Shownotes
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 push to add mainstream brands like Pepsi and Doritos to Whole Foods through ShopBots and Amazon Grocery kiosks (Source: Wall Street Journal)
- Starbucks crossing the $1 billion milestone in annual delivery sales with 30% quarterly growth (Source: CNBC)
- Mondelez investing $40 million in a generative AI tool to slash marketing costs by 30-50% (Source: Reuters)
- Kroger expanding its Uber Eats partnership to integrate restaurant delivery directly into the Kroger app across 2,600+ stores (Source: Chain Store Age)
- Grubhub partnering with Instacart to offer grocery delivery through its platform nationwide (Source: Supermarket News)
And this month, Chris and Anne handed out the OmniStar Award in partnership with Quorso to Justin Weinstein, EVP and Chief Merchandising and Marketing Officer at Giant Eagle, for leading the 95-year-old retailer's bold $100 million "Because It Matters" brand positioning.
There's all that, plus a debate on whether AI-generated ads are the future, why ordering dinner through your grocery app makes perfect sense, and whether hand massages would get Chris into John Lewis for holiday shopping.
Music by hooksounds.com
#RetailNews #WholeFoods #StarbucksDelivery #RetailTech #GenerativeAI #KrogerUberEats #RetailPodcast #OmniTalk #Mondelez #GrubhubInstacart #RetailInnovation #CoffeeDelivery
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Transcripts
This episode of the OMNITALK Retail Fast 5 is brought to you by the A and M Consumer and Retail Group.
Speaker A:The A and M Consumer and Retail Group is a management consulting firm that tackles the most complex challenges and advances its clients, people and communities towards their maximum potential.
Speaker A:CRG brings the experience, tools and operator like pragmatism to help retailers and consumer products companies be on the bright side of disruption and Miracle, the catalyst of Commerce.
Speaker A:Over 450 retailers are opening new revenue streams with marketplaces, dropship and retail media and succeeding.
Speaker A:With Miracle, you can unlock more products, more partners and more profits without the heavy lifting.
Speaker A:What's holding you back?
Speaker A:Visit Miracle.com to learn more.
Speaker A:That's M I R A K L.com and Corso.
Speaker A:Your stores are full of data, but are your teams acting on it?
Speaker A:Corso turns retail data into personalized daily to dos that drive sales, reduce waste and improve execution.
Speaker A:No fluff, just action.
Speaker A:Help your managers focus on what matters most.
Speaker A:Visit corso.com to see Intelligent management in motion and Infios.
Speaker A:At Infios, they unite warehousing, transportation and order management into a seamless, adaptable network.
Speaker A:Infios helps you stay ahead from promise to delivery and every step in between.
Speaker A:To learn more, visit infios.com and finally, Ocampo Capital.
Speaker A:Ocampo Capital is a venture capital firm founded by retail executives with the aim of helping early stage consumer businesses succeed through investment and operational support.
Speaker A:Learn more@ocampo capital.com hello, you are listening to Omnitalks.
Speaker A:Retail Fast Five ranked in the top 10% of all podcasts globally and currently the only retail podcast ranked in the top 100 of all business podcasts on Apple Podcasts.
Speaker A:The Retail Fast five is the podcast that we hope makes you feel a little smarter, but most importantly, a little happier each week too.
Speaker A:And the Fast 5 is just one of the many great podcasts you can find from the Amitak Retail Podcast Network alongside our Retail Daily minute, which brings you a curated selection of the most important retail headlines every morning and our Retail Technology Spotlight series which goes deep each week on the latest retail technology trends.
Speaker A: ,: Speaker A:I'm one of your hosts, Ann Mazinga.
Speaker B:And I'm Chris Walton and we're here.
Speaker A:Once again to discuss all the top headlines from the past week making waves in the world of omnichannel retailing.
Speaker A:Now, Chris, before we get into the show, this this thing has been a topic of conversation in our house.
Speaker A:Every dinner that we've with friends over Halloween we talk a lot about artificial intelligence on this, on the show, but I have to ask, have you seen this?
Speaker A:Neo personal assistant, human, humanoid robot.
Speaker A:It's $20,000.
Speaker A:Do you know anything about this?
Speaker B:No, I haven't, but I'm gonna.
Speaker B:I'm gonna quick look it up here as you're talking.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Describe it to me as I look it up.
Speaker A:So for those listening, it.
Speaker A:This is basically.
Speaker A:It looks so a character out of a horror movie with, like, no face, like a fencing mask on.
Speaker A:It's $20,000.
Speaker A:And now you can hire them.
Speaker A:It's first round, but, like, you can hire them to do laundry.
Speaker A:You can hire them to, like, do personal tasks.
Speaker A:They can do, like, cleaning tasks.
Speaker A:Let your dog out.
Speaker A:I mean, whatever you want it to do.
Speaker A:Like, you are programming it.
Speaker A:It's the first version.
Speaker A:But, like, people are actually buying these things.
Speaker A:And since you have an Alexa, like, this is where we were getting with our.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Like, this is the next step past Alexa.
Speaker A:Perhaps.
Speaker A:I won't even let an ALEXA in my home.
Speaker A:So I have to know, like, as somebody who lives and dies by Alexa, would you go to this next level?
Speaker A:Like, if.
Speaker A:If you were gifted a Neo robot, would you bring it into your home?
Speaker B:Oh, 100%.
Speaker B:Looking at it.
Speaker B:100%.
Speaker B:I would add, who let the dogs out?
Speaker B:Neil the robot.
Speaker B:100%.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Now, granted, seeing what I'm seeing online as you're talking about, this is the creepiest freaking thing I've ever seen in my life.
Speaker B:It's like a horror movie waiting to happen.
Speaker B:Like, when NEO goes bad, you know, or Neo goes rogue, but yes.
Speaker B: Yeah, man,: Speaker A:Or when Neo accident accidentally shows up in your room in the middle of the night and is, like, hovering over you, waiting for a command, like Adam.
Speaker B:Goldberg and Friends with Chandler, like, just staring at you.
Speaker B:Yeah, but, like.
Speaker B:But I mean, $20,000 seems really steep, but, like, if the value's there and it can clean my house and the pictures online of.
Speaker B:Are it scrubbing my toilets?
Speaker B:Yes, please.
Speaker A:I mean, oh, my gosh.
Speaker B:Maybe if the price came down and the value in the utility was there.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I was confident.
Speaker B:Was it going to, like, you know, attack me in the middle of the night while I'm sleeping?
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:And I. I imagine I don't have safety protocols involved in this, but.
Speaker B:But, yeah, 100%.
Speaker B:I would.
Speaker C:You.
Speaker B:Would you want a cylinder onto your counter?
Speaker B:And so I know you're not.
Speaker A:I don't.
Speaker A:I don't want my.
Speaker A:I don't.
Speaker A:I don't love that my phone listens to me.
Speaker A:I don't love that any.
Speaker A:I mean, even ChatGPT is listening to me and is serving up all kinds of results for things that I didn't ask for.
Speaker A:So no, I would absolutely not.
Speaker A:I will not be part of the pilot program for this $20,000 humanoid robot.
Speaker A:There's no way in hell.
Speaker B:Well, and you know who else is listening to you?
Speaker B:Our Omni Talk fans.
Speaker A:Oh, my gosh.
Speaker A:That's fine.
Speaker A:That's fine.
Speaker A:I know what I'm saying to them for the most part.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Well, Chris, it is also the first show of the month, which means that we need to award this month's Omni Star.
Speaker A:So, Chris, tell us who won the month of November, please.
Speaker B:Yes, and of course, yes.
Speaker B:Thanks for the reminder for those news.
Speaker B:The pot new to the podcast.
Speaker B:The Omnistar Award is of course the award we give out each month in partnership with Corso to recognize the omnichannel operators out there.
Speaker B:The top omnichannel operators out there, I should say, not the pundits, not the so called experts.
Speaker B:There's a lot of that going on right now, but the real life retail operators making a difference in their organizations.
Speaker B:Corso's AI copilot, you might recall, coaches retail leaders to optimize store performance at every level, transform retail operations from data overload into data powered.
Speaker B:And in this month, we are excited to give the award to Justin Weinstein, the EVP and chief merchandising and Marketing officer at Giant Eagle.
Speaker B:Justin is winning this month's award for the bold work he is doing leading 95 years old.
Speaker B:95 years old, and Giant Eagles $100 million because it matters.
Speaker B:New brand positioning, campaign and work effort.
Speaker B:So congratulations, Justin, on being named this month's Omni Star.
Speaker B:All right, Ed, should we get to the headlines?
Speaker A:Let's do it.
Speaker B:In this week's Fast5, we've got news on the surprising size of Starbucks delivery business Mondelez aggressive use and investment in generative AI, Kroger and Uber Eats.
Speaker B:New partnership that integrates restaurant delivery right into the Kroger app grubhub now enabling grocery delivery via, yes, Instacart.
Speaker B:And in a new segment, we are calling which headline won the week?
Speaker B:Producer Ella will join us at the end of the show to discuss which headline discussion piqued her interest the most.
Speaker B:But we begin today with big news from the Wall Street Journal surrounding Amazon.
Speaker A:And that's right, headline number one, the Amazonification, which is a new word that apparently we all need to have in our dictionaries.
Speaker A:The Amazonification of Whole Foods may now be closer than it has ever appeared before.
Speaker A:According to the Wall Street Journal, Amazon is shaking up the natural foods groceries with robots in the back room and Pepsi outside the exit in its push for a bigger slice of the supermarket business.
Speaker A:For example, a new feature lurks in the back room of a Whole Foods Market in suburban Philadelphia called the Shopbots, a group of robots that fetch Tide Pods and Pepsi for shoppers who aren't fully satisfied by Whole Foods selection of organic kale and craft beer.
Speaker A:In the beverage section, shoppers face a selection of prebiotic sodas free of GMOs and artificial colors.
Speaker A:However, if you they really just want a Pepsi, they can pull out their phones, open the Amazon app and ask.
Speaker A:And the shop bots will spring into action.
Speaker A:The soda will be ready to pick up in minutes.
Speaker A:And in a separate trial in Chicago, the Pepsi is even more visible there.
Speaker A:Amazon has cleared their coffee shop and seating area in the city's flagship Whole Foods, installing in its place a 3,800 square foot grocery kiosk called Amazon Grocery, filled with brands like, like Kraft Mac and Cheese and Chips Ahoy.
Speaker A:Chris, as the biggest Doritos and Pepsi fan out there, are you buying or selling the idea that Amazon intends to allow us to buy both of those things at Whole Foods in the long term?
Speaker B:I think I am buying that.
Speaker B:That is the ultimate plan here.
Speaker B:And I'm curious what you think.
Speaker B:This story is really, really interesting to me.
Speaker B:I mean, we talked about it a while back on our show that they were contemplating testing this and I guess now it's live.
Speaker B:And the funny thing I think is like the 3,600 foot square foot kiosk, that's not a kiosk, that's a fricking convenience store at that size.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker B:So like, so like makes me think that these tests, you know, that, that Amazon's moving in this direction because these tests are so strange that it feels to me like someone at Amazon probably sat down at one point in time and wrote a vaunted Amazon press release of what if you could get Whole Foods products and your average grocery store products all in the same trip?
Speaker B:Imagine that world.
Speaker B:And so when you put it that way, I can see the allure of the concept because that idea just doesn't exist in the marketplace.
Speaker B:But in my opinion, as I've said before, there's a reason for that.
Speaker B:It's because the mass market doesn't want it.
Speaker B:If it did, the buyers at Walmart, Target and Kroger would devote more of their shelf space to what Whole Foods actually sell.
Speaker B:So if I play this out, all roads lead down the same path.
Speaker B:To me, that over time, Whole Foods looks less like we know it today and more like your average grocery store with no real points of competitive differentiation.
Speaker B:Now, with that said, I can get behind the milk with my electronics idea that Andrew Jassy was, you know, purporting to talk about in the media last week.
Speaker B:Given where Whole Foods stores are and where they're located, that could be valuable in and of itself to Amazon for the online delivery business.
Speaker B:So I have to consider that.
Speaker B:But the whole thing, at the end of the day, makes me very, very sad because if any of what I said is true, Amazon is essentially destroying a once proud brand and a brand that in my opinion, could still thrive in the marketplaces on its own and for its own purpose of its design.
Speaker A:Yeah, I mean, I think they, they have even more of a chance to thrive.
Speaker A:They're an established brand.
Speaker A:And when you look at some of the competitors out there of Trader Joe's and Sprouts and other, other spaces in their, in their same kind of organic, best quality food and produce space, I think the Whole Foods has the best chance to do that.
Speaker A:And I think the other thing that this, this makes me wonder is like Sprouts and Trader Joe's, we've talked to their teams at length and they know they're an extra trip.
Speaker A:Whole Foods knows it's an extra trip for most people.
Speaker A:And if they want the Doritos, they want the Pepsi.
Speaker A:All of that is shelf, stable stuff that's easy to order online through a variety of other places or.
Speaker A:I, I was thinking last night about the use cases, like if you're a Whole Foods shopper and that's where you get all your food, what, what are those times where you're really going to get the Doritos and the Pepsi?
Speaker A:Maybe it's a Super bowl party, maybe it's what?
Speaker A:Whatever.
Speaker A:Like, right, that's not a common thing that you're doing.
Speaker A:And so in that case, like, why wouldn't you just make a trip to a Target so you can get all the things that you need in that scenario?
Speaker A:So I, I think that this is just a really disappointing decision for Amazon to make with the Whole Foods brand that's been so beloved and so established for so long.
Speaker A:And you know, I think like you said, if this starts to go the direction where they're just merging everything together, there's nothing as a shopper for me.
Speaker A:There's no reason for me to go to that Whole Foods.
Speaker A:It's more expensive like it there.
Speaker A:I can just, I can go to Aldi, I can go to Walmart, I can go to all these other places and get those things.
Speaker A:If you're not going to stick to what really was at your core and why I go to Whole Foods.
Speaker A:So the one last thing I'd say too is I think this also will start to put more onus on the shopper.
Speaker A:Because when I go into Whole Foods right now, for the most part I know like my ingredients are clean source.
Speaker A:Like, I don't have to think about it now if you start adding Doritos and Pepsi and all kinds of other stuff to your aisles.
Speaker A:Now I have to spend time in the aisles trying to discern like, what are the ingredients in this product, Are they clean?
Speaker A:Are they going to be like locally sourced?
Speaker A:Now I have more work to do.
Speaker A:So I'm just.
Speaker A:Can you tell I'm not, not a big fan of what I am?
Speaker B:Yeah, I can't tell you're not a big fan.
Speaker B:Although I do want to push you a little bit because you didn't actually answer the question.
Speaker B:You're not a fan of the idea.
Speaker B:But the question that you asked me was actually, do you think Amazon is going to do this in the long run?
Speaker B:If you had to guess right now, is this what they're doing or is this the Wall Street Journal just running with a test and trying to, you know, get it salacious as the Amazon ification as you described in the beginning?
Speaker B:What do you think?
Speaker A:I do think that this is what the Amazon's doing.
Speaker A:I think they think that they have to make this is like the last ditch effort for the grocery business, that of Amazon and, and they're going to turn Whole Foods into what they wanted Amazon Grocery to be.
Speaker A:And I just, I don't think it's going to work.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:We both thought the same thing.
Speaker B:All right, headline number two, coffee delivery is now a $1 billion business for Starbucks.
Speaker B:Who knew?
Speaker B: ossed the Milestone in fiscal: Speaker B:In the company's fiscal fourth quarter, delivery sales climbed in almost 30% compared with the year ago, period.
Speaker B:Executive said 30%.
Speaker B:And deliveries growing 30% at Starbucks.
Speaker B:And I'm curious, does the fact that Starbucks now sells a billion dollars of coffee a year via delivery change your thinking on Brian Nichols turnaround strategy?
Speaker A:No.
Speaker A:I still think if anything, this tells you you need to automate the hell out of your business.
Speaker A:You need to figure, you need to like shift gears from this like coffee shop experience and look at the potential growth on your hands here.
Speaker A:Bring back the pickup only stores don't even put a storefront in front of them.
Speaker A:They could just be ghost kitchen coffee making operations where everything's automated so that you can get things to customers quickly.
Speaker A:And that's because they know they're going to get exactly what they want every single time they order Starbucks, not just for coffee, but also food.
