Hello Omni Talk Fans!
This week, I’m coming to you from Paris, where I managed to squeeze J Recruiting’s Josh Hahn into my very tiny hotel room across the street from NRF Europe for another round of Omni Talk Retail Fast Five fun.
And this week’s episode can best be summed up as: better ingredients, better pizza, better delivery via Walmart.
Josh and I dug into Walmart adding Papa Johns to Express Delivery, Macy’s fifth straight quarter of comparable-sales growth, Amazon making Prime Video increasingly shoppable, SKIMS teaming up with DoorDash, and Kroger cutting its full-year sales outlook.
And, as tends to happen when Josh joins me, we did not agree on everything.
Here’s what Josh and I covered, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Ocampo Capital, Quorso, Veloq, and R&S Logistics:
Walmart Delivers Pizza
Walmart is adding Papa Johns to Walmart Express Delivery, letting customers order pizza, wings, sandwiches, sides, and desserts through the Walmart app alongside groceries and household essentials. The rollout begins in select markets this fall before expanding to thousands of locations nationwide.
Josh was not a fan. He thinks Walmart may be solving a problem consumers never asked it to solve, especially when DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub already have years of delivery infrastructure behind them. I’m looking at it differently. If Walmart can become the place I go when I need groceries, household essentials, and yes, a pizza delivered quickly, I think that gives consumers another reason to open the Walmart app. You had me at pepperoni. (Source)
Macy’s Finds Its Footing
Macy’s posted its fifth straight quarter of comparable-sales growth and raised its full-year guidance, with company-wide comps up 2.7% and particularly strong performances from Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury.
I’ll give Tony Spring credit. Five straight quarters of comp growth is meaningful, and you can comp your comp. But I also visited a Macy’s this weekend and walked away feeling confused and uninspired. Josh thinks it is too early for a victory parade, and I agree there is still plenty of work to do. That said, Macy’s has reached a point I never thought I’d see: the wound has been cauterized and at least the bleeding has stopped. (Source)
Amazon Makes TV Shoppable
Amazon is expanding Shop the Show from roughly 1,300 titles to more than 8,000, allowing Prime Video viewers to shop products from movies, shows, and live sports while also using Amazon Lens to find products from scenes.
Josh sees a major retail media opportunity here, and I can see it too. But I’m not convinced consumers want their entertainment turned into a shopping experience. I don’t want products popping up while I’m watching a movie, and Josh doesn’t either. Amazon may be able to connect awareness, consideration, and conversion in one ecosystem, but I’m not sure that means we should. (Source)
SKIMS Meets DoorDash
SKIMS is partnering with DoorDash for its first-ever on-demand delivery offering, bringing more than 23,000 styles to consumers with average delivery times of less than an hour from participating stores.
I’m still amazed that we have reached a point where I can order SKIMS shapewear and a meatball hoagie from the same app. That is nuts. Josh thinks the bigger question is whether consumers actually need apparel delivered immediately, while I think this is a huge get for DoorDash as it pushes further into general merchandise. At the end of the day, I care less about who delivers something than whether they can deliver it reliably. (Source)
Kroger Cuts Its Outlook
Kroger lowered its full-year same-store sales outlook, excluding fuel, to 0.2% to 0.8%, down from its previous forecast of 1% to 2%. At the same time, ecommerce grew 20% and retail media jumped 24%, its strongest quarter since 2021.
Josh isn’t ready to panic, and I’m not either. But I am watching Kroger closely. The company is investing in price, promotions, digital, and value, while Walmart, Aldi, and Amazon continue to raise the bar for convenience and price transparency. Kroger’s digital growth is encouraging, but the competitive pressure is real. Greg Foran started as CEO on February 1, 2026. By February 1, 2027, I think it will be time to put up or shut up. (Source)
Meet This Month’s OmniStar: Meredith Klausner
Plus, this month’s OmniStar is Meredith Klausner, SVP of Retail & Services at Best Buy.
Each month, in partnership with Quorso, we recognize a real-life retail operator making a difference in their organization. This one is a little personal for me, as I worked with Meredith during my Target days and have enjoyed watching her career continue to progress at Best Buy.
Meredith has a knack for making an impact on everyone she works with, something that was clear when nearly 1,000 people congratulated her on LinkedIn following her recent promotion.
Meredith, thank you for being a mentor to me and so many others. Congratulations on being named this month’s OmniStar!
Want more retail insights like this? Subscribe to the Retail Fast Five to stay ahead of the headlines every week wherever you get your podcasts:
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | SoundCloud | Amazon Music
Be careful out there,
Chris and the Omni Talk team
P.S. Be sure to check out all our other podcasts from the past week here, too.
P.P.S. Also be sure to check out our podcast rankings on Feedspot.
Music by hooksounds.
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.