Serious and Sometimes Comic Musings on the Future of Retail
Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga break down all the top headlines in retail for the Omni Talk Fast Five, sponsored by Takeoff, including: Lululemon’s acquisition of mirror, Fit:Match, Walgreens, Nike, and Kanye and the Gap.
In this week’s Omni Talk Fast Five, sponsored by Takeoff, Chris Walton, Anne Mezzenga, and Emma Irwin the Intern discuss the sweeping changes in the world of social commerce by way of Snapchat and Instagram, how Tanger Factory Outlets is taking off-price digital, while TJX continues to sit on the digital sidelines, and why 7-Eleven’s announcement this week about paying at the pump with your voice could be an easily foreseeable future for how we all pay for gas.
BONUS EPISODE! Chris Walton is a leading expert and influencer in omnichannel retailing. An accomplished Senior Executive, with nearly 20 years of success within the retail and retail technology industries, Chris has high-level executive experience across nearly every discipline within retail. Currently he is the CEO and Founder of Omni Talk, one of the fastest growing blogs in retail, and Third Haus, a retail technology lab and joint venture with Xenia Retail out of Minneapolis. He is a regular keynote speaker, a contributor for Forbes and the Robin Report, and he also sits on the Advisory Board for Delivery Solutions and Xenia Retail.
In this week’s Omni Talk Fast Five, sponsored by Takeoff, Chris Walton, Anne Mezzenga, and Emma Irwin the Intern discuss Walmart’s new partnership with Shopify, Staples using Instacart, a cool startup called Branch, Dick’s Sporting Goods’ new store formats, and Chris goes on a rant for the ages about how slow apparel retailers have been to adopt technology in the wake of Walmart also announcing its new self-checkout store test this week.
Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga interview Third Haus member and former Target Carthweel Lead and now CEO/Founder of DIGITS, David Glaza. They discuss everything surrounding digital couponing, who the players are to watch in the space, what brands and retailers can be doing right now to stay on top of the trends and what the next few months hold for couponing platforms, both digital and also what you would find in your Sunday newspaper.
Chris Walton talks pandemic surprises, disappointments, and opportunities with Sterling Hawkins and Kevin Couple for their Retail Tomorrow Podcast Series.
In this week’s Omni Talk Fast Five, sponsored by Takeoff and Trigo, Steve Dennis stops by to talk Gucci reframing the fashion calendar, while Chris Walton, Anne Mezzenga, Carter Jensen, and Emma the Intern discuss what Chris thinks is huge news surrounding Walmart and ThredUP, the team’s collective thumbs down on the new Yes app, Instagram making another smart move in the world of commerce, and a cool new technology in the grocery space called Flashfood.
In this week’s Omni Talk Fast Five podcast, sponsored by Takeoff and Trigo, Chris Walton, Anne Mezzenga, Carter Jensen, and Emma the Intern discuss Facebook Shops, dining booking platforms in retailing, Shopify’s new banking tools, Walmart and Target’s latest earnings releases, and hold one of the all-time great Fast Five debates on whether Amazon should purchase JCP. Chris says, “yes,” while Anne says, “No!”
In this week’s Omni Talk Fast Five, sponsored by Trigo, Chris Walton, Anne Mezzenga, Carter Jensen, and Emma the Intern talk Pepsi getting its DTC game on with the launch of snacks.com, Shipt and Quotient putting the numerator over the denominator in the world of digital couponing, Target’s interesting acquisition of Deliv among other c-suite moves at Shipt, Lidl and text messaging, and something you may not know much about, “squad shopping.”
In the latest Omni Talk Fast Five podcast, sponsored by Trigo, Chris Walton, Anne Mezzenga, Carter Jensen, and Emma the Intern discuss an ill-timed delivery move by Walmart, the zany feud between JCP and Sephora, J.Crew filing for bankruptcy, a licensing move from Gap that will do absolutely nothing for the brand, and a story from Denny’s that left Chris changing his tune.
Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga interview American Dream Co-CEO Mark Ghermezian to discuss his strategy for launching what he calls the country’s newest, not shopping mall, but “experience center.” Mark shares how he and the the American Dream team are preparing for re-opening in a post-COVID world, what role he thinks technology will play in the experience long-term, and how he plans to put data at the core of American Dream’s overall experience design.
Omni Talk’s Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga sit down with Ali Ahmed, CEO and Co-Founder of Robomart to talk about how Ali’s company is using autonomous Robomarts to bring stores safely to customers.
In this week’s edition of the Omni Talk Fast Five, sponsored by Trigo, Chris Walton, Anne Mezzenga, Carter Jensen, and Emma the Intern discuss the plans to reopen malls, Shopify’s new consumer app, Poshmark getting into video commerce, the absurdity of VR retail, and close with a defense of Amazon.
Chris Walton sits down with Sam’s Club new CEO Kath McLay to discuss her observations and priorities after the first 100 days on the job and the baptism by fire that is COVID-19. She and Chris talk innovation, culture, and Kath even reveals a couple of the secrets that she believes (and we agree) make Sam’s Club one of the most innovative retailers in America.
Omni Talk’s Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga had the special pleasure of interviewing the 2020 Insignia Pitch Slam Winners, Dustin and Christina Finkel, Co-Founders of the snack brand, Ka-Pop! as part of their ongoing Spotlight Series.
Dustin and Christina share some vital lessons for young brands in this episode, from prepping an Amazon presence and e-commerce site in under 3 weeks for a Shark Tank pitch to how to get the most out of sampling and gathering consumer intel gathering on a budget. Congrats to Ka-Pop! snacks on the Insignia Pitch Slam win, and thanks to Insignia for their support of Omni Talk.
Also, viewers can get a discount on Ka-Pop! Snacks by going to KaPopSnacks.com and entering code OMNITALK.
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. Know More →