Speaker A:They said 40% of these orders are including food because you have to help people justify those delivery costs.
Speaker A:And I think what this is showing me is that it already is being delivered and accurately and in good condition.
Speaker A:Like the coffee still hot.
Speaker A:So how do you keep that engine going?
Speaker A:And that to me is what I would be focused on if I was Brian Nichol and team at Star at Starbucks.
Speaker A:But what, what about you?
Speaker A:I mean, does this change?
Speaker A:You're, you're pro coffee shop where, what do you think this has?
Speaker A:What impact do you think this has?
Speaker B:I am, but I am, but I think I'm changing.
Speaker B:I'm coming to come into your side a little bit more.
Speaker B:I think there's some nuance to the argument though.
Speaker B:But like I think this is the bullet in the chamber for your argument, for what you've long espoused on this show.
Speaker B:You know, because with 30%, that's just, that just tells me 30% growth rate and delivering a billion dollar business, that just tells me, like you said, there's just a hell of a lot of people that want their coffee.
Speaker B:They don't want the Starbucks experience.
Speaker B:It's absolutely meaningless to them.
Speaker B:They just want the addiction.
Speaker B:They just want the product that they love.
Speaker B:So, you know, I think you're right.
Speaker B:You got to go the way of like dark cafes and figure out a way to push orders through them.
Speaker B:The other point I hadn't thought about until you just mentioned it too is like, yeah, you tried the mobile pickup only stores and things like that.
Speaker B:But like you didn't market them.
Speaker B:Like, you know, like how did you, how did you bring those to market?
Speaker B:How did you tell people about them?
Speaker B:Because like, for me, given the fact that now when I go to the, when I go to a Starbucks, I'm not only waiting in line for mobile pickup orders, there's people doing delivery orders too that are waiting to pick up their orders and it's taking a lot of time.
Speaker B:And so I'm standing in line for a really long time.
Speaker B:And so, so with all that said, like tell me that there's a location where I can just go pick it up and hopefully it's faster.
Speaker B:Yeah, I'm all in.
Speaker B:But with that said, I think both ideas can be true at the same time.
Speaker B:And that's what Omni is all about because I'm still going into Starbucks with large queues of pickup orders, but the stores are also still full.
Speaker B:So I think that's a dynamic here at play.
Speaker B:So I think you have to improve both.
Speaker B:But what this tells me is hopefully he's got the punchline to the joke here and this is a really telling statistic on that.
Speaker B:And my hunch is that he does.
Speaker B:But the other point of this is I think it's going to take more time to figure this out and more investment to figure it out than just leaning in on the stores.
Speaker B:On the stores, the operations, you know, keeping the employees happy, which I think is the right starting point.
Speaker B:But then you've got to figure out how to supply the infrastructure to make this happen quicker.
Speaker B:But you take the last word here.
Speaker B:What do you think?
Speaker A:Yeah, I, I mean I don't have much to add.
Speaker A:I think they, they've got to figure out both operations if they are going to do it that way.
Speaker A:But you have to be pressing the gas on the automation and on this, keeping this delivery top of mind for people.
Speaker A:Otherwise people are going to sneak up and, and catch up to you on it and, and that profit could slip quickly.
Speaker A:So, so yes, Brian, get your, get your coffee ghost kitchens up and running.
Speaker A:We're ready.
Speaker A:We're ready for them.
Speaker B:Yeah, we are.
Speaker A:Headline number three.
Speaker A:Oreo maker Mondelez plans to use a new generative AI tool to slash its marketing costs.
Speaker A:According to Reuters, snack maker Mondelez is using this generative AI tool to cut their production and marketing content costs by 30 to 50% in executive told the news outlet.
Speaker A: eason and potentially for the: Speaker A:Mondelez has invested more than $40 million in this tool and it is using content generated by the new tool on social media for its Chips Ahoy cookies in the US and Milka chocolate in Germany.
Speaker A:An 8 second Milka video shows waves of chocolate rippling over a wafer along with different backgrounds depending on which consumer Mondelez is targeting.
Speaker A:Mondelez, however, is not putting human likenesses in its AI created content.
Speaker A:Chris, this is also the A and M put you on the spot question.
Speaker A:Mondelez, they've spent $40 million to get to the point of AI generated ads.
Speaker A:What are your short term and long term implications of the deep pocketed big brands stepping out from the pack to go in on Gen AI in this way?
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:CPG put you on the spot based question.
Speaker B:All right.
Speaker B:I like what those guys are doing here.
Speaker B:Trying to put me on the spot this week.
Speaker B:All right.
Speaker B:Truth be told.
Speaker B:And I'm very, very, very, very.
Speaker B:I think that's five areas if I'm keeping score at home.
Speaker B:5.
Speaker B:Leery of the approach here.
Speaker B:I think it's, it's, it's a dangerous approach.
Speaker B:It feels like, feels like to me there's a fast approaching trap here.
Speaker B:And by trap, I mean the sunk cost trap.
Speaker B:And the reason for that is I think the technology is changing too Fast, that a $40 million investment with Accenture could honestly get obsoleted very quickly here or especially over the long run.
Speaker B:So I think the right approach is actually to test and learn your way in with various providers via very smart, controlled experiments, which it sounds like that's the approach they're taking with their own internal tool.
Speaker B:So I don't understand why they're spending $40 million because I think there's a lot of improvements that could be made with the range of software providers that we encounter every single day that wouldn't cost a fraction of that amount and still give you the same efficacy.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:So given how many competitors are coming into the fray every single day in this space, who's to say there's not going to be a better way to do things in just six months in time?
Speaker B:So short term, I think it definitely galvanizes the CPG industry to think about AI differently.
Speaker B:That's one important point of this headline.
Speaker B:But long term, I do think it's the wrong approach.
Speaker A:Yeah, I mean, I think that the other part of this is you're also like having the Mondelez team or the Accenture team together.
Speaker A:Like you're, you're expecting that generative AI is going to be top of mind for these teams, staying on top of trends, where this technology is going.
Speaker A:Like, I just, I don't think that's a tool that the CPGs have internally.
Speaker A:They're always going to be driven by what the overarching objectives are for their brand and for their business, not focused on the development and staying up to date with what's happening with the technology.
Speaker A:I just saw a Demo from a company, Chris, this week called Genesis X.
Speaker A:They showed me some of the AI demos that they're doing with their technology.
Speaker A:And as a former producer of these commercials, I am astonished.
Speaker A:Like, yeah, and they have humans in the.
Speaker A:Like, they have humans in the, in their ads.
Speaker A:They will at some point soon be able to, like, change the content of the ad in between, like, Monday night to Thursday Night Football.
Speaker A:Like, there is stuff happening in these things that I have seen with my own eyes that I'm just like, there is.
Speaker A:And if you gave them $40 million to work with, like, I can only imagine what they'd be able to create for the lifetime of your brand.
Speaker A:Like, it just doing this.
Speaker A:And this is another scenario for a retailer or a brand to beware.
Speaker A:This is a buy conversation.
Speaker A:This is not a build conversation.
Speaker A:This is where you go what you were saying at this stage, you go to the experts who can do this and can stay on top of the trends in technology much better than your organization is going to be able to.
Speaker A:So to answer A&M's question, I definitely see the financial use case for this technology, but this is 100% a scenario where I would be going to the experts and not trying to build inside my own legacy organization.
Speaker B:Yeah, that's very, very well said.
Speaker B:And you understand that space much better than I do.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:Headline number four.
Speaker B:Kroger and Uber Eats have expanded their partnership, integrating restaurants directly into the Kroger app.
Speaker B: heir partnership to more than: Speaker B:In addition, Kroger Boost members will now be able to take advantage of an extended free trial of Uber One for 6% cash back and automatic surge savings on rides, $0 delivery fees, and up to 10% off all Uber Eats orders.
Speaker B:Uber Eats restaurant selection will now also be integrated directly on the Kroger app, allowing customers to place their weekly grocery order and order dinner from their local restaurant of choice seamlessly via Kroger's app.
Speaker B:Kroger will be the first retailer on the platform where customers can access grocery items alongside hundreds of thousands of restaurants with $0 delivery fees and reduced service fees for all Boost members.
Speaker B:And what do you think of the idea of ordering restaurant delivery from your grocer's app akin to how Kroger is doing it with Uber Eats?
Speaker A:I love it.
Speaker A:I think it's super smart.
Speaker A:Kroger back in the day, you know, when Kroger opened their their new future store format in Cincinnati and they had a food hall as part of their experience, this was something that they were working on, trying to get to the, the point of where they could service customers in one experience, both from their everyday grocery needs and essentials, and deliver, you know, hot and ready to eat food from one of their, their food hall providers.
Speaker A:This goes back to what I was just saying in the last episode or in, sorry, in the last headline too, which is like, Uber Eats is the better player here.
Speaker A:You're giving unlimited options to your customers.
Speaker A:You're now able to, I assume, share data with Uber Eats about what customers are ordering from their restaurant experiences.
Speaker A:And that helps influence the kind of trends and things that we'll be seeing in on the shelves inside Kro Kroger.
Speaker A:So I think from an operations perspective like that, data share will be very valuable for both of them.
Speaker A:And then as a consumer like, you ultimately have all the benefits of, you know, getting all of these things done in one order, plus the loyalty points and, you know, you get the, the duplicate duplicative advantages both for Uber Eats and for Kroger.
Speaker A:They're all synced together for you, so there's no thinking.
Speaker A:It's just all easy button for the consumer.
Speaker A:So I, I think it's great.
Speaker A:Are you in the same.
Speaker A:I mean, you're a Door Dash person.
Speaker A:So if you had a Kroger near you, are you going to go to Kroger and Uber Eats when you're in scenarios?
Speaker B:Chris, I'm, I'm surprised you're curious about where I am on this.
Speaker B:I feel like I've talked about this idea on the show, like hypothetically for a, you know.
Speaker B:Hypothetically, yes, that's a word, hypothetically for a really, really long time.
Speaker B:You know, I think I love this idea.
Speaker B:I love that Kroger's the first one doing this, because to me, like you said, Ann, I mean, this is what you're alluding to.
Speaker B:I think it's just an extension of the subscription war, you know, across Walmart plus and wherever else you want to, Amazon prime everywhere else you want to go.
Speaker B:And so, and if you step back, it's.
Speaker B:And you mentioned DoorDash, it's honestly just DoorDash's double dash, but in reverse.
Speaker B:You know, you're going to the grocery store first and then getting your restaurant from the same place.
Speaker B:So, yeah, why wouldn't that work?
Speaker B:You know, and probably it probably gets you more traffic also at the end of the day and keeps you more hooked into the subscription and the loyalty program like Boost.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:So I think this is brilliant.
Speaker B:My Big question, though.
Speaker B:And as the.
Speaker B:As the single biggest Walmart plus fan out there in America, I'm giving you that title.
Speaker B:I'm bestowing that moniker on you today as the single biggest fan of Walmart plus in America.
Speaker B:What is the Over.
Speaker B:Under on Walmart's response to this?
Speaker B:I'm placing it at six months.
Speaker B:You think Walmart responds with something similar in under or over six months?
Speaker A:You know, I think it's going to be over.
Speaker A:And I say that because they've had the chance to do this for a long time and they are going for things like the Burger King partnership.
Speaker A:They're going for things like other things in the space.
Speaker A:So while I wish it would be under six months, something tells me that there's, like, some negotiation that's still in the works that will make this a little bit longer for them.
Speaker A:But what are you taking over?
Speaker A:Under.
Speaker B:I think, just for the point of debate, I'm gonna say.
Speaker B:I'm gonna say under.
Speaker B:And DoorDash has already been rung up on speed dial.
Speaker B:I think that's.
Speaker B:That's my take, that whoever's running Walmart plus, because I can't remember who it is because Vanessa left.
Speaker B:But.
Speaker B:But, yeah, I think They've already got DoorDash on speed dial saying, hey, can you do the same thing for us?
Speaker B:Let's talk about it.
Speaker B:That's.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker B:That's.
Speaker B:That's my.
Speaker B:That's my dream.
Speaker A:Which.
Speaker B:Which would be great for me and for.
Speaker B:But even better.
Speaker A:Oh, God.
Speaker A:It'd be great for me.
Speaker A:It'd be great for me.
Speaker A:There's already so many advantages that, that.
Speaker A:Yeah, I. I mean, but I do.
Speaker A:The other thing is, like, I do have the Uber one thing through Delta, they connected those partnerships.
Speaker A:So I've already shifted some of my DoorDash away from DoorDash into Uber One.
Speaker B:Now, because it ain't so.
Speaker B:But you.
Speaker B:I know a subscription maven.
Speaker B:You're like a maven of subscriptions.
Speaker B:You know all the deals.
Speaker A:Yes, I do.
Speaker A:I do like to do that.
Speaker A:All right, let's go to headline number five.
Speaker A:Close this out.
Speaker A:Speaking of delivery, grubhub users can now also order groceries.
Speaker A:According to Supermarket News, grubhub has partnered with Instacart to allow customers to order groceries to more than a thousand national, regional and local retailers directly through grubhub's app and website.
Speaker A:Under the arrangement, orders are placed on grubhub's platform, but fulfilled and delivered by Instacart shoppers.
Speaker A:Customers can access the service by selecting the grocery icon in the GrubHub and app, choosing a nearby store and adding items to their cart, and tracking delivery in real time.
Speaker A:The service is rolling out starting October 28th and is expected to be available nationwide by the end of the week.
Speaker A:In areas where Instacart operates, orders from select pharmacies will also be added in the coming months.
Speaker A:Chris, what do you think of this strange bedfellow and first of a kind partnership between grubhub and Instacart?
Speaker B:Oh, man.
Speaker B:And my first inclination is beware of Greeks bearing gifts.
Speaker B:But I'll tell you about that more in a second because my first takeaway is that these last two headlines, particularly this one and the one prior, they show the rise of what we've long talked about on this show, which is that the third party delivery providers are being pushed into playing more of a white label service positioning throughout the market.
Speaker B:I think we're going to continue to see that.
Speaker B:We've talked about it.
Speaker B:I feel like I talk about it every week at this point and it's just more evidence that it's coming.
Speaker B:So that's point one.
Speaker B:Point two though, getting back to the Greeks bearing gifts, the partner here is really fascinating to me.
Speaker B:And because Wonder, AKA Mark Laurie's super app for meal planning, owns grubhub.
Speaker B:So if I'm instacart, I'm stepping back strategically and I'm saying, why the heck would I do this?
Speaker B:Why would I give a leg up to someone that eventually wants to disintermediate me in his grand designs on how to attack the marketplace?
Speaker B:And also why would I throw a grubhub, one of my competitors, a lifeline like this?
Speaker B:Grubhub has been flailing for years.
Speaker B:I mean, it's been, you know, bought and sold multiple times just over the last five years.
Speaker B:So, so if I step back and I just look at this from like the landscape perspective, this is the same essentially as Instacart providing delivery for Door Dash and vice versa.
Speaker B:So like, I just don't understand why Instacart would do this.
Speaker B:I don't understand their incentives and I question the move wholeheartedly.
Speaker B:And I, and I, I wonder too if there isn't something, something else at play here, like strategically where Mark Laurie is like, kind of baited the hook with Instacart and been like, hey, you can acquire us because we're going to create the super app for meal time, you know, help us get it on board and, and it sounds really sexy and you should do it with me and then, you know, God knows what happens from there.
Speaker B:But I wouldn't.
Speaker B:I, you know, very well could be at play knowing, knowing him and knowing the history of how he does things.
Speaker A:That makes the most sense out of all this.
Speaker A:I mean, the other thing that I don't understand, the other angle that we didn't talk about yet, is that Amazon prime members also get a free, free grubhub membership.
Speaker A:So to me, that feels like it.
Speaker A:There some conversation between Amazon seems like it would have been something that might happen before we saw this headline.
Speaker A:It seems like that would have been a good defensive moat for Amazon, but apparently not.
Speaker A:Apparently Mark Laurie is working his magic in the background.
Speaker A:Chris.
Speaker A:And Instacart is who he wants to, to be linked in with for this, this partnership.
Speaker B:Yeah, God knows where it's going to go.
Speaker B:All right, let's get to the lighting around and I'm excited for this one.
Speaker A:All right, Chris.
Speaker A:Laura Harvey, head coach of the Seattle Rain Football Club, said this week that she used ChatGPT to help come up with a new defensive strategy that she actually deployed and actually helped the team win their game.
Speaker A:What was the last thing you use ChatGPT for that resulted in a surprising positive outcome?
Speaker B:Oh, wow.
Speaker B:That.
Speaker B:That's actually easy ad.
Speaker B:It's going to be a boring answer for our listeners.
Speaker B:But.
Speaker B:But hey, that's what niche podcasting is all about, is about random, random facts that might interest people.
Speaker B:So I actually used it for this podcast to, to understand how this microphone works.
Speaker B:Did you know there's this, like, button on the bottom of our microphones that you can push one way or the other?
Speaker B:And I had no idea what either of those things meant.
Speaker B:And so I looked it up and figured out which way I should have it.
Speaker B:Have it set up for.
Speaker B:So, yeah, it helped me with, with my sound production for today's podcast.
Speaker B:Hopefully everyone's enjoying it.
Speaker B:It.
Speaker A:I'm glad that it resulted in positive, a positive impact for this podcast, Chris.
Speaker B:All right.
Speaker B:And Jonathan Bailey of Wicked fame was recently named people's Sexiest Man Alive, a pick I happen to agree with.
Speaker B:Do you, however, agree with this pick?
Speaker A:I do.
Speaker A:I preferred him as Anthony in Bridgerton.
Speaker A:He is a very handsome man.
Speaker A:I do like his character better in Bridgerton.
Speaker A:It's a little.
Speaker A:He's a little more, like, adventurous and risque in that show.
Speaker A:So I think that's what they should be using as his Sexiest man Alive.
Speaker A:Not in reference to his role in Wicked personally, but.
Speaker A:But yes.
Speaker A:Good pick, Good pick.
Speaker B:It's interesting.
Speaker B:I never thought about the promotional timing.
Speaker B:Between Wicked and him being named the sexiest man alive, I wonder what.
Speaker B:Wonder what happens there.
Speaker B:That's a curious little factor I didn't think about before.
Speaker A:All right, question number three.
Speaker A:John Lewis is opening the John Lewis Lounge exclusively for my John Lewis loyalty.
Speaker A:So scheme members, upon arrival, guests will be welcomed with a complimentary coffee or glass of sparkling wine alongside Waitrose chocolates and the option to enjoy hand and arm massages.
Speaker A:Chris, would this be enough to get you into John Lewis for your holiday shopping?
Speaker B:Nope.
Speaker B:Nope.
Speaker B:I'm 100 out on anything with the words hand massages and 100 out.
Speaker B:Nope, no hand massages for me.
Speaker A:Oh, I would.
Speaker A:I.
Speaker A:That's like my favorite thing about the.
Speaker A:The Paris airport.
Speaker A:They have like the Clarence massage area and.
Speaker A:And all that in the airport so that you can get your hand massages and back massages and facials right there.
Speaker A:It's perfect.
Speaker A:I would definitely be doing it.
Speaker B:Better you than me.
Speaker B:Better you than me.
Speaker B:All right, last one.
Speaker B:Carly Rae Jepsen is reportedly pregnant.
Speaker B:What should she call the baby?
Speaker A:I said they should call the baby cmb.
Speaker A:Call me baby in honor of the baby's father, Cole mgn, who apparently that goes by those three letters as his last.
Speaker B:You're joking.
Speaker A:No, Cole MGN is what the dad is.
Speaker A:So cmb, Call me baby is what the baby should be named.
Speaker B:That is so fantastic.
Speaker B:That question just wrote itself.
Speaker B:Honestly, what should Carly Ray Jepsen call the baby?
Speaker B:All right, today's podcast was produced, of course, with the help of Ella Seord.
Speaker B:Ella, come on in here.
Speaker B:Introduce yourself to the audience and as our resident Gen Gen Z.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker B:You're not Gen Alpha, right, Ella?
Speaker C:Gen Z.
Speaker B:All right, Gen Z, which headline won today's show for you?
Speaker B:We're curious and I are dying to know.
Speaker C:Well, first of all, Resident Gen Z is a crazy title, Chris, but I guess I'm honored to live up to it.
Speaker C:I feel like as a producer listening in the background of every episode, I definitely have my own take as more of a younger consumer.
Speaker C:So I don't think it's going to surprise you guys that my favorite headline this week was the one about Starbucks.
Speaker C:I'm definitely a major consumer in the coffee realm as I sit my coffee right now.
Speaker C:But I think it definitely reflects how we're living right now with the convenience factor.
Speaker C:The world is definitely getting smarter, but us, as consumers, we're getting a lot lazier, too.
Speaker C:So the $1 billion in delivery, not surprising at all, I think I personally struggle where I stand in the sense of if I'm gonna go out to get a coffee, that's an experience in itself.
Speaker C:So I don't think waiting five minutes is the biggest deal in the world.
Speaker C:I wanted that convenience factor.
Speaker C:Yes, I would do a mobile order, or maybe I would get it delivered, but I also love sitting in a coffee shop.
Speaker C:So when I hear you guys talk about getting rid of that, I'm like, wait, pause.
Speaker C:I agree.
Speaker C:Maybe there's sometimes no seats, but I do love going out to get a coffee with my friends.
Speaker C:To think from a different perspective as well, I'd say coffee right now is definitely a trend.
Speaker C:So, again, not surprised by their numbers.
Speaker C:I mean, you see middle schoolers showing up to school with their Starbucks coffee.
Speaker C:It might not even be coffee.
Speaker C:It might be a tea or something.
Speaker C:But having that Starbucks with them, it's definitely a trend.
Speaker C:And I think Starbucks is really playing to every generation.
Speaker C:So I don't know.
Speaker C:I think if I was going to deliver, I would deliver and have that either, like, mobile pickup for convenience and stuff, but I don't think there's anything wrong with waiting for five minutes.
Speaker C:I think we're getting a little too convenience.
Speaker C:Crazy.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker B:Producer Ella.
Speaker B:So wait, I want to make sure.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:So you actively use Starbucks for delivery?
Speaker C:Sometimes.
Speaker C:I mean, it definitely depends on what I'm doing that day, but, yeah, sometimes.
Speaker B:Like, how many times a month?
Speaker B:Like, just ballpark it.
Speaker C:Maybe six.
Speaker B:Six times a month.
Speaker B:And wow, is that crazy.
Speaker C:What about you guys?
Speaker A:What are you.
Speaker A:Like, where is the threshold for expense?
Speaker A:That's my question for you.
Speaker A:Like, is this when you're ordering delivery from Starbucks?
Speaker A:Is this with friends?
Speaker A:Are you.
Speaker A:Like, this is on a Saturday.
Speaker A:You're, like, about to go out and run errands.
Speaker A:Like, what is the scenario and how.
Speaker A:Like, where's the threshold where you're like, I'm gonna.
Speaker A:That's too expensive for delivery.
Speaker A:I'm gonna go in and get it.
Speaker C:That's.
Speaker C:That's an interesting question.
Speaker C:It's making me think.
Speaker C:I feel like it's.
Speaker C:When I'm.
Speaker A:I'm working.
Speaker C:It would not be a weekend, because if it's a weekend, I'm just gonna get my coffee.
Speaker C:But I think it's when I'm also hungry because I'm gonna get the food delivered as well.
Speaker B:You are?
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker C:Because otherwise I can just make my coffee at home and get that alone.
Speaker C:But if I'm craving that, like, ham and Swiss croissant.
Speaker C:Yes.
Speaker C:Maybe I'll get it delivered.
Speaker A:That.
Speaker A:That does like, change the mindset of this order, too, I think, a little bit.
Speaker A:And that's what I think Starbucks was alluding to in the 40% of these orders include food.
Speaker A:Because I think we have no.
Speaker A:And I won't speak for you, Ella, but I assume, like, you have no problem ordering food via doordash.
Speaker A:And so that expense maybe is not, like, in my mind, it's like, okay, am I really gonna pay 5, $10 for a Starbucks to get delivered?
Speaker A:But if you're ordering food and you're thinking about it as, like, a breakfast moment and adding the coffee on, that kind of changes my perspective of it.
Speaker A:I don't know if that's true for you or if that's how you're thinking about it when you're ordering, like, food.
Speaker C:First, 100% food first.
Speaker C:And then you might as well just get that added coffee.
Speaker C:My vanilla latte with oat milk, of course.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:So, Ella, last question then.
Speaker B:Is it, like, do you do it, like, habitually those six times?
Speaker B:Like, habitually.
Speaker B:Like, do you do it before, like, recorded this podcast, for example, because, like, you know, you're going to be at the house and you want something to start your day a certain way, like, or is that not a factor at all?
Speaker C:No, I'd say it's definitely spontaneous.
Speaker C:Like, if I'm sitting here.
Speaker B:Spontaneous, yes.
Speaker C:Like, okay, I need it right now.
Speaker C:Like, it's.
Speaker C:It's a quick decision.
Speaker B:All right, I gotta start doing that more.
Speaker B:I've only tried it once, and.
Speaker B:Have you tried it yet?
Speaker B:I can't remember.
Speaker B:Did you try it?
Speaker A:Yes, we've tried it on vacation when we're like, you know, oh, just want to sit around and, like, have coffee being delivered to us versus having to, like, go out and have somebody make a run and.
Speaker A:Yeah, it's great.
Speaker A:It's been great.
Speaker A:The coffee's been hot, the food's been available and ready to go, and it's a quick way.
Speaker A:Like, I think that's the thing about Starbucks.
Speaker A:Everybody knows it.
Speaker A:They know exactly what they're gonna get.
Speaker A:Like, Ella said she's got that ham and chest cheese croissant that she likes.
Speaker A:Like, my kids have certain things that they like.
Speaker A:Like, one order, it's all good to go and.
Speaker A:And I get my coffee, which I'm happy about.
Speaker B:So well done, producer Ella, first appearance on this international podcast of ours.
Speaker B:So well done, well done.
Speaker B:Thanks for bringing the younger generation's perspective, too.
Speaker B:Always important for our listeners.
Speaker B:Happy birthday today to Tatum o', Neill, Tilda Swinton, and to my personal favorite all time bond femme fatale Famke Jansen.
Speaker B:And remember, if you can only read or listen to one retail blog in the business, make it Omnitoc only retail media outlet run by two former executives from a current top 10 US retailer.
Speaker B:Our Fast Five podcast is the quickest, fastest rundown of all the week's top news and our daily newsletter, the Retail Daily Minute, tells you all you need to know each day to stay on top of your game as a retail executive and also regularly features special content that is exclusive to us and that Ann and I take a lot of pride in doing just for you.
Speaker B:Thanks as always for listening and please remember to like and leave us a review wherever you happen to listen to your podcast or on YouTube.
Speaker B:You can follow us today by simply going to YouTube.
Speaker B:Com Omnitalk Retail.
Speaker B:So until next week, on behalf of all of us at Omnitalk Retail, on behalf of Anne, producer Ella and myself, as always, be careful out there.