RETHINK RETAIL

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Costco Hands Off Delivery as Kroger Bets on AI Sep 25, 2026

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Welcome to another edition of Retail Roundup. This is your weekly brief helping retail leaders decode the biggest shifts in retail, AI, and commerce. In this special in-person edition, recorded live at Groceryshop, Jeremy Goldman sits down with Michelle Evans (Euromonitor International), Andrea Leigh (Allume Group), and Virginia Marsh (Fluent) to unpack the biggest grocery stories breaking both on and off the show floor this week. Instacart's B2B Pivot Signals Delivery Is Becoming a Commodity Instacart just added Gopuff for 15-minute delivery, expanded its Dollar General deal, and rolled out real-time shelf-mapping software. With order growth slowing and delivery turning into a commodity, Instacart is building its moat elsewhere: enterprise data and an AI assistant, Clementine, widely regarded as the best in the category. Kroger's AI Assistant Is Already Producing Bigger Baskets Kroger EVP and CIO Yael Cosset announced on the Groceryshop stage that the company's new AI shopping assistant is driving bigger baskets. However, higher spend may reflect already-engaged super-users, not the AI itself. Even so, a well-timed recommendation can genuinely remind someone what they forgot, adding real value, even if the causation isn't proven yet. Costco Opens Its Doors to DoorDash and Uber Eats Uber Eats has expanded Costco delivery from 17 states to 47, and DoorDash now delivers from every US Costco warehouse. Handing off fulfillment to third parties sits awkwardly with a membership model built around owning the customer relationship, and risks quietly devaluing the membership itself. Diesel Prices Are Becoming Grocery's Next Inflation Threat US diesel prices have surged past $6.50 a gallon, up 77% year over year, with inventories at their lowest level since 1982. Retailers who can consolidate deliveries and build density into their truck routes may weather this better than most. Fuel surcharges might be a more palatable way to pass costs to shoppers than a straight price hike. Listen above for the full conversation, plus this week's WTF stories: an AI-referral ranking gap so large one pantry brand outperforms its actual sales rank by 23x, and the Converse ad that reminded everyone why you should show your creative to more than one set of eyes before it airs.

TIARA Sells by Teaching Buyers, Not Pitching Sep 23, 2026

Show notes

Zuly Matallana's brand has the kind of unpaid advocacy most founders spend years chasing: a Dragon's Den investor who still posts about the product, a Good Morning America feature, a celebrity's on-camera endorsement. None of it replaced the sales work. Matallana, Founder of TIARA, still sends samples to buyers herself. She still works trade show floors. She still cold-emails retailers with no guarantee anyone opens the message. TIARA was founded after Matallana lost her grandmother and aunt to breast cancer, a disease that affects roughly one in eight women in their lifetime. She decided the deodorant industry had never been forced to answer for its ingredient lists, and built a brand around that gap. On this episode of Global Lens, she joins Senior Retail Analyst Lavina Suthenthiran to discuss what moves product once advocacy is already in place. INSIDE THE EPISODE: Recognition opens the door; it doesn't walk through it for you Most founders treat advocacy as the finish line. Matallana treats it as a foot in the door. No matter the promotion, none of it replaces the trade show booth where she explains, ingredient by ingredient, why her formula is different. Credibility gets built one educated buyer at a time Matallana's sales pitch isn't the product. It's the ingredient list. She shows buyers exactly what's wrong with the deodorants already on their shelves, then makes the case for what should replace them. The founder is the advocate no one can outsource Not every brand puts its founder in the room, but TIARA does. Matallana stands in front of strangers to explain why an ingredient matters herself. It's slower than hiring it out, and it's why she's staying the face of the brand as it scales. Listen above for Matallana's take on why most personal care products were never formulated for women's bodies, and her early steps toward selling beyond North America.

Retail Media's Investment Gap and How to Close It Sep 21, 2026

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A new Rethink Retail series going inside the real strategies, real numbers, and real people building retail media from the ground up. In our debut episode, host Drew Cashmore, Chair of the Media in Retail Community, sits down with Austin Leonard, Vice President and General Manager of DG Media Network, to break down what it actually takes to build a retail media network and where this industry still has room to grow. INSIDE THE EPISODE: Retail media hasn't caught up to the rest of the investment story Core retail IT and martech have seen serious capital flow into them for years. Retail media hasn't seen the same investment yet, despite the precedent for it elsewhere. Proving this industry's importance, and its room to grow, is a job the whole space needs to take on together. This job isn't like other media jobs, and that's the point Coming from traditional media into retail media means rolling up your sleeves and learning an entirely different business, fast. The advice for anyone stepping into the space: be patient and impatient at the exact same time. 21,000+ stores aren't just footprint; they're the product Physical scale is the differentiator, not a byproduct. Leaning into what makes a retailer's stores unique shapes entirely different media products, and finding that "secret sauce" matters more than copying what works somewhere else. 🎧 Listen above to hear how Austin is building Dollar General’s Media Network playbook, one investment, one hire, and one differentiator at a time

AI's Existential Risk Debate Hits Retail's Radar Sep 18, 2026

Show notes

Welcome to another edition of Retail Roundup. This is your weekly brief helping retail leaders decode the biggest shifts in retail, AI, and commerce. In this week's episode, Jeremy Goldman sits down with Petr Lízner (Rohlik Group), Aidan Mittra (OrderGrid), and David Polinchock (Unified Brand Experience Lab) to unpack AI's growing safety debate, what it means to own the customer relationship as agents start shopping on our behalf, and where retail media is outpacing the core business. INSIDE THE EPISODE: The AI apocalypse debate isn't just a Silicon Valley conversation anymore An Anthropic researcher resigned this week, warning that frontier AI could pose existential risk within the decade. Separately, AI agents in a sandboxed test allegedly lied and self-terminated to cover their tracks. Both raise a real question for retail: how much should AI safety factor into decisions being made right now? AI shopping assistants have moved from experiment to expectation Instacart's Clementine and Shopify's Ask Shopify are turning prompts into ready-to-buy carts, and the data backs it up: AI-referred shoppers convert nearly 50% better, with 14% higher order values, per Shopify. Petr Lízner shares how Rohlik's own voice-enabled assistant, Maya, closed a customer's entire grocery order while he was driving, no typing required. Retail media is booming while grocery's core business isn't Kroger cut its full-year sales outlook to as low as 0.2% growth, even as Kroger Precision Marketing profit jumped 24%, its strongest growth since 2021. More grocers may be tempted to chase that same retail media playbook, even if it costs something in the in-store experience. Target's new "brand and guest experience" hire signals a bigger shift Target tapped former Hilton CMO Mark Weinstein to oversee brand, guest experience, Roundel, and Target Plus all at once. The real story may be treating loyalty and retail media as one connected discipline instead of two separate teams. Listen above for the full conversation on the trends making us rethink retail this week. Then check out "What's In Store," Renee Hartmann and Sharon Yourell Lawlor's new series, for a closer look inside Rohlik Group's own operations.

When Tariffs Hit, Calgary Co-op Doubled Down on Local Sep 16, 2026

Show notes

$27.6 billion in American goods now enters Canada facing a new tariff, 15%, 25%, or 50% depending on the product, as part of Canada's counter-tariffs on US goods. Dairy, general merchandise, and health and beauty are all caught in it, while Alberta's "Buy Alberta" campaign is pushing grocers to make Canadian products impossible to miss on the shelf For most retailers, that's a scramble. For Calgary Co-op, it's a confirmation. In this episode of the Global Lens podcast, Lavina Suthenthiran sits down with Walter Roth, Director, Digital Commerce & Retail Systems at Calgary Co-op, to find out what a sudden trade shock actually looks like on the ground, and why a 70-year-old, member-owned grocer says the tariffs haven't forced a single strategic pivot. INSIDE THE EPISODE: - Local sourcing isn't a response to tariffs; it's a head start Calgary Co-op was running "Best From the West" long before this trade war started: Alberta beef, Alberta chicken, Western Canadian goods, built into the business for years. So when tariffs hit, there was no scramble to relabel shelves. There was already a campaign running. - "Made in Canada" is a less reliable label than it looks "Made in Canada" turned out to be more complicated than a flag on a package. Some suppliers manufacture the same product in both countries so that identical packaging can carry a different origin week to week. Roth explains why Calgary Co-op built its strategy around regional sourcing instead of a label that couldn't always be trusted. - There's a fourth option beyond absorb, pass on, or swap Most retailers facing new tariffs pick from three familiar levers. Roth argues there's a fourth: wrap the product in enough customer education and experience that the tariffs become almost beside the point. Listen above to hear why Roth believes the real lesson, for any retailer, anywhere, is turning supply chain disruption into a customer story instead of a customer complaint.

How Seamless Tech Powers Human Connection Sep 14, 2026

Show notes

Retail technology has automated the back office for years, but the store floor has lagged, still running on manual gap scans and disconnected systems that pull associates away from the guest. Jerome Rose, SVP Strategic Sales at Vusion, and Mathew Toussaint, Vice President of Operational Processes & Labor, Guest Experience & Labor at The Fresh Market, join Jeremy Goldman to unpack how connected store technology can transform daily floor operations without losing the human connection at the center of the guest experience. INSIDE THE EPISODE: - Hospitality is the thing technology should protect, not perform. Technology should never try to perform hospitality. It should protect the conditions that make hospitality possible. Systems can monitor and prioritize. People still have to read the moment, care, and adapt. - A connected store isn't measured in devices. For Toussaint, a connected store starts with three things: the human experience, the operating condition, and the human return. The real test is whether technology absorbs the complexity backstage so the front-of-house experience stays calm, consistent, and personal. - Electronic shelf labels have outgrown pricing. ESLs increasingly do double duty. On the shopper-facing side, they've evolved into tools for merchandising and storytelling, sourcing, or wellness details beyond just a price. On the associate-facing side, many labels include a second screen entirely - one associates can flip to for real-time inventory levels without leaving the aisle. - Moving from hunting to acting changes what "available" means. Shelf availability and inventory aren't the same thing. A product can exist in the building and still not be available to a guest when they need it. Real-time shelf data lets teams detect, prioritize, replenish, and verify, instead of walking the aisle to find out what's already gone wrong. Listen above to hear how Vusion and The Fresh Market are approaching connected store technology as a way to give teams back their attention, not just their time.

Tariffs Hit Canada as AI Reshapes Product Discovery Sep 11, 2026

Show notes

Welcome to another edition of Retail Roundup. This is your weekly brief helping retail leaders decode the biggest shifts in retail, AI, and commerce. In this week's episode, Jeremy Goldman sits down with Kimberly Morgan (CEO & Founder, The Fashion Tech Exec) and Ricardo Belmar (Founder, Retail Razor) to unpack the trade pressures, AI shifts, and brand loyalty questions reshaping retail this week. INSIDE THE EPISODE: CANADA's TARIFFS ARE FORCING A DIVERSIFICATION RECKONING Canada's new tariffs are pushing brands to ask how much revenue they can safely risk on a single retail account like Ulta, Sephora, or Walmart. The panel argues that the same risk is already playing out with shoppers. Once someone trades down to a cheaper brand, they rarely trade back. AI IS MOVING UPSTREAM IN SHOPPING, AND NO ONE OWNS IT YET Shoppers are increasingly starting their search in ChatGPT or Claude instead of a retailer's own site, and Anthropic's new agent blueprints are accelerating that shift. The panel agrees there is no one platform anymore, and argues retailers need to focus on being discoverable everywhere, rather than trying to control where the search starts. ANTHROPOLOGIE's NIKE BET IS A MASTERCLASS IN CATEGORY EXPANSION A 30% jump in customers searching Anthropologie for sneakers led the retailer to add Nike, its largest footwear brand yet. The panel argues curated expansion like this builds loyalty, while growth without focus confuses shoppers. Listen above for the full conversation on the trends making us rethink retail this week.

China's Unichannel Model, Latin America's Opportunity Sep 09, 2026

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Unichannel isn't the next phase of omnichannel. It proves that omnichannel was never the finish line. In this episode of the Global Lens podcast series, host Lavina Suthenthiran speaks with Michael Zakkour, Founder & Chief Strategist of 5 New Digital, about the unichannel model he pioneered in China, retail's next growth market, and what makes a merger actually work. INSIDE THE EPISODE: - Omnichannel and multichannel were always the same thing The real goal was never more channels; it was one unified business behind them. Unichannel means no separate teams, budgets, or profits and losses for each channel, just one experience that feels consistent no matter where the customer shows up. -China built the model the rest of the world is still catching up to Alibaba fully integrated online, offline, supply chain, and media into one system, buying up department stores, grocery chains, and liquor retailers and folding them directly into its online business. That integrated model put Alibaba years ahead of Amazon at the time, and it's what most Western retailers are only now starting to build toward. - Latin America is the market to watch next Brazil, Mexico, and Central America are where real investment is happening now, driven by proximity to the US and a strong demand for modern retail infrastructure and expertise. -The strongest brands aren't the biggest, they're the best-prepared Right now, the strongest opportunity is in the lower middle market: brands between $4M and $100M in revenue that are already profitable. The advice for founders is simple: build your company as if you're exiting in four years, whether you plan to or not. Listen above for the case against omnichannel, why Latin America is retail's next big market, and why due diligence determines global expansion success.

The Scale Playbook: How Sonic Turned Different Into $2B Sep 08, 2026

Show notes

Scaling a brand and protecting what makes it distinct aren't the same goal, and knowing the difference separates lasting growth from quiet erosion. For 23 years as CEO of Sonic Corp, Clifford Hudson guided the drive-in chain through decades of growth and helped engineer one of the quick-service restaurant (QSR) industry's most successful digital reinventions. Now co-author of Bricks and Clicks: How We Drove Sonic Into the Digital Age, Hudson joins Jeremy Goldman to unpack what it takes to scale a brand without losing what makes it distinct. INSIDE THE EPISODE: - Scaling without sacrificing differentiation. Why growth efficiencies belong in the "plumbing": purchasing, distribution, and physical operations. The pair examines why cutting corners on customer-facing brand elements in the name of scale can quietly undermine the brand it was meant to strengthen operations. - How Sonic turned drinks and ice cream into a signature advantage. A menu overhaul drove 12% systemwide comps in its first year and a 40% increase in average store-level profitability. Sonic reached $1 billion in system sales in 1997, then $2 billion four years later. - The CUPID framework for evaluating new strategies. Customer, Users, Profit, Innovation, and Differentiation: A filter Hudson and co-author Craig Miller use to determine whether a new initiative is actually worth pursuing. - Technology should serve the brand, not the other way around. How leaders can bring AI and digital tools into their business in ways that augment the customer experience instead of reshaping the brand around the technology. "Companies really should dig in on why things are going right just as they do when things don't go well." Listen above to hear Hudson's perspective on building brand loyalty that lasts, and what today's retail leaders can learn from one of QSR's most enduring transformations.

Amazon Doubled Apparel Share. Shein's IPO Fell Sep 04, 2026

Show notes

Welcome to another edition of Retail Roundup. This is your weekly brief helping retail leaders decode the biggest shifts in retail, AI, and commerce. In this week’s episode, Jeremy Goldman sits down with Sky Canaves (Principal Analyst, EMARKETER), James Tenser (Storyteller-in-Chief, CPGMatters), and Lavina Suthenthiran (Senior Retail Analyst, RETHINK Retail) to discuss a shaky IPO, a widening apparel gap, and what's really building shopper trust in 2026. IN THIS EPISODE, THE PANEL BREAKS DOWN: - Shein's anticlimactic Hong Kong IPO. After years of regulatory setbacks in New York and London, Shein finally went public at roughly a quarter of its 2022 valuation. The panel unpacks why investor enthusiasm cooled and whether Shein's real long-term opportunity is less about fast fashion and more about becoming an AWS-style supply chain service for other brands. - Amazon's growing grip on apparel. Amazon's share of US clothing spend has doubled since 2019, while Walmart's has stayed flat. The group examines broader brand selection, easier returns, and an AI shopping assistant that's quietly reshaping how people discover what to buy. - Target's beauty reset draws scrutiny. Following its split from Ulta, Target's new in-house beauty assortment features just 2% Black-owned brands, a percentage that's raising questions given the company's prior commitments and recent DEI reversals. - Physical retail might be the best ad you're not counting. The group explores how a store's mere presence, even one a shopper never enters, can build the trust that drives online conversion. Listen now for the full conversation.

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