Omni Talk Retail is a series of podcast productions hosted by leading omnichannel retail experts, Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga. Chris and Anne are the founders of Omnitalk Retail, one of the fastest growing media companies covering retail. Their signature podcast, the Omni Talk Fast Five dives into the top retail news headlines of the week, all in their own candid and humorous styles. Their Omni Talk Spotlight and Ask An Expert Series go deep via interviews with the companies, the people, ...
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Omni Talk Retail


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Fast Five | Amazon Style Debuts, Walmart Misfires (So Badly) On Drones, & Nordstrom Closes Its Trunk
40:52
In today's take no prisoners Omni Talk Retail Fast Five Podcast, sponsored by Microsoft, the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Takeoff, and Sezzle, Anne Mezzenga and Chris Walton:- Give their very early take on Amazon's new Amazon Style store.- Lambast Walmart from the high heavens for its drone announcement this week.- Laud Firework for its recent $1…
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Omni Talk Retail


Livestreaming, and specifically Firework, was the #1 hot topic coming out of Shoptalk this year.So Omni Talk Retail invited Firework CEO and Co-Founder Vincent Yang back to provide his mid-year report on the state of livestreaming across retail for the latest installment of our Ask An Expert Series.Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga get Vincent’s thoug…
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Omni Talk Retail


In the latest edition of the Omni Talk Retail Spotlight Video Series, Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga sit down with Signifyd’s CMO Indy Guha to learn all they can about the latest fiendish effort being used to defraud consumers, aka Account Takeover (or ATO, if you are in the know).Together they discuss:The rise of e-commerce and the increasing stra…
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Omni Talk Retail


In today's episode of the Omni Talk Retail Fast Five podcast, sponsored by Microsoft, the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Takeoff, and Sezzle, David Ritter and Michael Simoncic join Chris and Anne to discuss:What to make of Target and Walmart’s earnings this weekHow warm and fuzzy we should feel about Instacart’s IPO plansWhether Peloton planning to…
Amid the ever-increasing omnichannel nature of our retail experiences, it can be difficult to know how best to solve customer issues when they arise. It isn’t as simple as just having great person-to-person customer service anymore.So Omni Talk is pleased to announce that Talkdesk’s Genesis Miranda Longo, Head of Industry Marketing for Retail and C…
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Omni Talk Retail


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Spotlight Series | Turning Everything From Phones To Floor Scrubbers Into Smart Retail Devices
34:33
What devices in your store could be working harder for you?That is the question we posed to Scandit CTO and Co-Founder Christian Floerkemeier in our latest Omni Talk Retail Spotlight Series Podcast. Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga discuss with Christian:- How everything from an iPhone to a floor scrubber can become a smart data capturing device with…
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Omni Talk Retail


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Spotlight Series | Deploying Computer Vision In A Store Is One Thing, Scaling It Is Something Else
32:58
In the latest edition of the Omni Talk Retail Spotlight Series, Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga sit down with Rafay's CEO Haseeb Budhani and HP's VP of Retail and Industry Solutions Cory McElroy to dive deep into the topic of what it takes to scale computer vision implementations across thousands of store locations.Together they discuss:- How comput…
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Omni Talk Retail


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Fast Five | Starbucks In The Metaverse, Robots Delivering Ice Cream, & IKEAs You Can't Get Lost In?
35:00
In today's special Wednesday edition of the Omni Talk Fast Five podcast, sponsored by Microsoft, the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Takeoff, and Sezzle, Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga:- Discuss why IKEA's new store investment plans show just how smart of retailer IKEA is.- Laud Unilever for its bold move to deploy mobile ice cream stores with Robom…
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Omni Talk Retail


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Fast Five | Target 'Nails' It Again, While H-E-B Goes Big & Publix Nibbles On Instacart's Carrot
37:12
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:- Had a split opinion on Publix's new nano-fulfillment partnership with Instacart.- Both extolled the virtues of the one-stop shop and H-E-B's newest store concept down in Texas.- Praised Verizon for going…
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Omni Talk Retail


