, you know, I used to go into Target and I’d come in for one thing and I’d come out with something else, which is always a storey. You hear. It comes down to great product and great merchandising and only things that you can find at Target. And that’s what you have to do first and foremost to activate this creator strategy. So the creator strategy is one thing for table stakes, if we agree on that. But you’ve got to be able to activate it with great product and great merchandising as a Target brand. And that’s something that I think we’re still all waiting to see. The revival of that hasn’t quite come yet. You’re shaking your head. Yes. Now. Now we’re sufficiently in agreement.
00:21:18 Kathryn
Oh, yes, yes. I think, you know, that. That in store experience. I’m thrilled that they’re clearly focusing on it and I think, you know, mark your calendar next year. Let’s come back and see. See what. What we’ve seen and see if we fill any of the. The Target mojo coming back.
00:21:34 Chris
Yeah, right, right, right. Yeah. And no one wants to see it more than I do. I will say that first and foremost. All right, headline number three. Dollar General in partnership with Trade Desk and retail media infrastructure provider Kevl has announced a first of its kind solution that unifies its on site and off site ad inventory process, allowing brand advertisers to plan, activate and measure campaigns across the full consumer journey inside a single connected framework. For the very first time, according to Chainstore Age, DG Media network advertisers can execute full funnel strategies spanning connected tv, digital audio and on site retail, display and video, all with consistent reporting and measurement in one place.
Testing with managed service Campaigns begins in June 2026 with the full integration expected to be available to Mutual clients in Q3 of this year. All right Catherine, this is also the put you on the spot question from the A and M consumer and retail group. I was hoping they would ask you they would use this headline to put you on the spot this week and it turns out that they did. So Catherine, as someone who ran a retail media network, what makes this unified approach that Dollar General is touting so hard to execute? And do you believe this is a game changing unlock?
00:22:47 Kathryn
This is exciting to me Chris. You know Dollar General Network has been all over the news the last couple of weeks. I think it’s exciting. There’s a couple of things top of mind for me. One is every network out there right now knows that they have to go get the incremental brand or national marketing dollars, the trade dollar shopper marketing dollars. They’re tapped out. If you go any deeper, the retailer itself could start losing leverage of cost of goods. So they know that there’s another bucket of money out there. That being said, if you’re going to get those dollars you have to have a full funnel offering.
And I think it is brilliant tying in the off site, higher in the funnel with the on site. Now what I’m even more excited about is the in store. Go figure that, right? With their, their new partnership with Cusic, who you know, we are strategic partners with them at Pharaoh’s Connected Store. Huge fan of Cusack. And so knowing that they’re able to take off site, on site and in store and connect it, what that’s going to do is it’s going to make it a lot easier now for media buyers and for hold code companies to go in and run campaign. I think the fact that it’s all going to be unified through the media buying, through trafficking and through the reporting is great.
Once it’s unlocked for self serve for these brands and these media agencies, I think it’s going to be an absolute game changer. Is this difficult to do? You know, I’m a retail media expert. I have never claimed to be an expert on the tech side. I know enough to make myself dangerous. That being said, I do know there’s a lot of piping that had to be done behind the scenes on this to get the trade desk, you know, piped in with Kevl and then the brand’s first party data to build the audiences and then in store and the acoustic platform, there was certainly a lot of different architecture work that had to be done. So I’m excited to see the results after they start running water through those pipes and seeing how. How the performance looks.
00:24:49 Chris
So, Kevin, I’m curious, is there anything that you know, say, say, you know, if you were to sit atop the chairs of which you sat previously in your career back heading up retail media, is there anything that would be on your rate that you would want to keep on your radar screen Monday morning to make sure that this was working correctly? Like what would be your kind of dials you’d be watching, so to speak, to make sure that everything was on the rails with this type of initiative?
00:25:11 Kathryn
Yeah, I would. I’d be telling my team to go in and double cheque the campaigns, make sure they’re live cheque the pacing of the campaigns, make sure you’re delivering on the CPMs that you promised the advertiser. I would be then doing a revenue cheque to make sure that the attribution is connecting between purchases online and purchases in store. I’d be double checking that the creative came to life across all these different platforms in a unified way. So those are some of the things that I would be telling my team to go in and just make sure as we’re in this pilot, because now is the time something will break. It always does during a pilot. So now’s the time to catch these things.
00:25:51 Chris
So good. So good. Okay, so let me ask you another question and this is something I was thinking about in preparation. Like, you know, retail media, I think, I feel like we talk about retail media in a vacuum like that. It’s applicable the same way to every retailer, but all retailers margin structures are different and particularly dollar generals is different too. When you have a different margin structure of your business, does that impact your retail media strategy in any certain way? How do you think about that question, Katherine?
00:26:22 Kathryn
Yes and no. So I think, you know, the network that I was part of launching for Dick’s Sporting Goods could not have been structurally different than the network that I did for a grocery retailer. And I do think, you know, with grocery margins. Right. We all know that they are much more compressed than specialty retail. I do think that, you know, when you build your network out, you do want to really make sure that you can focus on high margin ad products, which would be anything on your owned and operated platforms before you go off site. And I think Dollar General has done a really great job at that. They’ve had a solid on site platform. They’ve had solid sponsored product ads. They’re now starting to go in store and they’re poised with their national scale and the size of their audience, they’re poised to go get these national brand dollars. But this is why now I think they’re starting to be more efficient and going off site as well.
00:27:20 Chris
Wow. And does the price points that you offer impact anything as well in addition.
00:27:24 Kathryn
To the underlying margin price points on what?
00:27:29 Chris
On the products that you’re advertising via the media network?
00:27:34 Kathryn
I think it could, I think like really lower priced products probably tend to do better on site with something like sponsored product ads. You know, if you’re at specialty retail and you’re doing, I don’t know, a campaign for a new 800 set of golf clubs and it’s a new launch and you’re going awareness, you know, I think that’s something you could do really well on CTV or social media and something higher up in the funnel. So I do think the price of the item certainly could, could change your strategy.
00:28:06 Chris
Okay, all right, good. These are questions I’ve always had, but I’ve never had the chance to ask them of anyone live as we’re talking. So thank you for. Thank you for answering them, Chris. Yeah, that’s right. That’s one of the things you’re here for. And to put me in my place too. I think that’s the other thing that we’re discovering too. All right, let’s keep rolling.
00:28:23 Kathryn
Okay. Headline number four. This one was extremely interesting to me.
00:28:27 Chris
Yeah.
00:28:28 Kathryn
Audible has opened Audible Storyhouse in New York City. A first of its kind physical space described as the world’s first book list bookstore, featuring over 300 audiobook titles accessible through the tactile storytelles. Six distinct listening spaces, including a Dolby Atmos Lounge, a listening bar staffed by storytenders, live author panels and events throughout May, and a pop up Cafe. The 6,000ft space at 260 Bowery in downtown Manhattan opened on May 1 and runs through May 31.
Wednesdays through Sundays, 11am through 7pm it’s free and open to the public. Instead of browsing bookshelves, visitors explore audiobooks through physical storey tiles, tactile representations of individual titles that can be taken to listening stations for out loud playback or tapped on the smartphone to stream directly through the audible app. Audible CEO Bob Kerrigan announced the company is expanding to 11 new international markets. The company positioned Storyhouse as arriving at a cultural inflection point where audio storytelling is the fastest growing format in publishing. Chris, are you buying or selling the idea of Audible’s book list bookstore?
00:29:48 Chris
Oh, wow. Wow. Oh God. I have no idea which way you’re gonna go on this too. And you send me your note for those who want to know how the sausage made you send me your notes ahead of time. And I deliberately did not look at them because I didn’t want to know which way you’re going to roll out these storeys. But you know, it was so funny because when I first read about the concept, Catherine, I was selling this about as hard as a Fabio dime store paperback. That’s how I put this. I was like, not in on this at all. But then as I started thinking about it for today’s show, I think I’m actually on the buy side of this because number one, there’s a lot of reasons too. Number one, it’s clearly a pop up test, so it’s only in operation for one month. So it’s a pop up. So that’s, you gotta, you gotta take that into account. Number two, I’m actually really curious to see the results because bookstores exist.
Like, to me, the reason a physical bookstore exists is from people walking in and randomly buying a book. So why? I mean, because, like, it’s virtually cheaper to do it via Amazon. It really is. And so if they’re still existing and Barnes and Noble is doing really well, that’s what they’re capitalising on. And so in this case, you don’t need the inventory, the margin structure is different. So why couldn’t that same phenomenon happen with an audiobook? And as in number three, my third point I’d make is as an avid reader, I’m loathe to try audiobooks. I’ve never tried one, I have no interest in doing one. But would I cheque this out and see how it works? Yeah, maybe because, you know, in the right setting, with the right content, say a souped up version of Harry Potter or something like that, with movie quality sound effects in the background. Yeah, maybe that captivates me. Maybe I could see myself walking out with a new audiobook so, so yeah, I guess what I’m saying, Catherine, at the end of the day, sign me up for that audio Fabio fantasy novel. That’s what I’m thinking here. I’m, I, I think I’m, I think I’m on board with this. What about you?
00:31:33 Kathryn
All right, well, Chris, you better get on the plane. You got two weeks to get there then.
00:31:36 Chris
I know, right? I know I can’t get to New York in time. I know.
00:31:39 Kathryn
It’s your walks, your Chris walks through to the book, to the audio, the Booklist bookstore. Right, okay, Chris, this is one of those things. I have to see it to believe it. I mean, I could definitely see a younger crowd with maybe some more free time enjoying something like this if it was an incredible experiential environment. I think there has to be a social element to it. Me personally, I’m a working mom. I’m ubering two kids around. I think I’m gonna have to stick with listening to my audiobooks right inside my car.
00:32:16 Chris
Right, right. Yeah, yeah. I mean, this, at the end of the day, this could just be a branding exercise to see how many people it can get into. Audible too, whether or not you leave the store without purchasing anything too in the right markets. But you know, I, I’m reminded of this anecdote to my, my, I, I go to Orange Theatre a lot. I’ve talked about on the show and my trainer’s an avid book reader. We share books with each other all the time. And she, and she likes to read and she was telling me she’s reading this book Red Rising, which she got on audio, and she actually does them both simultaneously to get the movie style sound effects in there too. So there’s also this whole new wave of how you read that I think this is merchandising or potentially capitalising on as well. So I don’t know. Catherine, does that, does that, does that change your mind at all?
00:33:01 Kathryn
It does, it does. If it’s more experiential, you know, I would be open to it. But I’m gonna want to see how this pop up test goes, see the results. Maybe, you know, some of those influencers can go on LTK or go on Tick Tock and show me some videos of how this comes to life and then, and then I, maybe I’ll, maybe I’ll buy it. But it’s a pop up test. It’s one month, no harm, no foul. And if nothing else, it’s surely an interesting news piece because here we are talking about it.
00:33:35 Chris
Yeah, right, yeah. Right. That reminds me of another. I’ve always wanted to start an Instagram account of just people watching people read books, like, just like pictures of people reading books, you know, so that’s, that’s hilarious. All right, well, let’s close it out. We got headline number five here. This one’s a big one, everybody. Probably, probably the biggest one of late, honestly, probably even bigger than headline one. Well, I don’t know. Headline number one was pretty sizable, but headline number five, Amazon pharmacy is now offering same day delivery of the Ozempic pill and only FDA. The only, excuse me, the only FDA approved oral GLP1 medication to treat type 2 diabetes. And they’re offering it to nearly 3,000 cities and towns with plans to expand to nearly 4, 4,500 cities by year end and will soon dispense the medication within minutes through licenced pharmacist supported kiosks as well at select one medical locations immediately following patient appointments, according to an Amazon press release via Business Wire.
With insurance pricing for this will start as low as $25 per month. For cash pay customers, pricing begins at $149 per month with manufactured sponsored savings offers applied automatically before checkout. A1 Medical subscription, which costs $199 per year, is not required to book an appointment and use the kiosk either. This expansion builds on Amazon’s $4 billion plus investment last year in delivery infrastructure aimed at tripling its Delivery options in 2026, with particular focus on small towns and rural areas. Catherine, does the advent of GLP1 medication make Amazon more or less of a threat in the pharmacy business? That’s my first question. And second, if you are a grocer that uses a pharmacy to drive traffic, how scared should you be by same day Ozempic pill delivery from Amazon?
00:35:25 Kathryn
Yeah, I think both, I think grocery and standalone pharmacies are certainly, you know, they were already, I mean there’s already been a lot of news about Amazon and their, their pharmacy offering and delivery and how convenient it is. And I think, you know, if you go in to a grocery store and you’re shopping and you’re getting your prescription, okay, but if you’re going somewhere just to get a prescription, it can be a pain in the butt sometimes. So I think this is huge, Chris. I mean, last I last I saw There was like 1 in 8Americans that are on GLP1s and the ones that aren’t, there’s a large chunk of people that just can’t afford it. You know, the shots at one point were like thousands. I think now, you know, you can get different coupons and stuff.
They might be like 300, $400, but the cost of these pills is going to be more than 50% less than that. So there is a whole nother consumer, you know, coming into this, this business here. And I also think the fact that they can get these now from these kiosks and they don’t have to see a doctor and they can see it like in their more privacy, there’s not that stigma about them getting it. I think a lot of people are going to come out of the woodwork now and want to leverage this. So I think, you know, pair this new offering with the beloved Amazon same day delivery. I think this is going to be huge. I can’t think of another retailer, I mean outside of Walmart, I can’t think of anybody else that’s going to be able to compete with us.
00:36:56 Chris
I 100% agree. I think this is really, this is really, this is really big news. My flippant response, if I want to be flippant, which I sometimes like to be, my flippant response to this headline was like, well, Amazon doesn’t need a grocery strategy because if they win this RX battle, people are just going to stop eating food. They’re not going to eat as much. So groceries going to be a dying business. Why does Amazon need to focus on it like they have? But you know, if I get serious about it, my answer, my answer to the questions I ask you is very similar. I think, I think for sure it makes Amazon a bigger threat in pharmacy. Just the rise of GLP1s in general is a huge gift to Amazon because it gives people a reason to try out a new pharmacy service and to convert their prescriptions over.
Because timing of deliveries is key for pharmacy delivery. And that’s what still prevents people from wanting to jump into it. But Amazon has the faith of the consumer and the reputation that they will deliver on time. So that’s number one. And then to the second question I asked you. I think I would be, I think I’d be really scared if I were a grocery because now it gives Amazon an angle into adding that add on food purchase into your pharmacy order, which is the game they’ve been playing as of late, you know, as well, like just yesterday they did the 30 minute or less delivery announcement too. So and as the other point you have to think about here too, Catherine, is the full grocery store stock up trip. You know, for the average consumer there’s gonna be less and less of those, because people aren’t gonna be eating as much. Right. And so it’s gonna hit the groceries on multiple fronts. It’s gonna hit you in terms of RX usage, in terms of the traffic that’s coming into your store.
If you happen to have a pharmacy in your grocery store, it’s going to hurt your number of trips just in general to the grocery store and it’s going to hurt your basket size. So this helps me, when I step back from this, it also helps me to understand why companies like Albertsons particularly have made efforts to deliver RX through curbside pickup of late. It’s to thwart this coming. And so that’s. Those are the type of announcements. It sounds like you’re very similar. Those are the types of announcements that I’m going to be keeping my eye on. Because you’re right, there are very few people outside of Walmart that on a national scale can compete with this. And, you know, and it’s not going to help Walgreens and CVS one bit either, because they depend on that. On that traffic to those items at the price points at which they carry them too.
00:39:11 Kathryn
Right, right. Yeah. So, I mean, I think with, I think with everything that people are already getting from Amazon, you can add this in. The convenience, the, the buying power that Amazon has to keep the prices down on this type of drug. I think we’ll have to see what happens. But this is going to bring a whole new segment of customers into the GLP1 market. So it’s, it’s going to be interesting. You know, there already has been an impact out there in grocery retail because of GLP1s. You know, I mean, now people are buying more, you know, protein and more health and wellness types of goods. But I think, I think we’ll be able to see probably six months to a year after this rolls out.
