Omni Talk Retail
Omni Talk Retail provides news, analysis, and commentary on the latest trends and issues in the retail industry. It covers a wide range of topics related to retail, including e-commerce, technology, marketing, and consumer behavior. The podcast regularly features industry experts, Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga, as well as retail thought leaders who all share their insights and perspectives on the latest developments in retail.
Episodes
January 8, 2026 • 5 mins
This clip from the Omni Talk Retail Fast Five, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Ocampo Capital, Infios, Quorso, and Veloq, explores Kroger’s new discount initiative for SNAP recipients.
Chris and Anne discuss why affordability strategies matter more than ever, how grocers are approaching value differently, and whether programs like this can drive both loyalty and impact at scale.
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January 8, 2026 • 4 mins
This Omni Talk Retail Fast Five segment, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Ocampo Capital, Infios, Quorso, and Veloq, looks at Save Mart’s rollout of Amazon Returns kiosks across more than 140 stores.
Chris and Anne discuss what returns-as-traffic really means for grocers, whether this partnership helps or hurts store economics, and how physical retail keeps getting pulled deeper into Amazon’s ecosystem.
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January 8, 2026 • 7 mins
This segment of the Omni Talk Retail Fast Five, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Ocampo Capital, Infios, Quorso, and Veloq, features Chris and Anne closing out the show with rapid-fire takes on the lighter (and weirder) side of retail and culture.
The conversation jumps from LEGO’s smart brick ambitions to the rise of toxic mom groups online, plus the internet’s obsession with five-gallon popcorn buckets. Ch...
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January 8, 2026 • 4 mins
This segment of the Omni Talk Retail Fast Five, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Ocampo Capital, Infios, Quorso, and Veloq, dives into Schnucks’ reported 100% success rate stopping gift card fraud using Digimarc technology.
Chris and Anne explain why gift card fraud is exploding, why this solution actually works, and what other retailers can learn from Schnucks’ approach.
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January 8, 2026 • 7 mins
This segment of the Omni Talk Retail Fast Five, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Ocampo Capital, Infios, Quorso, and Veloq, breaks down Instacart’s decision to shut down its AI-driven pricing tests after consumer backlash.
Chris and Anne dig into why pricing transparency still matters, how quickly trust can erode, and what this means for AI-powered pricing across grocery and retail. A sharp conversation on w...
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January 8, 2026 • 5 mins
In this segment of the Omni Talk Retail Fast Five, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Ocampo Capital, Infios, Quorso, and Veloq, the team unpacks Amazon’s integration of instant meal shopping into browser-based Alexa+.
Chris and Anne debate whether this is true convenience or just more friction hiding behind AI, and what it signals about Amazon’s long-term grocery and agentic commerce ambitions.
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January 8, 2026 • 84 mins
Join Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga for their second annual NRF must-see tech preview, showcasing five breakthrough retail technologies solving critical operational challenges. From AI employees autonomously negotiating supplier contracts to overhead RFID achieving 99% inventory accuracy, discover the solutions delivering measurable ROI and transforming how retailers operate in 2026.
Featured companies and innovations:
• Gain - A...
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January 7, 2026 • 51 mins
In this week's Omni Talk Retail Fast Five, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Quorso, Infios, Ocampo Capital, and Veloq, Chris and Anne discussed:
Instacart ending its controversial price testing program (Source)
Kroger launching a new discount program for SNAP recipients (Source)
Amazon integrating instant meal shopping into browser-based Alexa Plus (Source)
Save Mart placing Amazon Returns kiosks across 140+...
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January 7, 2026 • 9 mins
In this 5 Insightful Minutes episode, Richard McKenzie, Chief Executive Officer at Veloq (a division of the Rohlik Group), joins Omni Talk to reveal how they've cracked the code on profitable online grocery delivery. From achieving 30% annual growth to maintaining an 88 NPS score, Richard breaks down how Rohlik delivers full-basket grocery in 3 hours profitably, why their automation approach succeeds where others have failed, and h...
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December 18, 2025 • 6 mins
This segment of the Omni Talk Retail Fast Five, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Ocampo Capital, Infios, and Quorso, analyzes Target's new permanent Soho store featuring "The Drop" rotating seasonal styles, a Broadway Beauty Bar, and influencer-curated selections.
Anne sees potential if Target can solve the technology and operational challenges needed to scale this concept, especially as Ulta departs Target ...
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December 18, 2025 • 5 mins
This segment of the Omni Talk Retail Fast Five, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Ocampo Capital, Infios, and Quorso, explores Amazon's reported plans to launch a Rush pickup service enabling one-hour order collection at Amazon-owned stores.
According to Business Insider, the service would let shoppers place unified orders from Amazon's marketplace and physical store inventory. Chris argues this is a road to ...
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December 18, 2025 • 8 mins
This segment of the Omni Talk Retail Fast Five, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Ocampo Capital, Infios, and Quorso, examines Consumer Reports' investigation revealing Instacart's AI-powered pricing experiments that resulted in price variations up to 23% between customers.
Chris and Anne debate whether algorithmic pricing is acceptable for essential categories like grocery, especially as consumers gain acces...
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December 18, 2025 • 5 mins
This segment of the Omni Talk Retail Fast Five, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Ocampo Capital, Infios, and Quorso, examines Ashley Furniture's groundbreaking partnership with Perplexity that enables complete transactions—from product recommendations to payment—in one conversation.
Chris loves this move, calling it brilliant because Ashley can bypass marketplaces and leverage its brand recognition directly ...
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December 18, 2025 • 4 mins
This segment of the Omni Talk Retail Fast Five, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Ocampo Capital, Infios, and Quorso, features Chris and Anne tackle the fun side of retail as we head into NRF 2026.
Ryan Reynolds keynotes NRF this January... Chris shares the one question he'd ask about Blake Lively's best film role. Anne reveals her son's elaborate Google Slides pitch for an F1B goldendoodle and her puppy yoga...
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December 18, 2025 • 6 mins
This segment of the Omni Talk Retail Fast Five, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Ocampo Capital, Infios, and Quorso, unpacks November's stunning $12.3 billion in online grocery sales—the second time monthly sales topped $12 billion.
Chris is gobsmacked by consumers choosing the more expensive delivery option despite budget constraints, while Anne attributes growth to improved curbside pickup experiences and ...
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December 17, 2025 • 55 mins
In this week’s Omni Talk Retail Fast Five, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Ocampo Capital, Infios, and Quorso, Chris and Anne discussed:
Amazon’s planned “rush” pickup service for one-hour order collection (Source)
Instacart’s AI-enabled pricing experiments that may be inflating grocery bills (Source)
November’s record-breaking $12.3 billion in online grocery sales (Source)
Target’s new SoHo store concept f...
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December 17, 2025 • 9 mins
In this 5 Insightful Minutes episode, David Dorf, Head of Retail Industry Solutions at AWS, joins Omni Talk to cut through the AI hype and reveal what's actually coming for retail in 2026.
From LLM limitations to agentic commerce reality checks, David breaks down why domain-specific models are replacing frontier model fantasies, how answer engines will reshape search, and why shopping agents will start with your grocery delivery. ...
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December 15, 2025 • 37 mins
Specialty retailers keep asking us: handheld scanners or overhead readers? So we settled it the only way we know how: with a knockdown, dragout debate between two RFID experts.
In this Retail Technology Spotlight, Anne Mezzenga moderates as Madalynn Lauria (Team Handheld) and Pareiya Gupta (Team Overhead) from GreyOrange make their cases for the best RFID solution. From proving ROI on a tight budget to cutting inventory counts fro...
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December 11, 2025 • 6 mins
Chris, Anne, and Chad reveal their Technology of the Year picks in this segment sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Ocampo Capital, Infios, and Quorso.
Chad champions pricing transparency tools like Grocery Dealz that could disrupt grocery economics, Anne argues electronic shelf labels finally reached mainstream adoption after Walmart's chain-wide rollout, while Chris focuses on operational agentic AI transform...
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December 11, 2025 • 6 mins
Chad Lusk from A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Chris, and Anne debate Retailer of the Year in this segment sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Ocampo Capital, Infios, and Quorso.
Chad champions Aldi's unprecedented 225-store expansion and perfect timing with value-conscious consumers, while Anne argues Walmart's technology leadership and fashion momentum earned them the crown. Chris makes the case for Costco's o...
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