In this episode, sponsored by Instacart Enterprise, Portager, and Vusion, Ben Miller is joined by Stewart Samuel, Director of Retail Futures at IGD and one of grocery retail’s leading analysts, to unpack the biggest stories in global grocery retail and what they might be telling us about the changing consumer.
Ben and Stewart start by connecting a series of seemingly unrelated headlines, from strong results at Dollar Tree and Dollar General to signs that lower-income shoppers may be changing their behavior even at Walmart. Together, they debate whether the pressure on the US consumer is finally starting to show up in grocery shopping and why, as Stewart points out, it is becoming increasingly difficult to talk about the US consumer as though there is only one.
They also dig into BJ’s plans to cut 20% of its SKUs, Target’s challenge to keep up with the speed of beauty and social media trends, Aldi’s decision to shut down its delivery business in Switzerland, and why sharing more technology with Walmart could actually make Sam’s Club more like Sam’s Club.
This week, they discuss:
• 00:04:00 – Is the US Consumer Finally Starting to Feel the Pressure?
• 00:14:00 – BJ’s Plans to Cut 20% of Its SKUs
• 00:23:00 – Target Takes Back Control of Beauty
• 00:30:00 – Aldi and the Economics of Grocery Delivery
• 00:34:00 – Can Walmart Help Sam’s Club Become More Sam’s Club?
• 00:39:00 – GrocerTalk Grab & Go: Tesco, Erewhon, Safeway & More
Ben and Stewart also explore the bigger themes connecting this week’s stories, including the growing polarization of the US consumer, the balance between efficiency and differentiation, why retailers do not need to own every capability, and how technology can create more value when it works as part of a connected ecosystem rather than as a collection of individual tools.
GrocerTalk is a weekly podcast from the Omni Talk Podcast Network covering the trends, innovations, and technologies shaping global grocery and CPG.
Episode 003. Welcome to GrocerTalk.
P.S. Be sure to check out all our other podcasts from the past week here, too: https://omnitalk.blog/category/podcast/
Music by hooksounds.com.
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.