00:39:55 Chris
Yeah. Yeah, 100%. 100%. All right, well, let’s close. This has been a great show. Let’s close it out. Let’s go to the lightning round. My first question for you is this was a great one. A canine named Nitro. Yes, that’s real, folks. A canine named Nitro at the Philadelphia International Airport alerted officers to more than $44,000 in unreported cash after flagging. After flagging, I should say, not flaggling, flagging. A traveller preparing to board an international flight to Mexico. Catherine, I am curious and I’m curious what you’re going to tell me here. What is the most contraband thing you have ever tried to Sneak through security.
00:40:32 Kathryn
Yeah. This is one of my fondest but yet scariest memories of travelling for business. So I had a vendor, and this was pretty recent too. This was maybe a year and a half ago. I had a vendor give me a miniature solo stove. And so it was kind of like a miniature, like, fondue kit. Slash, okay s’. Mores. And so it’s this cute little miniature solo stove grill. The gel, like, compartment that goes in the middle, that’s the fuel and the little fondue sticks. So I’m going through security and then sure enough, then my bag’s held up and they’re like, hey, can somebody tell me whose carry on is this? I go, it’s mine. They go, you’re gonna have to come over here. And I didn’t get to go to the area where you go if you just have water in your bag.
I went to, like, the head of security and they said, listen, you know, our cameras or whatever picked up something that is, you know, metal. It’s circular. There seems to be maybe some type of fuel in the centre of it, and there’s something sharp. And I’m like, well, when you tee it up like that, yeah, this is a problem. And clearly I was not thinking this through. So they took it out. They realised it was a miniature solo stove. The little gel fuel thing, the sticks for the fondue or marshmallows, and they took it away.
00:41:48 Chris
They took it away. You couldn’t cheque it or anything. They’re just like, you’re out. It’s done.
00:41:53 Kathryn
Like it’s gone. Yeah.
00:41:55 Chris
They said. They said so long to the Sterno and the solo stove. They’re. They’re like, it’s over. Oh, my God, that’s great.
00:42:01 Kathryn
We’re gonna stick with the airline topic.
00:42:04 Chris
Okay.
00:42:04 Kathryn
You travel a lot. We all get stuck next to some interesting folks or see some interesting things while spending time at the airport. What is the craziest thing you have ever witnessed a fellow passenger doing?
00:42:17 Chris
Oh, my God. I’ve seen a lot of crazy things, one of which is which. One of which I’m not going to tell because this is a family show. But I’ve got a really good thing that happened to me recently in London. I was walking through the main terminal at Heathrow and you know those water bottle things where, you know, you fill up your water bottle? There was a woman there who was using that as a drinking fountain. Like, she had her face pressed up against, like, up against the thing to trigger it and using it as a drinking fountain, which is why to this day, I refuse to refill my water bottle in an airport because I guarantee you, she has 10,000 people. If she is doing it, so are 10,000 other people. So that’s, that’s my storey, Catherine.
00:42:59 Kathryn
Yeah, yeah, that, that’s certainly. That’s an interesting one. I guess you, you see it all. You think that, like, okay, we’re moving away from water fountains that were historically gross. Now those are ruined too. For you, Chris.
00:43:10 Chris
Yeah, right. And probably many people listening to this show are now like, oh, God, that’s so gross. I’m never refilling my water bottle again. Imagine, imagine if you like the humour of the show. That’s probably. You’re probably like, yeah, that’s me. All right, next one. Hy Vee is located in the place of birth. Of place of my birth, Des Moines, Iowa. Catherine, what is the one thing about Des Moines that would surprise most folks to learn or that also surprised you upon being there?
00:43:36 Kathryn
Yeah. So, you know, coming from spending my entire life on the east coast, when I told people I was moving to Iowa and west of Des Moines, you know, they just said, oh, it’s all cornfields. And I will say, yes, there are cornfields. But this area is growing and booming like you would not believe. Just the commerce coming in, all of the restaurants and shopping, residential housing is going up everywhere. There is, there is something going on where people are, either they were from the Midwest and now they’re coming back, or people from the coast are coming to Midwest for a different lifestyle. But the area is, is growing and, you know, and there’s parts like, it’s quite bougie. There’s some really expensive houses going up.
00:44:23 Chris
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I kind of think of Des Moines is like Minneapolis 20 years ago. Like, you know, it’s like, it’s like the place with Midwestern route where people, you to your point, people had Midwestern routes. They want to come back to Midwest now. Now we’re heading into Des Moines and Iowa. And, you know, I mean, who can, who can blame that because, you know, it’s. It’s heaven. You know, like Field of Dreams says,.
00:44:41 Kathryn
Okay, Chris, if you could pick one person in the world to be your next guest, who would it be? And I mean, anyone in the world. Who do you want on your show?
00:44:54 Chris
Wow. Anyone in the world to talk retail, technology, headlines. Yes. That’s such a good question. I told you. Oh, man. No one’s ever asked me this. No, no. It’s so funny. No one has ever asked me. In the eight year history of Doing this show, who would my ideal guest be? No one’s ever asked me that. This is great. I think, you know, I’m going to keep it in the retail family. I think, you know, my ideal guest would be John Furner because I man crush over him. But there’s no doubt in my mind that he cannot comment on other retailers right now. So it’s just never going to happen. So I’m going to give you my second choice. My second choice would be Jeff Bezos. He’s got the time. He could even remote in from his yacht. Lauren can come too. Catherine, I’m fine with that. So Amazon pr, if you’re listening, let’s make this happen. Let’s make this happen. Let’s. Let’s remote Mr. Jeff in from his. From his yacht in the Mediterranean or wherever the hell he is. And let’s talk some retail. Retail headlines, because I can’t think of anyone better suited or more knowledgeable on that subject than him. Am I wrong?
00:45:52 Kathryn
Oh, no. I mean, can you imagine the number of people that would be tuned in to that episode? Chris, the podcast hall of fame.
00:46:03 Chris
Oh, my God, yes. I could easily imagine it. Yes, yes. Maybe one day. One day. One day, maybe it will happen. All right, on that note, let’s bring producer Ella in. Produce Ella, what headline conversation won the show for you? What headline was most interesting to you this week?
00:46:21 Ella
Yeah, I really enjoyed the show, especially the part where, Katherine, you put Chris in his spot with Target specifically because that’s the winner this week.
00:46:29 Chris
Oh, I knew it. I knew it.
00:46:31 Ella
Have you guessed, Chris, you want to.
00:46:33 Chris
I knew it. Anyway, I knew that one. That was where I was going to go. I’ll be honest with you. That was what I was going to pick. Yeah.
00:46:39 Ella
Yes. In my opinion, I think Target has actually done this, so strategically, I feel like they might be late in the game. Yes, to your point, Chris. But in their defence, I think it might have helped them a little bit, because for years now, Target has basically been its own genre. I mean, there’s like the TikTok reels of Target halls, the Sunday resets with Target included. I mean, we have. Catherine, to your point of, like, I went to Target, look at what I left with, right. And so I feel like people have already been building content organically and naturally the way they want to. And now Targets, at this point, after they’ve observed, observed all this behaviour and where the conversions are happening, that it makes sense for them to dig into ltk. So I am very happy with this. I personally love LTK I love Target, as you can tell. So this is the winner this week for me.
00:47:29 Chris
Do you. So how do you interact with LTK on a regular basis? Ella?
00:47:33 Ella
Yeah, okay. I would say more recently it’s definitely just through creators links on their bios. You know how you can click and then it goes to their LTK and then it has the list of their products. I would say that I do know they have the app. I’ve tried that a few times. So.
00:47:49 Chris
Yeah. So let me ask you this because this is actually something I was thinking about. Are you more loyal to the creator or to the brand that the creator is aligned with?
00:47:58 Ella
Interesting question. It kind of depends for me because if there’s that creator that I’m thinking, you know, Alex Earl, for example, I’m obsessed with her.
00:48:06 Chris
I’m always obsessed with her.
00:48:08 Ella
My favourite.
00:48:08 Kathryn
Right.
00:48:09 Ella
If she’s telling me to buy a product, I’ll go to her ltk. But there’s also those everyday creators that just makes that. Maybe they make that one TikTok with a beautiful hook that makes me instantly want that product. Then it’s different because I’m just going to click on their profile, maybe not even follow them, and then just find.
00:48:23 Chris
That product so it comes back to the product then really? So. So you’re following a creator or you’re following great products showcased by whomever catches your eye with the showcase of said product. Interesting, interesting. Catherine, any questions you have for Ella on her LTK habits?
00:48:39 Kathryn
No, but, you know, I’ll tell you, I, I’m loyal to the actual creator. You know, there’s these creators that I follow that they’re creators for Amazon, but it depends on the creator. So there’s some that can pull all of these different products. Your living room put it together and you’re like, boy, that looks like it just came out of Restoration hardware. I can click get it all from Amazon, shipped to me. Right. So some creators are really good at that. Other creators, you know, they might find candles or whatever, but they’re not finding something as beautiful. So I’m more loyal to the actual creator.
00:49:15 Chris
Yeah. And that’s why, that’s why I’ll, that’s why I’ve always said like the way, if, if I were to do this the way I would do what Target has traditionally done and you know, their reputation for design is I would actually turn their buying team into those creators because they know the products better inside and out than actually probably any creator truly does in terms of the quality, the technical things that go into making those products. And that, that’s what, that’s what I would love to see because I think people would start following the buyers of these organisations if you got the right people in those chairs that had the charisma, the ability to sell, to talk. I mean, imagine that. Kathy, you’ve been at retail a while. Wouldn’t that be interesting to you to hear the buyer talk about why he or she picked the towels in the assortment that he or she decided to put in your everyday Target store?
00:50:01 Kathryn
I think, yeah. Yeah, absolutely. You know, like you said, there’s, there’s certain buyers that would have that, that presence to be able to. Be able to do it. But yeah, I mean, it could, it would absolutely be an interesting thing. Chris, I think maybe you should pitch it to Target.
00:50:20 Chris
Yeah, right. Yeah, I actually, that probably. I do, I actually do know how it activated. But, but Ella, I’m curious, like, maybe we’re too inside baseball. Does that idea capture your attention too? Being able to talk directly with the buyer responsible, putting. For putting, you know, hundreds of millions of dollars of inventory into a store for a given category. Does that idea interest you?
00:50:40 Ella
Yeah, 100%. I mean, from, from an outsider kind of more learning the retail ropes nowadays. I mean, I never thought that one person was in charge of all that.
00:50:48 Kathryn
So for sure.
00:50:49 Ella
I mean, these creators already are hooking our attention from these really this great marketing, these great TikToks that are 30 seconds long and so. Yeah, I would love that.
00:50:59 Chris
Okay, well, we’re aligned. Well, hey, who knows? Who knows? Maybe I’ll get a phone call. I highly, highly doubt it, but you never know. All right, happy birthday today to Robert Pattinson, Stephen Colbert and to the first Fallon sibling cast member on Saturday Night Live. Not Jimmy, everybody but his sister Siobhan. And remember, if you can only read or listen to one retail blog in the business, make it omnitalk. Our Fast Five podcast is the quickest, fastest rundown of all the week’s top news and our daily newsletter, the Retail Daily Minute, tells you all you need to know each day to stay on top of your game as a retail executive and also regularly feature special content that is exclusive to us and that we take a tonne of pride in doing just for you.
Thanks as always for listening in. Please remember to like and leave us a review wherever you happen to listen to your podcast or on YouTube. You can follow us today by simply going to YouTube.com omnitalkretail Kathryn, if people want to get in touch with you, pick your brain. Because God, you. You are such an expert on the subjects that we talked about today. What’s the best way for them to do that?
00:51:59 Kathryn
Yeah, so you can always find me Catherine Mazza on LinkedIn or you can email me at catherine.mazaeros b a r r o w s c s dot com.
00:52:10 Chris
All right, well, hey, thanks so much for joining us. I know we had to do some calendar gymnastics to make this happen, but I really appreciate you making time for us and. And it was a really enjoyable experience and hope we get to do it again very, very soon. So until next week, on behalf of Catherine, producer Ella and myself and all of us at Omnitok Retail, as always, be careful out there.
Omni Talk® is the retail blog for retailers, written by retailers. Chris Walton founded Omni Talk® in 2017 and have quickly turned it into one of the fastest growing blogs in retail.