In the latest edition of Omni Talk’s Retail Fast Five sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Avalara, Mirakl, Ownit AI, and Ocampo Capital, Chris Walton, Anne Mezzenga, along with guest hosts from the Alvarez & Marsal Consumer and Retail Group David Ritter and Chad Lusk discuss 2024’s Retail Awards. In this short, they break down the most laughable retail headlines of 2024, including Coach's misguided Roblox venture, Amazon's hype about ordering Pepsi on your phone while shopping at Whole Foods, Macy's contradictory store closure strategy, and Wayfair's controversial workplace culture statement.
Key Moments:
0:02 - Introduction to laughable headlines
0:10 - Coach's Roblox collection analysis
0:40 - Discussion of resource allocation in digital marketing
1:17 - Amazon's hype about ordering Pepsi on your phone while shopping at Whole Foods
2:17 - Macy's store closure contradiction
3:34 - Wayfair CEO's controversial email
4:15 - Impact analysis of poor leadership decisions
For the full episode head here: https://youtu.be/iyNND1vZe7A our retail experts
This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
Guys, the hype behind the Metaverse has disappeared.
Speaker B:
I think it's really hard to imagine the small number of people that are still on Roblox, mostly younger demographic, shopping a high end Coach release in the spring.
Speaker B:
I really don't think they're going to go buy a $500 bag off that they found on the Metaverse.
Speaker B:
And the reason that it's not the Metaverse that makes it it is literally how you allocate your resources.
Speaker B:
And for a company like Coach that has a limited amount of resources, I just think there's a much more pragmatic and cost effective way to deploy their resources to actually really drive digital awareness.
Speaker B:
It's just, it's the last place that I would invest if I was thinking about digital marketing or branding for a smaller apparel firm.
Speaker A:
Amen, brother.
Speaker A:
Amen.
Speaker A:
I love that you just said that.
Speaker A:
I love that you called that out.
Speaker A:
And what's yours?
Speaker C:
Mine was the Amazon headline about ordering Pepsi from the middle of a whole food store.
Speaker A:
Oh my God, how did I forget about that?
Speaker C:
I just cannot get over the idea that, I mean, there were a lot of Amazon grocery headlines this year that have me, that had me just in disbelief, but this is really the one for me.
Speaker C:
That's tops.
Speaker C:
Like, I just cannot imagine somebody doing that.
Speaker C:
Just put it in the damn aisle.
Speaker C:
I mean, at that point in time or, or, I don't know, it was ridiculous.
Speaker A:
Put it in the damn aisle.
Speaker A:
Like, throw me the damn ball.
Speaker A:
Put it in the damn aisle.
Speaker C:
I love that.
Speaker A:
That's a good one.
Speaker A:
That's a good one.
Speaker A:
Chad.
Speaker A:
Chad was like, Chad either has that same one or was thinking, that's a good one.
Speaker B:
What?
Speaker A:
What is it?
Speaker A:
That's it.
Speaker D:
That's a, that's a very good one.
Speaker D:
I remember when that one popped up and it was just so immaculately confusing.
Speaker D:
All right, so laughable headline.
Speaker D:
Let's see what we got here.
Speaker D:
Entry from David.
Speaker D:
This is good.
Speaker D:
All right.
Speaker D:
Macy's closes underperforming stores and some still stay open.
Speaker A:
Oh my God, that's a good one.
Speaker A:
Whatever does David Brown mean there, Chad?
Speaker D:
I mean, listen, struggle ishes here.
Speaker D:
You know, the, the, the, the momentum continues to work against them to the point earlier around store closures.
Speaker D:
Right?
Speaker D:
Macy's another victim.
Speaker D:
And you know, while we inherently believe in the.
Speaker D:
Sometimes you have to get smaller in order to grow the.
Speaker D:
The search for the value proposition there is still, you know, met.
Speaker D:
Met with peril.
Speaker D:
And, you know, it just seems like a continual downward spiral.
Speaker A:
Yeah, right.
Speaker A:
That might actually, that.
Speaker A:
That topic might come up later here in our last award too, just as a tease.
Speaker A:
All right, so, Anne, I.
Speaker A:
And I.
Speaker A:
I think you won.
Speaker A:
I'll just give mine really quickly, but I think you won again, this one as.
Speaker A:
As making that decision here, but mine was actually.
Speaker A:
And it technically happened like December 22nd of last year, which was recorded last year's award show.
Speaker A:
So that's okay, right?
Speaker B:
Yeah.
Speaker A:
Yes.
Speaker A:
Fits the statute of limitations, right?
Speaker A:
Yes.
Speaker A:
Okay.
Speaker A:
Okay, so my winner then is Wayfair's CEO's end of the year email gaff, where he encouraged people to work longer hours.
Speaker A:
And here's the quote for those that may not remember and you can decide for yourself.
Speaker A:
Quote, working longer hours, being responsive, blending work and life is not anything to shy away from.
Speaker A:
There's a lot.
Speaker A:
There's not a lot of history of laziness being rewarded with success.
Speaker A:
Hard work is an essential ingredient in any recipe for success.
Speaker A:
I embrace this, and most successful people I know do as well.
Speaker A:
End quote.
Speaker A:
That was from Wayfair CEO, and that sparked a hell of a lot of controversy on.
Speaker A:
On social media, and I think rightly so too, in my opinion.
Speaker C:
Oh, my gosh.
Speaker C:
Yeah, Man, I cannot believe that.
Speaker C:
Okay, well, let's see what happened for him.
Speaker C:
That'd be.
Speaker C:
It'd be good to look at the employment stats after that.
