The OmniTalk Fast5 is brought to you in association with the A and M Consumer and Retail Group.

The AM Consumer and Retail Group is a management consulting firm that tackles the most complex challenges and advances its clients, people and communities toward their maximum potential.

CRG brings the experience, tools and operator like pragmatism to help retailers and consumer products companies be on the right side of disruption and Avalara Avalara makes tax compliance faster, easier, more accurate and more more reliable for 30,000 plus business and government customers in over 90 countries.

Avalara leverages 1200 plus signed partner integrations to power tax calculations, document management, tax return filing and tax content access.

Visit avalara.com to improve your compliance journey and Miracle Miracle is the global leader in platform business innovation for e commerce.

Companies like Macy's, Nordstrom and Kroger use Miracle to build disruptive growth and profitability through through Marketplace, Dropship and retail media.

For more, visit Miracle.com that's M I R A K L.com and Own It AI Own It AI helps the world's leading retailers advance their e commerce shopping experience with AI.

To learn more, visit ownit Co and finally, Ocampo Capital.

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.

Learn more@ocampo capital.com hello, you are listening to Omnitalk's 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.

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.

And the Fast 5 is just one of the many great podcasts that you can find from the Omnitalk 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 Trend.

Today is November 20, 2024.

I'm one of your hosts, Ann Mazinga.

And I'm Chris Walton and we're here.

Once again to discuss all the top headlines from the past week making waves in the world of omnichannel retailing.

And Chris, we I have a feeling I know us and I have a feeling we're going to go real deep on some of these headlines today.

So I.

I think we need to get right to it.

We can.

No, no BS up front.

We just go right to the headlines today.

What do you say?

Yep, yep.

We got.

We got a tight timeline at the top of the hour too and with all the content we got to produce today too.

So.

Yes, I agree.

Let's get to the headlines.

Today's headlines are brought to you by E E Palm Springs is the premier event for brands and retailers looking to Network and learn.

2025's E Palm Springs will feature keynotes from companies like Skims, Zappos, H and M Haxon and more.

You can join OmniTalk Retail at Etel Palm Springs this year and get 20% off this must attend event by using code etailpartner.

That's E T A I L P A R T N E R All one world.

And if you want to put it in caps too, Ann, all one word, put it in caps.

We don't mind.

We like that.

It's all Good.

In today's Fast5, we've got news on Amazon shutting down a secret project to develop a fertility tracker.

Can't wait to get your opinion on that one.

An REI changing its return policies to combat what it calls serial returners.

Ooh, retailers like Zara experimenting with radio emitting threads to also combat theft.

Wonder's acquisition of grubhub.

I've got a lot of thoughts about that and our good friend Chad Lust from the A and M Consumer and Retail Group stops by for five insightful minutes on the state of US Consumer sentiment.

But we begin today with a dash of good news and yes, that's right, a dash of good news that might help many of you to get your morning started off right and definitely see.

What you did there yet again.

Chris Walton Pretty blatant, yes.

Headline number one, Starbucks has expanded DoorDash delivery within the Starbucks app.

According to chain storage, Starbucks customers in the US And Canada, except for Quebec can now use the Starbucks app to order delivery with fulfillment provided by DoorDash.

When customers who live within the radius of participating stores open the Starbucks app, they can now toggle the top of the page between pickup and delivery and on the store selection screen.

DoorDash delivery within the Starbucks App leverages the online ordering solution of the DoorDash commerce platform, a recently released integrated ordering system designed to enable partner retailers like Starbucks to personalize the digital experience, capture customer specific insights and drive user engagement.

To celebrate the launch of this new joint mobile delivery offering, customers receive $0 delivery fees on orders placed within the Starbucks app from Wednesday of last week through Sunday.

So, Chris, one.

Did you try this?

And two, what do you think of ordering Starbucks via DoorDash through the Starbucks app.

And I, of course, tried it.

I, of course tried it.

Yes.

It's the first thing I did on Saturday morning.

I ordered a.

Ordered a Americano, a grande Americano, and a grande oat milk latte for my mom, who was staying with me.

So, yeah, I tried it.

I thought it was pretty good.

Overall, the experience worked pretty good.

It was a little clunky.

It kind of felt like a mashup between DoorDash and Starbucks Experience.

It didn't feel like the true Starbucks active app experience.

That's one thing I would say about it.

Like, for example, like, I didn't have my preloaded favorites in there, so I had to reset everything up.

So that was kind of frustrating.

