Serious and Sometimes Comic Musings on the Future of Retail
In this week’s Omni Talk Fast Five, sponsored by Takeoff, Chris Walton, Anne Mezzenga, and Emma the Intern discuss the explosive growth in Panera’s coffee subscription program, Walmart joining forces with Yahoo (yes, you read that right), LL Bean’s decision to broaden its distribution, Domino’s new ‘fortressing’ strategy, and Amazon and Google both getting full up into livestream commerce this week.
In this week’s Omni Talk Fast Five, sponsored by Takeoff, Chris Walton, Anne Mezzenga, and Emma Irwin the Intern are joined by guest host Ken Pilot to break down all the week’s top headlines in retail. This week they talk Amazon’s new Dash Smart Shopping Cart, Klarna’s Gen-Z shopping event, Apple asking store employees to help customers from home, and Walmart and Amazon now duking it out in the healthcare space.
Omni Talk’s Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga turn their video spotlight once again on Syte, the intriguing visual AI startup out of Israel. After having Syte founder, Lihi Pinto Fryman, on the show in 2018, this time Chris and Anne sit down with Syte VP of Marketing Gal Fontyn to discuss how the company has evolved, the successes it has had, and how the concept of visual search is now moving into the arena of creating even deeper visual experiences within retail, the likes of which could make visual AI the single most important technology to understand within retail today.
In this week’s Omni Talk Fast Five, sponsored by Takeoff, Chris Walton, Anne Mezzenga, and Emma Irwin the Intern love Lululemon’s acquisition of Mirror, unanimously applaud Brookfield’s Fit:Match experiment, are not quite sure what to make of Walgreens’ new small format tests, rave about Nike building smaller store footprints, and compare the Gap/Kanye deal to a big bet at the poker table.
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.
In this week’s Omni Talk Fast Five, sponsored by Takeoff, Chris Walton, Anne Mezzenga, and Emma the Intern send Carter Jensen off in his style for his last show before heading to a big new job. We talk Zara’s store closures, Klarna’s new loyalty program, Canada Goose tightening its distribution, Roku’s new partnership with Kroger, and why there may be more canaries in the Stitch Fix box. Plus, we put Carter on the hot seat one last time, turn the tables, and ask him to play “How Gen X are You?”
Despite the uncertainties it has unearthed, Chris Walton believes that the coronavirus pandemic has also uncovered new opportunities for the retail industry. Walton believes that both mall developers and their retail tenants can benefit from digitizing the mall experience, and creating a holistic strategy that includes curation, assisted selling, curbside pickup and more. During this conversation, Chris and senior content strategist Alicia Esposito brainstorm what the mall of the future will look like and what new possibilities lie ahead.
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!”
Chris Walton sits down with Mike Rielly and Placer.ai to discuss the future of retail given recent changes in consumer behavior following COVID-19.
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.”
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 secrets that she believes (and we agree) make Sam’s Club one of the most innovative retailers in America.
Chris Walton of Omni Talk discusses Sam’s Club’s new “Shop from Your Car” concierge service for elderly and at-risk club members, along with product management theory, the practice of innovation, and the foundational elements of omnichannel retailing.
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.
Omni Talk’s 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 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 →
