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.
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Welcome to Omni Talk's Retail Daily Minute, sponsored by R&S Logistics, ZenlineAI, and Mirakl.
In today's Retail Daily Minute, Omni Talk's Chris Walton discusses:
The Retail Daily Minute has been rocketing up the Feedspot charts, so stay informed with Omni Talk's Retail Daily Minute, your source for the latest and most important retail news.
Welcome to Omni Talk's Retail Daily Minute, sponsored by R&S Logistics, ZenlineAI, and Mirakl.
In today's Retail Daily Minute, Omni Talk's Chris Walton discusses:
The Retail Daily Minute has been rocketing up the Feedspot charts, so stay informed with Omni Talk's Retail Daily Minute, your source for the latest and most important retail news.
This week we come to you live from Las Vegas at Groceryshop 2026. Omni Talk contributor and the host of GrocerTalk, Ben Miller, joins me for this week's Fast Five, recorded right from the trade show floor in the Vusion podcast studio, built specifically for us by our friends there.
In this week's lightning round, Chris Walton puts Ben Miller on the hot seat with questions ranging from which retailer deserves its own television drama to which words he would add to or remove from the dictionary.
Watch the full Omni Talk Retail Fast Five, sponsored by The A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Quorso, Ocampo Capital, Veloq, and R&S Logistics, here: https://youtu.be/6RQVw_X_fqs
This week we come to you live from Las Vegas at Groceryshop 2026. Omni Talk contributor and the host of GrocerTalk, Ben Miller, joins me for this week's Fast Five, recorded right from the trade show floor in the Vusion podcast studio, built specifically for us by our friends there.
Meta Lab is nearly doubling its retail footprint with six new locations, alongside a plan to open 50 shop-in-shops at Best Buy by the end of the year. Is the future bright for smart glasses?
Watch the full Omni Talk Retail Fast Five, sponsored by The A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Quorso, Ocampo Capital, Veloq, and R&S Logistics, here: https://youtu.be/6RQVw_X_fqs
This week we come to you live from Las Vegas at Groceryshop 2026. Omni Talk contributor and the host of GrocerTalk, Ben Miller, joins me for this week's Fast Five, recorded right from the trade show floor in the Vusion podcast studio, built specifically for us by our friends there.
Toys R Us is opening 120 new standalone stores this holiday season, bringing its total footprint to 160 locations. The new stores will also feature Creator Studios, cafes, and candy shops. Do you think we will see more or fewer Toys R Us stores in 2027?
Watch the full Omni Talk Retail Fast Five, sponsored by The A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Quorso, Ocampo Capital, Veloq, and R&S Logistics, here: https://youtu.be/6RQVw_X_fqs
This week we come to you live from Las Vegas at Groceryshop 2026. Omni Talk contributor and the host of GrocerTalk, Ben Miller, joins me for this week's Fast Five, recorded right from the trade show floor in the Vusion podcast studio, built specifically for us by our friends there.
Harps Food Stores just named its first-ever Director of AI Strategy and Innovation, promoting a homegrown meat and seafood category manager into the role. Is promoting from within the right way for a regional grocer to move forward on AI?
Watch the full Omni Talk Retail Fast Five, sponsored by The A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Quorso, Ocampo Capital, Veloq, and R&S Logistics, here: https://youtu.be/6RQVw_X_fqs
This week we come to you live from Las Vegas at Groceryshop 2026. Omni Talk contributor and the host of GrocerTalk, Ben Miller, joins me for this week's Fast Five, recorded right from the trade show floor in the Vusion podcast studio, built specifically for us by our friends there.
Costco is now available nationwide on both DoorDash and Uber Eats, giving members another way to get same-day delivery from nearly all of its U.S. warehouses. Is Costco smartly meeting members where they are, or handing delivery apps more of its best customers?
Watch the full Omni Talk Retail Fast Five, sponsored by The A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Quorso, Ocampo Capital, Veloq, and R&S Logistics, here: https://youtu.be/6RQVw_X_fqs
This week we come to you live from Las Vegas at Groceryshop 2026. Omni Talk contributor and the host of GrocerTalk, Ben Miller, joins me for this week's Fast Five, recorded right from the trade show floor in the Vusion podcast studio, built specifically for us by our friends there.
Walmart+ just added CITGO to its Gas Savings benefit, growing the program from 13,000 to more than 17,000 participating stations nationwide while keeping the annual membership price at $98. Is fuel becoming the stickiest perk in retail membership?
Watch the full Omni Talk Retail Fast Five, sponsored by The A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Quorso, Ocampo Capital, Veloq, and R&S Logistics, here: https://youtu.be/6RQVw_X_fqs
What a few days at Groceryshop 2026. If you weren’t in Las Vegas for the show, this conversation is about as close as you can get to catching up on what mattered.
Recorded live on stage at Groceryshop 2026, Ben Miller, host of GrocerTalk, brings together Chris Walton, President and CEO of Omni Talk Retail, Deborah Weinswig, Founder and CEO of Coresight Research, and Kelly Lindenau, Content Director at Groceryshop, to break down what actually stood out from a week packed with big ideas, big announcements and a whole lot of talk about the future of grocery.
The conversation gets into the questions retailers are wrestling with right now. Where is agentic commerce really going? Is disintermediation becoming the bigger threat? What happens when the LLM starts to become the store? And with shoppers demanding less friction, faster decisions and better value, what does that mean for pricing, private label, marketplaces and the physical store?
Chris, Deborah, Kelly and Ben also trade their favorite AI use cases, stats, quotes and technology takeaways from the show, including why the most important technology on display may not have been the flashiest. They debate what retailers should actually be paying attention to, what might be overhyped, and what could have a real impact on the way people shop.
In this episode:
• Why agentic commerce is still a big question mark for grocery
• The growing threat of disintermediation and what retailers can do about it
• What it means if the LLM becomes the store
• Why “speed of shopping” may matter just as much as speed of delivery
• How marketplaces are changing where and how consumers shop
• Why pricing transparency could change the competitive landscape
• The growing power of private label and retailer-owned brands
• What supermarkets need to do to give shoppers a reason to come back
• The most interesting practical AI use cases from Groceryshop 2026
• The technology, stats and quotes that actually stuck with the panel
• What the group thinks retailers should be watching as we head toward 2027
🎧 Subscribe to Omni Talk for more conversations with the leaders shaping grocery and retail.
Live from the Vusion podcast studio at booth 913 at Groceryshop 2026 in Las Vegas, Ben Miller connects with Katie Blackburn, Vice President - Commercial Strategy & Operations at WHSmith North America, for a GrocerTalk conversation on the evolving world of travel retail and the changing needs of airport shoppers.
Katie breaks down how WHSmith North America operates roughly 300 stores across around 50 U.S. airports, using localized concepts and curated assortments to serve travelers with very different shopping missions. From quick, convenient purchases like chargers and hydration to discovery-driven shopping experiences, the conversation explores how WHSmith balances speed and efficiency with exploration and engagement.
The discussion also dives into WHSmith North America’s growing retail media network, including its investment in digital in-store screens and new programmatic capabilities developed in partnership with SMG. Katie also shares what’s ahead for WHSmith North America in 2027, including a planned accelerator program designed to help emerging brands reach the millions of passengers traveling through U.S. airports.
In this episode:
• WHSmith North America’s travel retail business
• The different shopper missions shaping airport retail
• Balancing speed, convenience and discovery
• Self-checkout and the changing checkout experience
• Curated merchandising in high-traffic environments
• WHSmith North America’s retail media network
• Programmatic advertising across physical store environments
• Digital screens and in-store brand engagement
• What’s ahead for WHSmith North America in 2027
• A new accelerator program for emerging brands
🎧 Subscribe to Omni Talk for more conversations with the leaders shaping grocery and retail.
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