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Fast Five | Buy With Prime, American Eagle Makes ‘Frenemies,’ & Amazon’s Biggest Go Store Yet!
36:22
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 had a ball discussing:- Amazon’s newest suburban store Amazon Go concept, replete with made-to-order food, and whether it could one day soon evolve into “the gas station of the future.”- A really interesti…
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Omni Talk Retail


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:- Gave their hot take on Andrew Jassy’s first-ever letter to Amazon shareholders- Had mixed feelings on Lululemon’s new subscription program- Took a second to bash the Yankees as they discussed Caper Count…
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Omni Talk Retail


In this week’s Fast Five podcast, sponsored by Microsoft, the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Takeoff, and Sezzle, A&M’s Chad Lusk and Hemant Kalbag joined Anne as they debated:-An Earth Day Resale PR blitz from multiple retailers, including Target partnering up once again with ThredUP. -Zara’s new knockout high-tech, half-warehouse flagship store i…
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Omni Talk Retail


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Ask An Expert | Building A Network Within 3 Miles Of Every Customer With Purolator's Laurie Weston
31:58
Part of what makes the concept of omnichannel retailing so great is the idea that retail is now perpetual, i.e. always on and available to consumers whenever and however they want it. But, by definition then, doing it right requires unprecedented levels of flexibility within our retail supply chains.So Omni Talk is pleased to announce that Purolato…
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Omni Talk Retail


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Ask An Expert | How Meta Envisions The Future Of Retail With Meta VP of Commerce Emma Rodgers
35:23
To understand the future of commerce and words like the “metaverse,” it is important to place things in the proper context.So Omni Talk is pleased to announce that Meta’s VP of its Commerce Business, Emma Rodgers, joins Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga for the latest installment of their Omni Talk Ask An Expert Series to give her firsthand perspectiv…
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Omni Talk Retail


In the latest Women's Retail Collective Podcast Anne Mezzenga sits down with Meijer's Group Vice President, Marketing & Customer Strategy: Retail Media, E-Comm, Own Brand, Data Insights at Meijer Amanda McvayYou read that title right. Amanda wears a lot of hats and in fact, after 10 years at the company, Meijer created this job just for her. Amanda…
A&M's Jonathan Sharp gets hit with tough questions from Omni Talk Retail, as he shares the most important insights from the A&M Consumer & Retail Group's latest installment of their ongoing Consumer Sentiment Survey in just five minutes!To read the full survey, head here: https://alvarezandmarsal-crg.com/insi...*Sponsored Content*…
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Omni Talk Retail


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Ask An Expert | The Latest Data On Instacart with 1010data Chief Product Officer Jonah Ellin
28:45
Instacart dropped a big bomb recently, devaluing the company while, at the same time, announcing a new “platform” approach to their strategy going forward, and to say Anne and Chris are skeptical of the move, as many of you know, is an understatement.So we are pleased to bring you our latest in depth discussion with 1010data's Chief Product Officer…
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Omni Talk Retail


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Fast Five | Target Takes Food Stamps Online, Farfetch Finances Neiman, & Kroger Kicks It Up A Notch
28:36
In this week’s Fast Five video, sponsored by Microsoft, the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Takeoff, and Sezzle, Chris and Anne discuss:- Target accepting food stamps online- Farfetch’s investment in Neiman Marcus- JOOR and something called “Automated Attribution”- Kroger giving the restaurant supply business a go down in Texas- And closed with a ho…
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Omni Talk Retail


In this week’s Fast Five podcast, sponsored by Microsoft, the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Takeoff, and Sezzle, Chris and Anne discuss:- Using BNPL at the gas station- Instacart’s downright laughable new strategic positioning- Red Wing Shoes smartly getting ahead of the fit tech curve- Adidas giving Nike a lesson in long-tail marketplace influenc…
In this special Shoptalk edition of the Omni Talk Spotlight Series brought to you through the support of Meta, Anne Mezzenga sits down with DoorDash VP of Global Partnerships to dive deep into the DoorDash headlines the retail world has been buzzing about for the past year including:- The future of DashMart- Express Grocery Delivery with Albertsons…
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Omni Talk Retail


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Spotlight Series | Making Sure The Shoe Fits So You Can Wear It With Volumental CMO Brent Hollowell
35:47
Lululemon dropped its new shoe line last week, and none of that would have been possible without the help and support of Volumental's proprietary fit data, gleaned from millions upon millions of scans of people's feet.So Omni Talk is pleased to announce that one of the pioneers of fit technology in the shoe industry, Volumental's Chief Marketing Of…
Food waste, and particularly waste from fresh meats and vegetables, is a continued drag on grocers' bottom lines.So Omni Talk is pleased to announce that Afresh CEO Matt Schwartz joins Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga for a special Shoptalk Edition of the their ongoing Spotlight Series brought to you in partnership with Meta to share how his company …
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Omni Talk Retail


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 retur…
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Omni Talk Retail


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Fast Five | Amazon Fresh’s Net Zero Emission Mission & Anne’s Review Of Lululemon’s New Shoe
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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 i…
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Omni Talk Retail


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Fast Five | Twitter Shops & A Macy's Website Overhaul With A Side Of Starbucks Window Dressing
42:19
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…
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Omni Talk Retail


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Ask An Expert | 3 Mistakes To Avoid In Your Livestreaming Strategy With Firework CEO Vincent Yang
41:26
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 T…
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Omni Talk Retail


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Spotlight Series | The Practical Use Cases Of Visual AI With ViSenze CCO Brendan O'Shaughnessy
31:58
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 pract…
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Omni Talk Retail


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Fast Five | Amazon’s Pawns, Lululemon’s New Shoes, & Why Ryan Cohen Is Our New Favorite Activist
32:30
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 disa…
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Omni Talk Retail


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…
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…
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Omni Talk Retail


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Fast Five | Starbucks Curbside At Target, Amazon Go At Whole Foods, & DoorDash Brazenly Goes Rogue
38:49
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 F…
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 …
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Omni Talk Retail


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:- Why Domino's new marketing scheme to tip customers $3 for using order pickup is a big fat dud - Aldi's big U.S. store expansion plans- All the recent union troubles brewing at Starbucks- NYC bode…
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Omni Talk Retail


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Ask An Expert | An Open Discussion On IT Security With Qualcomm Global Head Of Retail IoT Art Miller
32:05
IoT devices in retail increased drastically within recent years, especially as the desire for digital and touchless solutions reached peak demand during the COVID-19 pandemic.And, as a result, while retailers have accelerated their digital transformation deployments at a record pace, all too often we see retailers driving IT purchases faster than I…
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Omni Talk Retail


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Women's Retail Collective Podcast | Kroger Director Principal Research Engineer Victoria Uti, PhD
24:50
In the latest Omni Talk Women’s Retail Collective Podcast Anne Mezzenga sits down with Kroger Director, Principal Research Engineer, Victoria Uti, PhD to hear her career story that begins in Nigeria as a young, self-taught computer programmer and entrepreneur, to her current role leading the development of AI technology for the largest grocer in th…
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Omni Talk Retail


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Fast Five | Chris Has Covid, Walmart Has RFID, & Why The WSJ Has It Wrong About Instant Delivery
32:39
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:- Why Walmart's RFID push into home goods is already the front runner for the omnichannel retailing headline of 2022. - All the reasons to be skeptical about Walmart's new store design in Springdal…
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Omni Talk Retail


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Fast Five | Amazon Style? Suburban Amazon Go? How's A Vertical Farm Like Walmart To Keep Up?
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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:- Who wore it better: Amazon Style or Amazon Go in the suburbs?- 7-Eleven's new 30 minutes or less subscription delivery program- Chris's utter distaste for the shareholder activists at Kohl's- Wal…
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Omni Talk Retail


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Spotlight Series | Orchestrating Delivery With Delivery Solutions Arshaad Mirza & Manil Uppal
14:48
In our latest Omni Talk Spotlight Series Podcast live from the Manifest Conference in Las Vegas, brought to you in association with 1010data, we are pleased to bring you Delivery Solutions Co-Founders Manil Uppal and Arshaad Mirza.Arshaad and Manil sit down with Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga to discuss what it feels like to be the pioneers of deli…
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Omni Talk Retail


In our latest Omni Talk Spotlight Series Podcast live from the Manifest Conference in Las Vegas, brought to you in association with 1010data, we are pleased to bring you ECU Worldwide Chief Transformation Officer Philip Blumenthal.Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga sit down with Philip to get his perspective on all things related to shipping products a…
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Omni Talk Retail


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Spotlight Series | Using Data To Stay Ahead Of Supply Chain Trends With 1010data CEO Inna Kuznetsova
21:34
In our latest Omni Talk Spotlight Series Podcast live from the Manifest Conference in Las Vegas, brought to you in association with 1010data, we are pleased to bring you 1010data CEO Inna Kuznetsova.Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga sit down with Inna to get her insightful and oftentimes hilarious take on why data collaboration holds they key to getti…
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Omni Talk Retail


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Spotlight Series | The Consumer Psychology of Ultra Fast Delivery with Buyk CEO James Walker
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In our first podcast to kickoff the Manifest Conference, brought to you in association with 1010data, we are pleased to bring you Buyk CEO James Walker.Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga sit down with James to get his take on what to make of the ultra fast delivery trend. Together, they discuss:- The consumer psychology involved- The importance of priv…
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Omni Talk Retail


As part of their Spotlight AI Series from the NVIDIA and Lenovo NRF Innovation Lab, Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga sat down with Vistry.AI Founder and CEO, Atif Kureishy, to learn how his company is leveraging Ai to improve the overall operations and consumer experience in the QSR industry. In this podcast, Atif does an excellent job of relaying al…
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Omni Talk Retail


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AI Spotlight | Why Computer Vision Beats Customer Surveys Every Time With Deep North's Tracy Benaman
15:00
As part of their Spotlight AI Series from the NVIDIA and Lenovo NRF Innovation Lab, Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga sat down with Deep North VP of Retail Sales, Tracy Benaman, to learn how her company leverages computer vision AI to observe consumer and employee journeys in a much more objective way than standard consumer or employee surveying. In t…
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Omni Talk Retail


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AI Spotlight | The Early Puts & Takes Of Checkout-Free Retail With Compass Digital Labs CTO Scott Wu
21:42
In what had to be one of our favorite podcasts on AI from the NRF Innovation Lab, Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga sat down with Compass Digital Labs CTO, Scott Wu, to learn how his massive company, the Compass Group, is looking to bring computer-vision based checkout-free retail to food service and the many micro-markets it is opening at an astonish…
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Omni Talk Retail


AI is helping retailers improve business agility in these unprecedented times. Using store analytics, retailers can understand consumer behavior and optimize processes for better shopping experiences and faster, contactless checkout in stores with improved ROI. But knowing where to start is always the big question. So we have brought together a sen…
In the first of our special weeklong Spotlight Series highlighting AI in retail, Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga interviewed Anand Muralidaran of NVIDIA and Andi Huels of Lenovo live from the NRF Innovation Lab.Anand is NVIDIA's Head of Global Growth Strategy and AI Business Development for Retail, Consumer Goods, and QSR, and Andi is Lenovo's Head …
How to fight online return fraud when all the players don't play by the same rules is a growing problem in retail.And nowhere was this more evident than this past holiday season when the overall rate of e-commerce returns increased and so, too, did the rate of online return fraud.Resident Omni Talk expert and retail commerce protection expert extra…
In this week’s Fast Five podcast, sponsored by Microsoft, the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Takeoff, and Sezzle, David Ritter and Jonathan Sharp of A&M join Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga as they discuss:- Walmart's porch delivery program.- Gopuff's overt move into private label.- Who made the bigger move in the checkout-free retail war this week:…
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Omni Talk Retail


In a special NRF edition of The Omni Talk Spotlight Series, sponsored by Cleveron, Firework, and Scandit, Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga sit down with Gopuff Co-CEO and Co-Founder Rafael Ilishayev.Gopuff started delivering a hundred or so products to college students back in 2013, today they're delivering over 4,000 SKUs in as little as 15-20 minut…
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Omni Talk Retail


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Spotlight Series | Licensing Physical Store Operations With Leap CEO & Co-Founder Jared Golden
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In a special NRF edition of The Omni Talk Spotlight Series, Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga sit down with Leap Co-founder and CEO Jared Golden to talk about how his company's proprietary platform helps retailers and brands take the "leap" in licensing the soup to nuts operations of their physical stores. From Mack Weldon to Ashley Stewart, Jared and…