But overall, I liked it.

And in general, I absolutely love this concept.

I love it for a couple of reasons.

First, I think it fits right in with everything Brian Nichols trying to do to reduce wait times because, you know, who's okay with waiting longer and people who are getting their orders delivered.

I probably waited 20 or 30 minutes to get my order.

I didn't actually track it, but it definitely took about that long.

So it built some slack time into Starbucks operations for their stores, which is great.

But the other reason I love it, Ann, is the data and the visibility it gives to Starbucks.

Starbucks can now better see the volume coming in through its app versus say, through DoorDash, and therefore they can divert any order to any store that has more capacity.

Because as a Starbucks customer, I don't care which store my coffee comes from.

I just care that the order's right and it's hot.

Right?

That's all that matters.

And so for this, that's why I love this.

I think for the long term, it's going to be a big win for Starbucks, and I think it's smart because it plays right in line with what Nickel's trying to do.

But what do you think?

Yeah, I mean, I think you're 100% right.

There's definitely people who want Starbucks delivery and who are in the Starbucks app and aren't DoorDash members who now have an opportunity to get their coffee delivered to them in 20 minutes in this case.

So I think for Starbucks, it makes a ton of sense that they're going to go forward and start to roll this out.

I think the only question that I have is that you have Brian Nichol, who's still trying to figure out automation and how to make the order processing smoother at Starbucks, so that if you're in the Store, you're getting your coffee in a timely manner.

If I'm ordering online and picking up in store, I'm getting it within a timely MANNER.

Not the 20 minutes that you talked about last week.

And so I think that's the only thing here, is that I do think there's going to be significant volume, especially at those peak times.

And so it's just a matter of whether or not the Starbucks stores are ready to accommodate this, this influx in volume from the delivery that I think they're going to start to see increase with rolling this out.

Yeah, but that's, but that's a great thing, is that they have the capacity now.

They have extra capacity for whatever store they need to fulfill the order from.

The other point I make too, and just because we didn't cover Walmart's news on earnings broke yesterday where they're getting significant share in $100,000 plus income earners.

So there's a lot of people that actually still could find the extra.

Oh.

Cause the other thing I forgot to mention, you saw the tip.

So even though you read it, read that announcement like it sounded like it was a free thing, you saw the tip.

So it is a more expensive way, significantly more expensive way to get your Starbucks.

But there's probably still plenty of people that are gonna be interested in trying this out, especially on a busy Saturday or Sunday morning, or a lazy Saturday and Sunday morning as well.

Right.

All right, headline number two.

This is a headline I could not make up if I tried.

And Amazon has shut down a recent secret project to develop a fertility tracker.

According to cnbc, the company had been working to launch a fertility monitoring device and companion smartphone app for the past four years as a project.

As part of a project codenamed Encore, I guess, said people who asked not to be named because they weren't authorized to speak to the press.

No surprise there.

Or they didn't like the name of their product project, like, right.

I don't want to write to Project Encore.

Project Encore, yes.

Well, that even the naming gets even better, Anne, because the team sat within Amazon's grand challenge, which connotes all kinds of bad things for me, are also known as its Special Projects division.

The sources said the project appears to have been a costly endeavor as well, and required significant upfront investments for lab research and development, in addition to the high salaries for scientists and engineers, the sources said, adding that the team's weekly overhead was roughly $1.5 million, which by my counts, Anne, is some significant cheddar.

Are you pro or con?

The idea of an E commerce retailer tracking your fertility, I don't think that's.

The question to ask.

I really don't.

Oh, really?

Okay.

I think that everybody is.

So you could be okay with it?

Yeah, I mean, there's, I give my information to a tracker and it doesn't matter to me if it's Clue or it's Amazon.

I don't think that's the story here.

I think there, the press and media is using this as an opportunity to kind of freak people out.

Given the current climate of like Amazon's tracking your fertility.

Well, there's some benefits to that too.

And I don't think it's wrong for Amazon to be doing this.

I mean, if I can get vitamins or I can get other things, you know, because there's, it's more than fertility that you track in these apps.

It's, how are you doing on sleep?

Sleep, your mood, energy, all these other things.

And so I think that if you start to look at those things and would it be convenient for me to get vitamins delivered to me in a couple of hours through my Amazon prime membership or other things like there, there could be benefits.

So I don't, I don't think people should be hating on Amazon for trying something like this.

What I do think we should be paying attention is to, is the fact that Jassy is really looking closely at where they can curb spending, that Amazon is in a challenging position like a lot of other retailers are now, and they need to start to look at where they can cut costs.

And unfortunately, as we know, Chris, like innovation is some of the first places where they can cut some of that spending, especially at the burn rate that you're talking about, you know, one million something a week.

I mean, it makes sense that this might get, get tabled for a little while so they can focus on the core business.

So I think that's what's the real headline here.

Not whether or not Amazon should be doing a fertility tracking program.

But what, what, what are your thoughts?

I mean, what would you do if you.

So I want to make sure I understood you correctly.

So you're saying that you're, you're fine with Amazon doing this if they didn't have the budget constraints that they're currently facing given their current financial performance?

You are.

Wow.

Okay.

This is not the area where.

This is not Amazon's core business right now.

This is the potential down the road to find other areas for generating revenue.

So I don't.

Interesting idea.

Interesting.

And that's why I don't like it because I think it's just outside of the core in general like that.

And it shows two things to me.

One, it shows to me the sheer temerity or hubris that Amazon thinks its success in selling goods via e commerce and cloud data storage allows it to do right, that it can get into fertility tracking.

Because the actual tie ins with Amazon's vaunted flywheel are stretches at best.

Like, oh, yeah, I can get my vitamin.

I can know when to send people their vitamins.

I don't, I don't know, like that, that, okay, fine, you could always make those connections, but like, come on, there's more here on this than meets the eye.

And so I think he's right to pull the plug on this.

I think they've gotten their skis too far ahead of them, gotten too far ahead on their skis for many projects like this.

And so I think it brings them back to the core of like, what really gets Amazon's flywheel working and where do they really have a right to win now with that said, Anne, I'm going to talk out of both sides of my mouth because I will still take discounted ed drugs and hair loss drugs till the cows come home.

Like they announced last week too.

So.

So, you know, I don't know, but I just feels different.

To me, that feels like core retail and commerce.

This feels like a bridge too far for me.

But I don't know.

You get the last word on this one.

I see.

I still disagree.

I mean, it sounds like they still have one project in this grand challenge portfolio that's still in the healthcare space.

And I do think, like, again, I think people are focusing too much on the fertility tracker part of this.

There are so many more elements.

There's a flywheel of once someone does get pregnant and they are already in the Amazon universe, you are able to bring them in to start offering them baby gear.

You're starting to like get them earlier in on the cycle.

I don't think this is any different than like some of the stuff they're doing like right now, the Amazon haul, like the TEMU competitor thing, like they're trying to find new areas for growth and I don't think that that's a terrible idea to get people attracted to.

You used to checking an app multiple times a day and then being able to transact right within it.

So I don't hate it and I think that people are focused a little bit too much on one particular function of it.

So that's where I'll, that's where I'll leave it.

But fair point and we agree to disagree.

Anne.

That's right.

This is a very civilized show that we have friendly today and we're very friendly until we get further into the show.

Don't worry people, we'll be back.

Headline number three, Chris.

REI wants to stop serial Returners.

According to Retail Dive, REI is now not accepting returns from a quote, small subset of its members who have repeatedly abused its return policies.

Normally, REI members would have up to one year to return most items, while non members have 90 days.

However, according to REI, a limited number of people have abused the company's return policy with an average return rate of 79%.

This particular group returned $2400 worth of gear in the past year and 1400 dollars of that product was used.

A spokesperson said.

As a result, while those members may still shop at rei, the company said they will no longer be allowed to make returns or exchanges.

Chris, something about this headline really spoke to you this week.

You were all in on it.

Actually A and M was too.

This is their Put yout On the Spot question.

So I want to know, first of all was so intriguing to you.

And then second, let's get hit you with A&M's question which is while on the surface this seems like a potential customer turn off policy, by the numbers given, this impacts less than 5,000 REI customers, accounting for about $12 million in returns and 3 million in non return sales.

With that in mind, Chris, does your mind go to why bother or does it go to why not?

Oh wow, 100% why not?

I mean those numbers, 12 million in returns, $3 million in sales, like that's, that's, that's, that's a huge delta.

Like no, I know, no, no amount of customers should be costing me that amount of money.

$12 million is a lot of money for people and a lot of money they can flow back in the operation.

So like, I don't know, I don't sneeze at that.

But so yeah, I think I'm all for REI doing this, but the reason I like this story and if I step back 30,000 foot view of retail, I think it goes into showing us again as this is becoming a recurring theme on the show this year, it shows you the power of data by way of a membership program, because REI is a membership program.

So it gives them the flexibility to take action like this because they know who those individual customers are.

So that gets me thinking.

Anne, we're hearing more stories about how Returns are a problem.

More retailers are starting to charge for them, even.

And so it makes me ask another question, which is, with all these subscription programs coming online, like Walmart plus, what angle do they start to take with returns?

Like, does a Walmart plus member get an extended return policy?

Do the windows get shorter for non Walmart shoppers?

Or any loyalty program member, for that that matter, at any retailer?

So the headline, to me just presents, ultimately, a new canvas on rich retailers can paint something we haven't seen before.

And that's why I like this headline so much.

It gets my mind just going in new directions.

But I don't know.

I hope you don't rate on my parade on this one.

I kind of worried that you might, but maybe we'll just be friendly again on this show.

I don't know.

What's your take?

No, I mean, I think this is a definite.

Why not?

I mean.

Yeah.

Okay, first, I was trying to consider, like, what are the cons here?

You have REI that's in an increasingly competitive space with Dick's Sporting Goods, Public Lands coming online and expanding their stores, Bass Pro Shops kind of coming into favor with the next generation of customer.

But I really don't think it's that big of a deal.

I think this is just some bad actors who have really screwed things up.

Like, it reminds me of being in Catholic school when one of our teachers, Sister Ann Marie, she let us chew gum, Right?

But then some jerks in the class started putting it under church pews.

They put it under their desks, and they put it on Sister Ann Marie's chair.

And you know what?

Then we couldn't chew gum anymore.

So that's what happens.

And if you're going to abuse a policy like this, I think that this is just.

We're going to start to see, like you said, that we're going to start to see more retailers start to draw a hard line in the sand about their return policies.

And I think REI is in a unique position, like, from a PR standpoint, to be like, look, you can't return any things anymore, but you can go to REI resale.

And maybe if, like, if you're going to use these products for a year and then return them, like, here's an opportunity for you to get 10, 20, 40% back on that purchase by putting it into the resale program.

We're done with you.

Stop abusing our returns.

Like, I think.

Yeah, I think that's what we're looking at here with this story.

Yeah.

And for all intents and purposes.

REI's return policy, when you read it, is pretty dang generous.

So, like, they give you a lot of grace.

So, so they're just basically saying, we caught you, your sister Ann Marie caught you, and you just got to deal with it.

So, yes, any Catholic school analogy is always wonderful and nice job.

All right.

Well, I think we should bring Chad onto today's show.

What do you think, Anne?

Let's do it.

Joining us now for five insightful minutes is longtime friend of the show and partner and managing director at the A and M Consumer and Retail Group, Chad Lusk.

Chad will be discussing with us the results of A&M CRG's most recent biannual consumer sentiment survey report.

The report draws from a survey of over 2100 demographically representative US adults and analyzes how shifting economic conditions, among other purchase trends, are shaping consumer spending behaviors.

So, Chad, in your last two reports, you indicated some major projected pullbacks in terms of consumer confidence and future spending plans.

What are consumers saying their next six months and holiday spending will look like?

Yeah, Chris, while you mentioned there's been a steady erosion in consumer confidence and plans to spend for a while now, there was a major step change downward last holiday season and that behavior has held only 29% of consumers plan to spend more over the coming six months.

That's down 1100 basis points from a low point this time last year.

Worth calling out.

We fielded the survey prior to the election, of course, now we're past it.

But what consumers told us is the uncertainty of the election itself did not have a strong influence on their decisions.

What they told us is that's speculative.

And until I see real changes in inflation, interest rates, the job market, I'm going to continue to curtail spending.

So what does that mean for holiday households plan to spend about 9% net less this holiday season compared to last.

And that's expected by reducing both total gift volume, not just average spend per gift.

And what does that mean then, Chad, for retailers when it comes to more discretionary categories?

Yeah, for sure it's troublesome.

But what's interesting is we may be seeing further shifts in what consumers are considering discretionary versus basic needs right before our eyes.

So for instance, for the first time this cycle where consumers said they'll get more conservative, anticipated spend in fresh food went down.

So normally fresh food goes up at the expense of restaurant prepared food spend and delivery.

This time fresh food interest went down in favor of dry packaged grocery.

So the trade offs are going one cut deeper for consumers.

Another example, wellness and Fitness took a major step back too.

It had been holding on pretty strong, but looks like that's falling back as well as far as a discretionary category.

So it's a fine line households are straddling now.

So we also ask consumers, if things do improve and you have additional income, where will you put it?

So the lower household income brackets are more inclined to either bank it or put it toward groceries, which implies that they're still well below their satisfaction of basic needs, whereas upper household income brackets are ready to put it toward more discretionary purchases like dining out, delivery, travel and entertainment.

So there's some hope there.

So Chad, I want to go deeper into what you just said.

So we'll cutting back on discretionary categories be enough for consumers or do you think consumers will also change their habits in regards to other basic needs as well?

Yeah.

So given the longstanding financial pressures we've been seeing this cycle, we went deeper with consumers on how they plan to cut back and in particular against basic needs like groceries and others.

So an interesting insight emerged here.

So consumers are more likely to change their purchase behavior than their shopping behavior.

So what does that mean?

Consumers were 25 to 30% more likely to switch to a cheaper brand or product at the same store than switch to a different, that is less expensive retailer.

So the fascinating point there is that consumers will exhibit more retail banner loyalty over product brand loyalty when deciding how to cut back.

So that's encouraging for retailers and critical to ensure that they have a proper, good, better best merchandising strategy, including private label, with clear indications of that value on shelf.

That's interesting, Chad.

It makes me wonder because last year we were talking about, especially around holiday, that this was going to be a much more digital forward holiday customers were going to be shopping online.

Do you think that's going to be the case again, especially with the banner loyalty that you just mentioned?

Yes, I do.

And frankly that'll probably never change.

38% are planning to shop even more online than in previous years.

And there was a, there was already a 70% online versus in store preference for holiday shopping last year.

But that's for holiday.

So listen, for the past seven cycles we've done this report.

Nothing's really changed here, right?

In store is Preferred by about 2/3 of consumers consumer.

But the general, the generational patterns are interesting.

Right?

Your spikes for in store preferential shopping come from ages 55 and up and under 34 with a little valley in the middle.

And not surprisingly, the in store appeal is for different reasons.

Right.

Everyone wants the ability to touch and feel products and have immediate product availability.

That's, that's common.

But older demos are looking for better promos and deals in store and you know, younger demos.

Talk about just wanting to get out of the house.

Yeah.

Something to do, right?

So unlike other consumer trends where older shoppers are helping prop up kind of a waning consumer preference, here we see no signs of in store shopping going away.

And retailers can be comfortable continuing to invest in the right set of merchandise and experiences.

But going back to holiday, I mean it is a similar story with online apps loyalty.

As you skew older consumers are looking for additional value out of their online searching.

As you skew younger, the more they prioritize smooth and seamless user experience.

So retailers really need to meet both this holiday and always.

Thanks, Chad.

Always.

Great stuff, Chad.

Thank you.

All right, headline number four.

Retailers appear to be weighing whether to put radio emitting threads into their clothes to curb theft.

According to Bloomberg.

Zara owner Inditex, the world's biggest publicly held clothing retailer, is among those who have studied the change.

The retail giant in Spain has reportedly talked with a small Spanish technology company, Myrons, and telecommunications operator Telefort about the possible application of a system based on an anti theft alarm product so thin it's imperceptible to the naked eye, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be named.

Discussing private information.

A lot of people discussing private information this weekend.

Myron's product, which one of the people says is five times thinner than a human hair or about a thousandth of an inch, uses a conductive ink derived from cellulose to transmit signals.

It can set off alarms if someone walks out of a shop with items whose woven in tags haven't been deactivated.

The novel ink replaces aluminum, the main material used in most alarms.

That would mean retailers wouldn't need to rely on the metal for alarms, making the devices potentially biodegradable and supporting the garment's recyclability.

This is all in the name of sustainability.

And but Anne, my question for you, are you buying or selling clothing made of radio emitting threads?

I am investing in further research, Chris, so I guess that means I'm buying because but like let me just caveat this.

If we are ever going to get YouTube comments, I think talking about Amazon fertility trackers and putting radio frequency threats that are the size of hairs, right?

This is going to be the week that we get blasted with YouTube comments.

But right, here's the thing from randos.

Yes, exactly.

So I do think that this is one of those technologies that could save retailers a lot of money.

They're going to have to invest heavily in it.

But I think with what we were seeing with rfid, like there are still ways, like some RFID tags are still being ripped out of products and there still is a massive return on investment though in some of this technology.

I'm going to give you an example.

So Lululemon, we know they have RFID in their product, right?

Yep.

I was just with my son.

I got him a Lululemon shirt for his birthday.

He decided he wanted to return it.

We went through the whole rigmarole of things, but they knew exactly how much I paid for that shirt.

I got it on sale.

They knew exactly how much I paid for that shirt without a receipt.

They knew this is the exact number of dollars and there are significant savings.

You know, you think about multiplying that times thousands and thousands and thousands of products that are going through the system and that are going through customers hands all the time.

Like there is significant money that they are saving by knowing exactly how much I paid for that and only giving the customer like that much money back.

So I do think that this is something that could be worth investing in that is a little bit more preventative than some of the RFID tagging out there.

But it might be down the road.

Like I'm willing, I don't, I don't agree with you.

In fact, I think you just made my point for me.

And honestly, in fairness, like I'm selling this hard.

I'm selling this hard because your Lulu exempt Lululemon example is great.

Like, I mean this, why do you need this?

I mean we, we had Troy Seawick of G Store on our Spotlight podcast on a few weeks ago talking about RFID and overhead readers basically approximating the same thing throughout a store.

So like I don't see what value this presents.

And it gets really crazy with like radio emitting threads on people, you know, like full scale on people's bodies and all that kind of stuff.

I think it's a good story for a Bloomberg reporter to get some clicks, but honestly I like the offshoots.

Plus there's so many more things you can do with the offshoots of, of the, the concept that, you know, RFID and overhead readers too like that get into the operations of the business too.

And it's so much farther along than this too.

So, so I would be maybe tangentially looking at this at best as an idea.

I, I, I don't I don't like.

But I think some of the RFID stuff selling it, the RFID stuff that you're talking about is enabled because of the hang tags on those garments.

It's not all embedded in the garments themselves.

So, like, if you could have the capabilities of RFID within a garment that's made from the cellulose of plants, like, I think there are some legs here that where, if you could just, if you could, this could be the replacement for RFID down the road.

That eliminates some of the challenges that some retailers may have with RFID tagging or tags getting ripped off.

I think, I think maybe, maybe fair.

Yeah, we got to, we got to get a good friend, Marshall K back on the podcast talking about the value of RFID tags versus embedded threads.

I think he'll have to solve this question for us.

Hopefully he sees this podcast or listens this podcast and weighs in on that topic.

But I don't know, I don't know.

I'm still selling it and.

All right, fine.

Let's go to headline number five.

Chris, I know you're going to have a lot to say about this.

Wonder is acquiring Grubhub for $650 million, according to grocery Dive.

Wonder, a company that operates delivery focused food halls and the brainchild of Mark Laurie, will acquire food delivery provider Grubhub for $650 million from just eattakeaway.com Wonder, which has 28 locations in the Northeast, also raised $250 million in capital from new investors after previously raising $700 million in March with plans to reach 90 locations by next year.

It should be noted that Just Eat takeaway originally purchased Grubhub for $7 billion in 2020 and tried selling the company since April of 2022, said Mark Laurie about the acquisition.

Quote we're excited to soon offer a curated selection of grubhub's restaurant partners directly in the Wonder app, alongside our owned and operated restaurants and meal kits.

Bringing Wonder and grubhub together is the next step in our vision to create the super App for Meal time.

Re envisioning the future of food delivery, end quote.

Chris, do you agree with Wonders Mark Laurie that the world needs a super app for meal time?

100%?

Not at all, Ann.

Not at all.

No, I'm not buying this at all.

And I kind of feel like I already have one and I have many options of them.

Like I've got DoorDash, I've got my local grocer, I've got Walmart.

Plus I've Got Amazon.

So I, last time I checked.

And last time I checked too.

The universal truth is I want choice.

I don't want to be forced to use one thing as a super app, especially in America.

So.

So this whole super app idea sounds like something you say to sound cool when you know you really aren't.

That's what I think about this and that.

That's my take here.

Of course, with that said, I'm not P.T.

barnum, aka Mark Laurie, aka the greatest investor showman on Earth, but I just don't see the long term play here and I really don't.

The delivery space is crowded and it's consolidating already is another point I would add.

It's pretty much a white label service at this point across the industry.

I mean, look at what Starbucks is doing in the first headline, Blue Apron.

And meal kits, those are dying as well.

I tried them, I fell in love with them during the pandemic, but they jilted me.

I'm not going to go back and I'm a jilted lover on the meal kit, so that's not appealing to me.

So the success of this super app concept, if you get right down to it, Anne, the success of this super app concept has nothing to do with grubhub.

It relies on the restaurant concept in and of itself of what Wonder is, which is supposed to be more geared toward the high end, which when I talk to people in the delivery space, customers don't want high end food delivered because it doesn't travel well.

They want consistently Chinese, Mexican, pizza, all those things.

But I'm sure, you know, and, but I mean, who am I?

I'm just some pundit.

I've been in retail 20, 25 years now.

Who am I to challenge the questions of, of Mark Laurie and Tony Hoggett recently of Tesco and Amazon Fresh, who both have probably literally on their resume, no experience in the restaurant space.

But who am I to question them?

You know, they, they sold Mark, and especially Mark Lori.

He sold two businesses that never made any money and don't exist anymore.

But who am I to question them?

And I mean, come on.

I mean, I.

So I'm probably getting something wrong.

Well, I mean, if I'm trying to understand the thinking behind this, I mean, it was a steal of a deal if it was, you know, valued during the pandemic.

$7 billion and now it's 650 million.

Like, okay, it's one way to put it.

What could Wonder do with this?

They could get scale because of the other restaurants on the platform or people who are already going to grubhub, they could allow for people to start to see Wonder's concepts and drive traffic in a way that maybe Wonder would have to invest a lot more money on to get people, you know, over to the platform.

And you've seen the value of using the platform.

So maybe if you look at it as like a marketing expense, that can help this.

The other thing that I wonder, Chris, and this again, I'm digging deep for some of the under, trying to understand this.

I'm trying to find the good in this.

I'm trying to find the good.

I'm trying to find the good in it.

But like, do you think that they gain information from the other grubhub restaurants on the platform?

Like Tony Hoggett coming in here is making me ask some serious questions about like the Amazon approach to business.

Like, do does Wonder see, like, ooh, Chinese is really popular and people really like hot pot or something like that in delivery?

Like, do we create a Wonder concept now that delivers hot pot and undercut the competition and now they have two hot pot options and Wonder, you know, like, do they do something with the data from that?

I don't, I don't know.

Is there still ties to Amazon where, you know, yes, right now, part of your prime membership, you can get grubhub delivery, but do they start to use that?

That's an interesting question.

What happens there too?

Yeah, like, I think that I'm trying to dig as you can tell, but I do think that there could be some, some things that they're at least going to put into practice and test with this acquisition.

The other you put about the Amazon thing, if you read that, if you read the articles, they too, they said that the Amazon, the Amazon partnership did nothing to help the Grubhub business.

Business, which is fascinating too.

So that means you're buying a diamond.

My last word on this, Anne, is my, my tell on, on how silly this idea is if the next thing Lori goes and acquires is a drone company because drones are coming for this space because they give more scale to last mile delivery.

And so if he next acquires that, that means he's all in on like this super app thing and selling it and trying to get out with a big exit like he has historically done in the past.

That's my tell.

So, so that.

Look how thrown up I, I just, I don't, I don't.

I already have a super app and it's called DoorDash.

It 100% is.

I'm sorry, Mark.

All right, Chris, it's time for us to go to the lightning round.

Question number one for you, Chris.

The home owned by the man who invented rollerblades is now up for sale in Bloomington, Minnesota, for 575,000.

It comes complete with a silo bachelor pad.

And atop the silo, Chris, is a rooftop observation deck.

I feel like I'm reading the price right now.

Is that a silo like a.

Like a grain silver silo?

Yes.

The founder of rollerblades was inspired by silos that he saw in pastures of.

Of fields down in northern Minnesota.

So as one does.

There is.

There is an actual silo.

Chris, I want to know when was the last time, if ever, that you rollerbladed?

Oh, my God.

That's such a great question, Ed.

I remember the year like it was yesterday, actually.

Ad very memorable experience.

It was 1996, summer between freshman and sophomore year at Stanford.

Was back home in Arizona.

And I used to strap on the blades, the D pads, the elbow pads, the wrist guards.

My God.

Around the neighborhood for exercise every single day.

And I will add, and usually.

Usually I was alone.

That does not surprise me.

I really.

I want.

I want Mary to find us a photo of you rollerblading through the hills of Arizona.

What color were your rollerblades?

Were they like.

Like hot pink?

No, but they were purple.

That's so good.

That's so good.

That's such a good thing.

Yeah.

Romans are always weird colors, weren't they?

All right, all right, next one.

Target's really hot Santa ad campaign was getting quite the buzz last week.

Are you pro or con?

The ad campaign or set another way, would you like to ride in Santa's sleigh tonight?

And, I mean, Chris is kind of my type.

I like a.

I like a salt and peppery beard and whatever, but I don't get what the big deal is like.

So Santa's a zaddy this year.

That's cool, right?

Like, I don't understand what the big deal is, I guess.

I think he looks like Ryan Fitzpatrick, but, yeah, I don't know.

I don't know.

Okay, okay.

Target will take all the buzz it can get this week, right?

And Target will take any buzz it can get right after today's earnings announcement.

Whoa.

All right, Chris, let's go to question number three.

Amazon said on Tuesday that it will let Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers access one audiobook per month from Audible's catalog for free.

I want to know, will this be enough to convert you from physical books like the giant monstrosities I've seen you bring on planes into audio books.

Chris.

Absolutely not.

No way.

No way in hell.

And nothing, nothing competes with the joy I get from reading a physical, physical book, closing it and staring at the front cover.

I just love doing that.

It just gives me some innate like, feeling of joy and happiness.

It's like such an accomplishment when you, when you close that book, you stare at and you're like, yeah, I just read you.

I took you to town.

You know what I mean?

Like, I dominated you.

Yeah, I just read you.

That's a, that's the type of experience I have with great American literature and.

Or literature in general, I should say.

All right, last one.

Pepsi's latest ad campaign, undercover Cups.

A send up of undercover cops has Pepsi agents barging into locations of the three largest US burger chains, McDonald's, Burger King and Wendy's, to snag customers drinks and replace them with Pepsi.

It's a, it's a great watch too.

I watched it the other day.

It's some great, some great video footage.

So.

And I might have asked you this question before, but I did not remember the answer.

So I'm going to ask you it again.

When was the last time you actually remember ordering a Pepsi?

Like actually ask for a Pepsi?

When I ordered a Diet Coke and they were like, we don't have.

No, no, no, no.

I'm talking like, no, no.

And I said, I'll take a Diet Pepsi.

Okay, so you ordered a Diet.

No, but that's like.

But you didn't want, you wanted the Diet Coke.

When did you first and foremost ask for a Pepsi?

Not only in that scenario, when I have.

You've never asked for a Pepsi ever?

Not that I can ever recall.

I mean, I don't.

Wow.

It's never been, we've never been a Pepsi family.

Like, we were always a Coke family.

So.

Wow.

I couldn't even tell you the last time I asked, I asked or requested a Pepsi.

It was only by default when they're like, we don't have Diet Coke.

Is Diet Pepsi okay?

And I'm like, I'll have a Diet Pepsi then.

Really?

Wow.

Wow.

So you, are you old enough to have taken the Pepsi Challenge?

Yeah.

Yes.

You did you remember taking the Pepsi Challenge?

I remember doing the Pepsi Challenge.

I think it was like in grade school and they like put them out and that was like, hey, we're going to do the Pepsi Challenge.

And you're like, I'm all in on Coke.

You still are all in Coke.

I Think so.

Sorry.

Oh, sorry.

See, I went through a five year period where I was like, big into Pepsi.

Like, I liked Pepsi.

Really?

Coke?

Yeah.

I mean, I guess, I guess there's.

There is.

Like, if we're going to go deep on this, I do think that I typically drink Diet Coke and I think Diet Pepsi is a substitute for Diet Coke.

No way.

Pepsi on its own is okay, but I just.

That's like never a cola like that.

I don't go to cola in that way, I guess.

Yeah, Yeah.

I can't remember the last time I've heard somebody order a Pepsi.

Like, can I have a Pepsi like anywhere in my parland?

So, so good for them for trying to go undercover cups and show the great taste that Pepsi potentially does have.

All right, Happy birthday Today to Joel McHale, Kelly Thorne, and to the woman who pretended to be Rob Lowe's mother in Tommy Boy, a movie I know Anne loves very dearly.

The great Bo Derek.

And remember, if you can only read or listen to one retail blogging the business, Make It Omnitalk, the only retail media outlet run by two former executives from a current top 10 US retailer.

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 Anna and I take a heck of a lot of pride in doing just for you.

Thanks as always for listening in.

Please remember to like and leave us a review wherever you happen to listen to your podcast or on YouTube.

You can follow us today by simply going to YouTube.com omnitalkretail and Joan join.

Excuse me, not join.

Join the growing ranks of our YouTube subscribers.

So until next week, on behalf of all of us at Omnitalk Retail, as always, be careful out there.