Omni Talk Retail

In the latest Omni Talk Ask An Expert Series Anne Mezzenga sits down with Lowes Foods E-commerce VP Chad Petersen to hear about the strategy they're putting together for the next year in grocery. Lowes Foods is no stranger to online grocery ordering, they've been doing it since 1997, but as Chad explains, like many regional grocery chains, they are experimenting with the right mix of resource allocation for in-store pickup vs. delivery and owned vs third party services for picking, packing, and last-mile. Chad breaks down the successes and opportunities they've had throughout the pandemic, especially as they welcome customers back to the store experience they're so well known for. (The entire staff does a chicken dance each time hot, fresh, chicken comes out to the deli seen here: https://youtu.be/KwpFHxJTnIo) They close with Chad's advice for other grocers as they approach the "shiny pennies" of grocery innovation and the daily headlines from new players offering delivery in minutes to full fulfillment. You can find out more about Chad and Lowes Foods at https://www.lowesfoods.com/contactThis podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy

In the latest edition of the Omni Talk Fast Five, sponsored by Takeoff and the A&M Consumer & Retail Group Anne Mezzenga and guest host Najla Kayyem of Pacific Retail Capital Partners discuss: -Twitter, better late than never, finally enabling shopping in-app and exposing a large and diverse audience to the concept of social commerce. -Shopify widely sharing the increased revenues merchants using Shop Pay, their BNPL feature, have seen but keeping the word on merchant processing fees for this service closer to the faux fur vest. -StockX adding the booming business of beauty to the drop, partnering with Revlon and Megan Thee Stallion for a limited make-up release and the untapped potential in the beauty resale market. -Requirements for the best “Urbanurbs” the hottest new thing in real estate development and the developer, Mark Toro, who plans to buy up every dead mall and office park in the Sunbelt to create more of them. -Netflix opening its first physical store and the flywheel created when established direct-to-consumer brands and content creators become merchants. Anne and Najla also confess their love for discontinued Bath & Body Works scents, play “real hard seltzer name or not,” find out what product would be forever stored in Najla’s blockchain of purchases should Amazon pull the trigger on crypto, and finally they debate which is the more ridiculous NFT: Charmin Non-Fungible Toilet Paper or Pringles Digital Flavored CryptoCrisp. To learn more about the A&M Consumer & Retail Group, visit: http://www.alvarezandmarsal.com/industries/retail/retail To learn more about Takeoff, visit: http://www.takeoff.com/ You can follow Najla Kayyem EVP of Pacific Retail Capital Partners on Instagram and LinkedIn at @najlakayyemThis podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy

In the latest edition of the Omni Talk Fast Five, sponsored by the A&M Consumer & Retail Group, and Takeoff Anne Mezzenga and guest hosts David Ritter and Kristin Kohler Burrows of the A&M Consumer & Retail Group discuss: -Uber announcing partnerships with both Albertsons and Costco sending the Fast Five team into a debate about what this means for the grocery delivery ecosystem and grocers moving away from Instacart -Foxtrot’s ambitious expansion plans and some ideas on how they should consider differentiating themselves in their new markets, from deploying checkout-free tech to going all-in on Momofuku-led concepts. -The nuance in the stream of recent cashier-less checkout headlines, including the latest two stores from AiFi at Morrisons and Loop Neighborhood Stores, and what retailers should be considering when exploring these initiatives. -thredUP’s Resale-As-A-Service (RAAS) 360 commerce platform debuting with Madewell this week and A&M’s expert advice for retailers trying to figure out their own resale strategy. -Bite Ninja blowing up Anne’s LinkedIn DM’s and also revolutionizing the QSR labor industry with a platform that allows gig workers to take orders remotely at the drive-thru. The team also talked about Ulta opening in Target, increasing its one-stop-shop allure, and resulting in a poll of the most random collection of products the team has purchased in one trip to a big box store. Hint: It includes 50 lbs of crawfish, chocolate chips, and reading glasses. All that plus the Olympic squads Dave and Kristin wish they could join in Tokyo this week. To learn more about the A&M Consumer & Retail Group, visit: www.alvarezandmarsal.com/industries/retail/retail Kristin can be reached at: kburrows@alvarezandmarsal.com David can be reached at: dritter@alvarezandmarsal.com To learn more about Takeoff, visit: www.takeoff.com/This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy

Sunny Jiang started at then startup EyeBuyDirect right out of university as a financial controller. Like many of her coworkers at the online eyewear retailer, she has remained with the company almost 15 years later. Unlike many of her coworkers, after many successes, she made her way from finance controller to leading the entire company as CEO and President in 2017. Sunny attributes her success leading EyeBuyDirect and the over three million customers they serve to her dedication to leading by example, and it’s clear after listening to the story of her climb to CEO that she’s done a tremendous job of that. In this podcast, Anne Mezzenga and Sunny Jiang discuss Sunny’s future plans for EyeBuyDirect as she takes the brand into new geographies and expands their online presence of white label and designer brands into a marketplace of 3rd party brands to meet the evolving needs of their customers. Long-time listeners know you’ll have to stay to the end to find out who attends Sunny’s very own concert and this one has some new names you’ll definitely want to add to your playlist after listening. Thanks to Parcel Pending for making this podcast series possible. You can find out more about Parcel Pending at ParcelPending.comThis podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy

In the latest edition of the Omni Talk Fast Five, sponsored by the A&M Consumer & Retail Group, and Takeoff Anne Mezzenga and guest host Forrester VP and Principal Analyst Sucharita Kodali discuss: -Instacart’s powerhouse move, bringing over yet another Facebook Exec, Fidji Simo, to be the company’s CEO and what this indicates for the direction company may be headed in. -Why Sam’s Club adding Scan & Ship is so much more than a new app feature and may open them up to an entirely new consumer. -Apple’s new Apple Pay Later platform unlocking interest-free installment payments for all Apple Pay users and how it could take BNPL mainstream. -7-Eleven’s rollout of mobile checkout to 3,000 stores and Sucharita’s suggestions for retailers when dealing with Big Tech in rolling out these initiatives. -Asos opening up Nordstrom to the international market with their new co-owned brands and future partnership. Anne and Sucharita also talk about everything else they’d rather eat before trying Kraft Mac & Cheese Ice Cream, a Sucharita-inspired line of sneakers for Porsche, and what they’d be wearing to an after-party at “Disco Kroger” had it not shut down this past week. To learn more about the A&M Consumer & Retail Group, visit: www.alvarezandmarsal.com/industries/retail/retail To learn more about Takeoff, visit: www.takeoff.com/ You can follow Sucharita Kodali here: https://twitter.com/smulpuruThis podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy

In the latest edition of the Omni Talk Fast Five, sponsored by the A&M Consumer & Retail Group, and Takeoff Anne Mezzenga and returning guest host Steve Dennis: -Dive into Dollar General’s big announcements they’re getting into healthcare and expanding fresh produce to 10,000+ stores including many in USDA-deemed food deserts. -Tap Steve’s luxury retail experience for his analysis on Bloomingdale’s new off-mall concept, Bloomie’s. -Discuss Brookfield’s and Simon Property Group’s investments in hospitality company C3 which will replace mall food courts with C3's ghost kitchens this year. -Talk John Lewis moving from retailer to real estate mogul with plans to build 10,000 rental homes on their property and above Waitrose Supermarkets -Gush over Glossier’s new $80M investment and plans for global store expansion Steve and Anne wrap up the podcast agreeing on which retailer has the most to gain from selling product live on Love Island and disagreeing on who would win should an epic space battle occur between Branson and Bezos in the coming weeks. To learn more about the A&M Consumer & Retail Group, visit: www.alvarezandmarsal.com/industries/retail/retail To learn more about Takeoff, visit: www.takeoff.com/ To learn more about Steve and his Remarkable Retail book and podcast head to https://stevenpdennis.com/This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy

In this Omni Talk Ask An Expert Interview, Anne Mezzenga sits down with Yair Holtzer VP of Business Development at Trigo to talk about Artificial Intelligence Computer Vision (AICV). The AICV space is heating up with retailers across the globe piloting checkout-free retail stores of all sizes and in this interview, Anne gets Yair’s expert opinion on how retailers can best approach scaling this technology. Trigo has learned this strategy first hand over the course of the last three years as one of the early AICV companies on the scene conducting live pilots with Tesco, and now Rewe Group out of Germany. Yair elegantly explains why Trigo chose to launch with their European partners, what they’ve learned as they increase store size and add unique item types like self-dispensing beverages, tobacco, and alcohol, and how it’s prepared them as they start to take on the US market in the coming months. For more information on Trigo, head to trigo.tech **Sponsored Content**This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy

In the latest edition of the Omni Talk Fast Five, sponsored by the A&M Consumer & Retail Group, Takeoff, and BrightSign, Anne Mezzenga and returning guest host Oliver Banks: -Recap rather muted Prime Day results, how the event compares to Singles Day, and what Amazon can do to keep their holiday hopping. -Laud Nordstrom and Indochino for making one of the smartest partnership moves to bring GenZ and Millennials back to the department store. -Geek out over the expansion of Alibaba’s Store X concept and wonder if Costco will take the hint and get on the in-store tech train. -Contemplate the potential suitors (including Amazon) for Morrisons Supermarkets in the UK and what it could mean for Amazon Fresh UK domination. -Get their 92-year-old grandmothers on board with Marks & Spencer’s new on-demand video experts. They also cover important topics like which 80’s and 90’s product most deserves a reboot and whether Will Smith, one of the backers of the new Target DTC brand, Jinx, skews more rapper or actor. To learn more about the A&M Consumer & Retail Group, visit: www.alvarezandmarsal.com/industries/retail/retail To learn more about Takeoff, visit: www.takeoff.com/ To learn more about BrightSign, visit: www.brightsign.biz To join Anne Mezzenga and Oliver Banks at the Retail Transformation Live event, sign up here: https://retailtransformation.live/This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy

"You know great omnichannel retailing when you don’t see it." Omni Talk’s Chris Walton is joined by Sam’s Club Chief Technology Officer Vinod Bidarkoppa in this special edition of the Omni Talk Ask An Expert Series to share how his team has triumphed during this pandemic year, consistently putting out best-in-class examples of true omnichannel retailing. Vinod was brought on to the Walmart team to lead a “$65 billion dollar startup” also known as Sam’s Club, and in just under two years, has led the warehouse club as they continue to build the “Product” of the Sam’s Club experience. The strategy, as Vinod explains, is not in some kiosk or mobile app, but rather in the utilization of technology that the customer doesn’t even see like optimizing legacy OMS and POS so that you have a single view of your customer and can, in turn, provide a seamless shopping experience for them. Vinod shares what they’ve learned from programs like Sam’s Club Concierge, Scan-and-Go, and Sam’s Club Now and how they're applying that to the fulfillment side of the businesses as they take on their newest Innovation Fulfillment Center project in Paris, California. All this, plus what still lies ahead for Sam's Club this year and we guarantee you’ll want to stay until the end to find out what he has to say.This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy

In the latest edition of the Omni Talk Fast Five, sponsored by the A&M Consumer & Retail Group, Takeoff, and BrightSign, Anne Mezzenga and guest hosts David Ritter and Mohit Mohal of the Alvarez & Marsal Consumer & Retail Group: -Debate, that’s right, I said debate, the significance of Amazon opening a full-size Amazon Fresh autonomous grocery store. -Discuss the required execution necessary for Lowes Foods office locker delivery to be as successful as Anne wants it to be. -Determine just how much a container ship costs and the strategies expert retail consultants would put into place if they were Home Depot. -Decide if there’s enough traffic to Express, J.Crew, and Urban Outfitters websites to make third-party sellers and customers stay. -Dig Brookfield's move to bring 1,000 gaming rooms to their malls in an attempt to drive more traffic. We also discover how Anne's days working the sweet corn stand relate to Home Depot's supply chain issues and end with unanimous agreement on the greatest Eminem song of all time. To learn more about the A&M Consumer & Retail Group, visit: www.alvarezandmarsal.com/industries/retail/retail To learn more about Takeoff, visit: www.takeoff.com/ To learn more about BrightSign, visit: www.brightsign.bizThis podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy