Omni Talk Retail

In this week’s Fast Five podcast, sponsored by Microsoft, the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Takeoff, and Sezzle, David Ritter and Jonathan Sharp of A&M join Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga as they discuss: - Walmart's porch delivery program. - Gopuff's overt move into private label. - Who made the bigger move in the checkout-free retail war this week: Aldi or Wakefern? - The relative value of voice-assisted ordering in QSR vs. retail. - And, closed with a discussion on the long-term viability of a new startup that just raised $25 million to help consumers, not Buy Now, but Save Money and Pay Later. There's all that, plus Anne and I mutually patting each other's backs for being named Top 100 retail influencers, edible utensils, and David Ritter's favorite Taco Bell vice. To redeem your $300 discount on the Manifest Conference, visit: manife.st/continue-registrati... To learn more about Microsoft, visit: www.microsoft.com/en-us/industry/r…cloud-for-retail To learn more about the A&M Consumer & Retail Group, visit: www.alvarezandmarsal-crg.com/ To learn more about Takeoff, visit: www.takeoff.com/ To learn more about Sezzle, visit: www.sezzle.com/ Plus, check out our ranking in Feedspot’s 45 Top Retail Podcasts: blog.feedspot.com/retail_podcasts/ Music by hooksounds.comThis podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy

In a special NRF edition of The Omni Talk Spotlight Series, sponsored by Cleveron, Firework, and Scandit, Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga sit down with Gopuff Co-CEO and Co-Founder Rafael Ilishayev. Gopuff started delivering a hundred or so products to college students back in 2013, today they're delivering over 4,000 SKUs in as little as 15-20 minutes to customers in many major cities in the US and around the world. In this interview, Raf shares Gopuff's bold expansion plans for 2022, releasing another round of their "Put Me On" program for local CPG's and businesses, and further developing their ad network and kitchen concepts. The instant delivery space is going to continue to heat up in the next year, and Gopuff with 75% share of the current instant delivery market in the US will be one you'll want to watch. For more information on Gopuff, head to: https://gopuff.com/go Thanks to Cleveron, Scandit, and Firework for making this episode possible. For more information on Cleveron head to https://cleveron.com/ For more information on Scandit head to https://www.scandit.com/ For more information on Firework head to https://firework.com/us/ **Sponsored Content** Music by Hooksounds.comThis podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy

In a special NRF edition of The Omni Talk Spotlight Series, Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga sit down with Leap Co-founder and CEO Jared Golden to talk about how his company's proprietary platform helps retailers and brands take the "leap" in licensing the soup to nuts operations of their physical stores. From Mack Weldon to Ashley Stewart, Jared and his team at Leap are launching brands with one store or one hundred stores, offering a full menu of services from point-of-sale management, leasing, and staffing, to full retail tech operations. Leap has deployed nearly 50 stores with over 30 brands, and, in this interview, Jared explains their massive expansion plans in 2022 taking the data they are collecting across brands to build more benefits for retailers and customers. If Jared has his way, we shouldn't be surprised to see Leap take the idea to the Metaverse soon, too. For more information on Leap head to https://www.leapinc.com/ Thanks to Cleveron, Scandit, and Firework for making this episode possible. For more information on Cleveron head to https://cleveron.com/ For more information on Scandit head to https://www.scandit.com/ 
For more information on Firework head to https://firework.com/us/ Music by hooksounds.comThis podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy

In a special NRF edition of The Omni Talk Spotlight Series, sponsored by Cleveron, Firework, and Scandit, Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga sit down with Takeoff CEO and Co-Founder Max Pedró. Takeoff has been making headlines of late, launching an automated microfulfillment center with Jewel-Osco in Chicago this past December. The center allows the grocer to pick, pack, and deliver online orders more efficiently, and do it in a way that expands their bottom line profit. Sound too good to be true? It's not. Find out how your store could be just one basketball-court-sized microfulfillment center away from thriving in the future of online grocery commerce. For more information on Takeoff, head to: https://www.takeoff.com/ Thanks to Cleveron, Scandit, and Firework for making this episode possible. For more information on Cleveron head to https://cleveron.com/ For more information on Scandit head to https://www.scandit.com/ For more information on Firework head to https://firework.com/us/ **Sponsored Content** Music by Hooksounds.comThis podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy

In a special NRF edition of The Omni Talk Spotlight Series, sponsored by Cleveron, Firework, and Scandit, Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga sit down with Firework President & Chief Business Officer Jason Holland. When many retailers come to the Firework team, it's because they're interested in replicating the on-site live streaming applications Firework's has created for companies like Albertsons and The Fresh Market, but what Anne and Chris discover in this interview is that's only just a part of an effective shoppable video content strategy. Jason explains how the team at Firework is laying the groundwork for the future of shoppable content right from your favorite retailers' own sites and apps, allowing seamless shopping and checkout experiences, while, at the same time, helping retailers to build a background of customer data that will help them continue to provide the richest, most highly engaging shopping experiences as consumers move into Web 3.0 and beyond. For more information on Firework, head to: https://firework.com/us/ Thanks to Cleveron, Scandit, and Firework for making this episode possible. For more information on Cleveron head to https://cleveron.com/ For more information on Scandit head to https://www.scandit.com/ For more information on Firework head to https://firework.com/us/ **Sponsored Content**This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy

In this week’s Fast Five podcast, sponsored by Microsoft, the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Takeoff, and Sezzle, Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga hotly debate even more topics than normal, including: - Who had the cooler board appointee this week? Meta with DoorDash's CEO? Or Shopify with Instacart's? - Whether the Yeezy Gap and Balenciaga partnership will amount to a hill of beans. - If there is anything at all to read from a supposedly leaked Shopify patent on in-store traffic monitoring. - Why TikTok broadening its consumer reach by way of its new Atmosphere partnership is so important within the context of video commerce. - And, close with a pointed discussion about why autonomous delivery robots at the Cincinnati airport may be the wrong next step to solve a real consumer pain point. There's all that, plus my likely lone Arizona Cardinals playoff plug of the season, our salute to Bob Saget, and why I would like to get "sequentially stable" with Tom Brady. To redeem your $300 discount on the Manifest Conference, visit: manife.st/continue-registrati... To learn more about Microsoft, visit: www.microsoft.com/en-us/industry/r…cloud-for-retail To learn more about the A&M Consumer & Retail Group, visit: alvarezandmarsal-crg.com/ To learn more about Takeoff, visit: www.takeoff.com/ To learn more about Sezzle, visit: sezzle.com/ Plus, check out our ranking in Feedspot’s 45 Top Retail Podcasts: blog.feedspot.com/retail_podcasts/ Music by hooksounds.comThis podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy

Retail store employees are drowning in workload like never before with very few tools to help them survive. And, as a result, so much of their day is wasted on less impactful actions and convoluted processes that oftentimes get clouded and more confused by the actions of management from the top down. Omni Talk Expert Quorso CEO Julian Mills once again joins Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga for the latest installment of the Omni Talk Ask an Expert Series to delve into one simple answer that may hold the key to solving the issue — making the District Manager's life simpler, easier, and more efficient. Together they discussed how Agile Store Management principles deployed at the District Manager level, specifically, can help to: - Simplify, speed up, and better engage store-level employees - The exact recipe for success (exception management, prioritization, planning, and the recording of workflows week-on-week) - And the 3 Stage Process to help you, the retailer, put everything into action as quickly as possible All of which results in a District Manager more equipped and more engaged to lead his or her team with powerful insights and data as the guide. For more information on Quorso, head to https://quorso.com/ Music by hooksounds.com *Sponsored Content*This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy

In this week’s Fast Five podcast, sponsored by Microsoft, the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Takeoff, and Sezzle, Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga: - Discuss why moldy cheese isn't the only thing that smells in Walmart's in-home fridge delivery plans. (Minute: 3:33) - Talk about why Bed Bath & Beyond's rapidly declining registry business shouldn't be a surprise at all since it, too, is rooted in the same strategic flaw I recently wrote about in Forbes. (Minute: 9:14) - Shine light on a cool new startup, Leap, that is helping Pea in the Pod reopen stores. (Minute: 13:19) - Applaud DoorDash's decision to require every employee to complete one delivery per month and also examine if there are other retailers that could benefit from a similar approach. (Minute: 16:39) - And close with a look at the real reason why Albertsons' new AI salad bars are cool, and it has nothing to do with AI. (Minute: 22:16) There's all that, plus a salute to the folks in Superior, CO, Anne's favorite Topps trading card from the 1980s, and what I would do with $200,000 worth of stolen butter. To redeem your $300 discount on the Manifest Conference, visit: manife.st/continue-registrati... To learn more about Microsoft, visit: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/industry/retail/microsoft-cloud-for-retail To learn more about the A&M Consumer & Retail Group, visit: alvarezandmarsal-crg.com/ To learn more about Takeoff, visit: www.takeoff.com/ To learn more about Sezzle, visit: https://sezzle.com/ Plus, check out our ranking in Feedspot’s 45 Top Retail Podcasts: blog.feedspot.com/retail_podcasts/ Music by hooksounds.comThis podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy

In the latest edition of the Omni Talk Women's Retail Collective Podcast, Anne Mezzenga sits down with Fanatics Chief Strategic Retail Officer Gina De Caro Sprenger. Gina is like no other woman in retail we've interviewed. She wanted to work in this industry so badly, she applied (and was hired) for a job operating the elevator at a luxury department store at age 14! She definitely made her way to the top floor. From running the entire home business for Target to her current role leading the retail store efforts for every sports team franchise under the sun. Listen to Gina's entire career story and stay until the end to hear about how she became a member of the "Church Choir." Music by hooksounds.comThis podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy

Yes, you read that right. Best Buy recently cut a hole in the front of one of its stores and installed lockers to enable a 24/7 pickup experience for their customers. And that's just the beginning. After trialing the new Best Buy lockers (in this video https://youtu.be/O7KLj7sUhIU), Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga had to find out how this revolutionary new retail experience came to be, so they got the locker company's President, Luxer One's very own Josh Middlebrooks, to join them for the latest edition of their Omni Talk Spotlight Series. In this episode, Josh, Chris, and Anne discuss how Best Buy and Luxer One went from wild idea to successful multi-store implementation, the overwhelming response from customers and Best Buy associates, and the role lockers like this might play in future store footprints. For more information about Luxer One head to https://www.luxerone.com/ To see a live demo of the pilot head here: https://youtu.be/O7KLj7sUhIU **Sponsored Content** Music by hooksounds.comThis podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy