Stay ConnectedOmni Talk Retail provides news, analysis, and commentary on the latest trends and issues in the retail industry. Created by a retailer, Chris Walton, for retailers, Omni Talk Retail covers a wide range of topics related to retail, including e-commerce, technology, marketing, and consumer behavior.
This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
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There is probably no topic more on the mind of retailers than what do with online returns.
So Omni Talk is pleased to announce that Narvar CEO Amit Sharma joins Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga for a special Shoptalk Edition of their ongoing Spotlight Series brought to you in partnership with Meta.
Collectively the three of them go deep on:
– Why returns are now the "first-mile" of a new retail experience
- What it takes to pick up returns directly from customers' homes
- How a smooth returns process can greatly improve supply chain flexibility and improve overall inventory stock position
- And how coordinated return hubs at places like malls make consumers' lives that much easier
It is a conversation sure to generate buzz at Shoptalk because the answers Amit provides are just so damn intuitive!
Music by hooksounds.com
This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy
In this week’s Fast Five video, sponsored by Microsoft, the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Takeoff, and Sezzle, Chris takes a break from 2022 Walton Family Spring Break to join Anne to discuss:
- Kohl’s multiple acquisition offers, their potential buyers, and why two wrongs don’t make a right.
- Pickup-only grocer Fresh Street doing grocery orders in 30 minutes with no fee and if it’s a model that will stick?
- Amazon’s baller move opening their first net-zero carbon emission Fresh store in Seattle.
- NVIDIA and Kroger promising to reinvent the grocery experience with AI and digital twins.
- And close with Anne’s first-hand review of Lululemon’s new Blissfeel running shoe.
There’s all that, plus a cameo from Chris’s childhood Darth Vader toy, and a discussion on why Anne’s greatest Applebees memories can still be realized at their new drive-thrus.
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.com
This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy
In this week's Fast Five, sponsored by Microsoft, the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Takeoff, and Sezzle, A&M’s David Ritter and Michael Prendergast joined Chris and Anne as they debated:
- All the news out of Starbucks this week, but most specifically its plans to roll out its community store concept to 1,000 locations by 2030.
- Who made the bigger waves this week – DoorDash with its returns pilot or Uber hinting at becoming a retailer?
-Whether Macy’s website overhaul means anything and if the company has the flexibility in its business model for its associates to become personal stylists.
- The latest livestreaming data and major shifts in sales volume coming out of China.
- And closed with a look at what Twitter Shops means for the future of social commerce.
There’s all that, plus our favorite “chin-fluencer” celebrities, OnlyFans for Chefs, and why we love the idea of Darth Vader providing in-aisle voice assistance while we shop.
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.com
This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy
Livestreaming is quite the hot topic now that everyone from Walmart to Amazon is doing it which means many of you have likely been asked by your bosses or your boss’s boss to livestream something as part of your 2022 content strategy.
So to make sure you avoid the three mistakes so many people make when designing their livestreaming strategy, Omni Talk is pleased to announce that one of the foremost experts in the world of livestreaming and digital content creation, Firework’s Co-Founder and CEO Vincent Yang, joined Anne Mezzenga and Chris Walton for the latest installment of their Omni Talk Ask An Expert Series.
Collectively the three of them go deep on:
- The mistakes brands and retailers are making as they dive into the livestream space
- The right way to approach the integration of content and commerce
- The shifts retailers should be expecting in the conversion funnel as brands and customers start to adopt livestreaming and content commerce
- And, the evolution of customer engagement with brands and how to adequately prepare for the future
It is a conversation sure to be in-depth, fun, and, will leave you with a good starting point for that banger of a livestream strategy you’re about to design.
Music by hooksounds.com
*Sponsored Content*
This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy
Long have we talked about Visual AI as the most important technology that will shape retail over the next decade.
So Omni Talk is pleased to announce that ViSenze Chief Commercial Officer Brendan O'Shaughnessy joins Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga for the latest installment of their Omni Talk Spotlight Series to share his knowledge on the most practical applications of Visual AI in the here and now:
Collectively the three of them go deep on Visual AI's value and applicability:
- Product recommendation engines
- Online catalog enrichment
- Visual search
- In-store merchandising compliance
- Assortment Planning
It is a conversation that is a hallmark of what Chris and Anne do best -- i.e. one where they ask the questions most likely on the minds of retail executives to help make sense of what really matters most.
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:
- Amazon's shrewd move and likely "deke" to close 68 physical stores.
- Lululemon finally getting into footwear.
- Dollar General trying to become everyone's new local bank.
- Walmart's extremely disappointing new fit technology it unveiled this past week.
- And close with a look at why Ryan Cohen's letter to the Bed Bath & Beyond Board of Directors may be the coolest thing we have seen in a long time.
There's all that, plus Blind Dutchmen, more Sesame Street references, and why ventriloquists don't have podcasts.
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.com
This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy
Sure, the pandemic has “accelerated digital trends” throughout retail, but what the heck does that phrase really mean? While it is easy to say, it is quite another thing to know what to do about it.
So Omni Talk is pleased to announce that Microsoft’s very own Chris Dieringer, Ricardo Belmar, and Sue McMahon and Adobe’s Taylor Schreiner joined Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga for the latest installment of their Omni Talk Ask An Expert Series to set the record straight.
Collectively the four of them go deep on:
- Adobe’s data-driven perspective on the biggest changes coming out of the pandemic
- Which changes are here to stay and their resulting impact on pricing, promotions, and media spend
- The shift from pre-purchase to post-purchase customer engagement and what it means for returns management and loyalty programming
- And, most importantly, the technology and tactics retailers can deploy to stay relevant with their consumers amid all the change.
Music by hooksounds.com
*Sponsored Content*
This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy
Buy Now, Pay Later is one of the hottest trends in retail right now, and, while most of the BNPL activity happens online, that is about to change . . . rapidly.
Because BNPL is now set to take over physical retail stores, too.
To help us understand how fast and just how easy it is to allow retail customers to pay in-store with BNPL, Sezzle’s very own Chris Bixby joined Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga for the latest installment of their Omni Talk Ask An Expert Series.
Collectively the three of them go deep on:
- “Virtual card” solutions
- Multi-use vs. single-use cards
- BNPL as a form of affiliate marketing for in-store purchases
- And, most importantly, just how easy it is to integrate BNPL into your bricks-and-mortar operations (newsflash: if you are already set up for Apple Pay, it is about as easy as it gets)
It is a conversation that is in-depth, fun, and, one guaranteed to give you an honest to god, easy and practical way to drive conversion inside your stores.
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:
- All the new curbside drive up features Target is testing, including ordering Starbucks and taking returns.
- Just how big of a leap forward Amazon putting its Just Walk Out technology into Whole Foods really is.
- Why Foot Locker expressing concern over its dwindling Nike sales may just be a sign of more bad news to come.
- How on earth Kroger entering another market virtually (without stores!!) received as little media coverage as it did this week.
- And closed with our thoughts on DoorDash brazenly placing retailers on its marketplace without their knowledge.
There's all that, plus Baby Banana Republic, Anne working herself into a lather, and our newest Omni Talk team member who is as Cozy As Fluff.
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.com
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, A&M's David Brown and Chad Lusk join Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga as they discuss:
- Amazon’s gobsmacking first-ever reported ad revenue figures.
- Another airport-based convenience retailer, this time a British one, WHSmith, licensing Amazon’s “Just Walk Out” tech in LaGuardia airport. How daft!
- Macy’s latest in store partnership that, let’s just say, left us in a bloody twist.
- DoorDash charging McDonald’s extra for making its delivery drivers just sit there faffing around while waiting too long for their orders
- And 7-Eleven’s new partnership with GrubHub that left me, for one, absolutely flummoxed.
There’s all that, plus our favorite handyman jobs around the house and “after-dark” teddy bears.
Yes, you read that last sentence right. It is a real thing.
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.com
This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy
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