🕔 Retail Daily Minute | Google Launches Universal Cart, Lidl US Names a New CEO & SPAR Austria Expands Simbe Trial

Hello Omni Talk Fans!

In today’s Retail Daily Minute:

Google launches its Universal Cart, a cross-retailer shopping tool that lets consumers add items from Search, Gemini, YouTube, and Gmail into a single cart.
Lidl US names Alan Barry as its next CEO, effective July.
SPAR Austria expands its Simbe Tally inventory robot trial to six EUROSPAR and INTERSPAR stores.

Plus, our latest Spotlight Podcast featuring a technology that is on the cutting edge of helping grocers to stay ahead of healthy lifestyle trends, along with a quote from a movie featuring a lot of sparring.

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Today’s Top Headlines

1. Google Launches Universal Cart for AI-Powered Shopping Push

Google launched Universal Cart, letting shoppers add items across Search, Gemini, Gmail and YouTube. The tool finds discounts, tracks prices and flags incompatibilities. Nike, Target, Walmart and others will integrate first. It rolls out in the US this summer, building on Google’s Universal Commerce Protocol for agentic shopping. (Read More)

2. Lidl U.S. Names COO Alan Barry as Its Next CEO Effective July

Lidl US named COO Alan Barry as its next CEO, effective July, succeeding Joel Rampoldt who stepped down in January. Barry, a two-decade Lidl veteran, joined the US division in 2024. Maciej Tylkowski and Jassine Ouali will also join as COO and chief customer officer, reinforcing the discounter’s long-term US growth strategy. (Read More)

3. SPAR Becomes First Austrian Retailer to Use Inventory Robots

SPAR became the first Austrian food retailer to deploy an inventory robot in regular store operations. After a successful five-month trial, the robot scans shelves multiple times daily, identifies gaps and transmits data to staff devices. The initiative has now expanded to six stores, improving availability and reducing workload. (Read More)

4. Urban Outfitters Posts Record Q1 Earnings and Revenue Gains

Urban Outfitters Inc. posted record Q1 earnings of $1.30 per share and revenue of $1.48B, up 11.4%, beating Wall Street estimates. FP Group comps rose 9.8% and Urban Outfitters gained 9.3%. Nuuly subscription revenue surged 34.5% on strong subscriber growth. The company plans to open 54 new stores this fiscal year. (Read More)

5. Starbucks Scraps AI Inventory Counting Tool After Key Errors

Starbucks terminated its AI-powered inventory counting tool nine months after deploying it across North American stores. The app frequently miscounted and mislabeled items such as milk types. The company will return to manual counting methods while focusing on more frequent daily replenishments and supply chain improvements. (Read More)

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