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Omnitok'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 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 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 Trends.

Today is February 12, 2025.

I'm one of your hosts, Anne Mazinga.

And I'm Chris Walton, and we are.

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

Chris, we are back on the conference circuit.

I think that's just going to be the norm for right now actually.

It is, it is.

I thought it was funny when you told me the other day, you're like, I've been to Vegas every month of this year so far to start, you know, 20 or I will have been, you know, start 20, 25, January, February and March.

That's on your back in May.

Crazy.

Back in May.

That's right.

I forgot about that.

Yeah.

This is, I need a frequent frequent flyer loyalty program for Vegas right now.

I feel like you do.

You do.

Yeah.

To set the table for our audience that's maybe listening or even watching.

Like, you know, I'm set up, I'm, I'm set up in the Venetian and as are you.

Yeah.

Looking out my window.

And in true omnitok retail fashion, I, my view is of the Las Vegas mall right there.

I've got it.

Perfect view for me.

To inspire me.

As we talk about all these retail related stories this week, I, I'm, I couldn't be more excited.

I'm going to have to seek inspiration elsewhere because as you know, my, my room overlooks the pool and it's February in Vegas, so there has been not a person in sight here but lots of lifeguards.

Yeah, I've heard.

Yeah.

You told me you need six lifeguards saving for no people yesterday that lifeguards on duty.

That's, that's called proper resource allocation.

Improper resource allocation, I think.

All right.

Well, should we get to the headlines?

Let's do it.

Let's do it.

All right.

Today's headlines are brought to you by Commerce Next.

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Yes.

Go ahead and check that out.

We are planning to be there and we love that show.

It's a great show.

All right.

In this week's Fast 5, we've got news on gaps Vintage drops Corso taking its tech to the convenience store industry.

All the recent goings on at save a lot Instacart piloting CPG branding tasks for its gig workers and Simbi's SVP of market, Caitlin Allen stops by.

Five insightful minutes on the puts and takes of deploying AI and robotic automation at scale across retail.

But we begin today with big news out of Aldi Ann.

That's right, headline number one.

Aldi has sold off a portion of the business it had acquired from Southeastern grocers while also announcing plans for more than 200 store openings in 2025.

Wow.

According to Grocery Dive, Aldi has sold Southeastern Grocers and its Winn Dixie and Harvey's SuperMarke banners to a consortium of private investors led by Anthony Hucker, the current president and CEO of Southeastern Grocers and CNS Wholesale Grocers, according to a Friday announcement.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Aldi is selling roughly 170 winn Dixie and Harvey's supermarket stores to the consortium, along with Winn Dixie's liquor store business.

However, the discounter does still plan to convert 220 Winn Dixie and Harvey's stores it previously acquired into Aldi locations.

Hopefully you're still following along.

Finally, in addition to its Southeast expansion, Aldi says it will add its footprint in the Northeast and Midwest regions, grow its presence in the west and with more states in Southern California and Arizona, and enter new markets such as Las Vegas, with aims to grow its store count by more than 220 stores in 2025.

Chris even Grocery Dive made notes in their article that this is very complicated and they are changing details by the moment.

So on top of that though, this is also the question that A and M is going to use to put you on the spot.

All right, 8am in Vegas and let's.

Do it, let's do it, let's do it.

So A and M wants to know, Chris, in addition to your thoughts on all the goings on at Aldi, while Aldi's strategy and approach here is very interesting, we'd like you for a moment to think about the CNS side of the deal.

Given they were also recent recently in the market for Kroger and Albertson stores, seems they have been keen to get into retail on a larger scale.

What does the move say about the potential evolution of the traditional grocery wholesaler relationship and do you expect similar moves going forward for more control of the value chain?

Chris, the floor is yours.

Oh my God.

Whoa.

All right, all right.

So that's a great first of all, it's a great question and like you said, there's a lot to this headline and there's the Aldi side and then there's the non Aldi side, which is what I think, you know, A and M is getting at.

So I'm going to tackle that.

I'm going to try to tackle this off the top of my head and in two parts.

First, I do want to cover the Aldi side because I think that's the important part of the headline for our listeners.

And then I'll get to the CNS side, which is what, you know, A and M is asking about.

So first, you know, what stands out to me is how smart this move is from Aldi.

We got an inside look into how Aldi was thinking about all of this, all, all the complexities related to this acquisition.

Initially interviewed Dan Gavin, the VP of National Real Estate at Aldi Retail Spaces.

Was a great conversation.

And in that conversation, I know you and I were both struck by how thoughtful Aldi was being around thinking about its prototype expansion.

Like, Dan was very, he was very transparent.

He's like, some of these stores are easy to convert.

Yeah.

Some of them aren't.

They're not in great locations.

They're not doing the volume necessarily that we need.

So.

So like, you know, when I look back and I combine this with, you know, all of other, all these growth plans and how under penetrated they still are in some of the, some of these markets, like, it seems like a really shrewd move to divest what you don't want to have anymore.

So.

Yep.

So I see this, I see this headline in total as the makings of a retailer that will scale by doing what it does best, which is levering the prototype that it knows that it'll, that will work.

Right.

And so you talk a lot about retailers like trying to push water uphill.

This is the exact opposite of that, which is why I think it's something you've got to watch.

So it's a testament to all these overall value consumer propositions.

So now back to the question at hand.

That puts you on the spot.

Question from our friends at the A and M consumer and retail group, CNS wholesalers.

Yes.

They seem over.

If you look at their activities over the last years, like last couple years particularly, they seem keenly interested in owning and operating their own retail grocery stores.

Yes.

So I do think we're going to see more of this.

It seems like an approach that others are taking as well.

Spartan Nash comes to mind.

I'm guessing you're thinking that based on your response.

But.

With all that said, there's always a but and it's a different business model.

So running a grocery operation is very different than being a distributor.

And I used to work with CNS back in my day running frozen food at Target.

So it's a very much more complex task.

It might seem like there's all these economic advantages, but it's also a difficult and touchy business running a grocery store.

We know there's Not a lot of room for error.

So I'm curious to see how CNS makes it work in the long term.

Especially.

Especially given the fact that Aldi is basically saying, hey, guys, you can have these stores back.

Yes.

So I think that's a particularly interesting thing here.

Like, it's kind of careful what you want or what you ask for here.

Cns, I don't know.

That's my answer.

There's a lot going on there.

So, you know, so.

And I'm curious.

Well, I think the key thing here, I completely agree with what you were saying.

The Spartan Nash example, the freeing up capital and, and those, and getting rid of those stores that are more complicated.

Like this is Aldi is playing chess here.

They know the game.

They are doing such a good job.

They are.

You know, I think the other component here that Dan Gavin mentioned, like you said, there's a, there's a lot to bring some of these Winn Dixie, especially the Winn Dixie and Harvey's, like, to the Aldi level.

Aldi is a great shopping experience.

Like, they invest in, like a great walk, you know, store design.

They invest.

They know what they are.

Own brands.

Yes.

They are going in.

They're rinsing, repeating.

They're giving people convenience.

Also, like, they're partnering with like, instacart.

They're thinking about all the components of a great grocery store experience.

Not just like, oh, hey, I need a store in that location.

Let's just slap a new banner on it and let's just rinse and repeat.

Like, Aldi is on a mission to completely dominate, especially 225 stores they're opening just this year.

Like, they are so strategic, so smart.

And this, I think sale will help them really be laser focused on the remodels that they'll have to do and then expanding to some of these other geographies.

I think that's the other thing here, too, that kind of gets buried in the details.

Like there.

This is also going to allow them to expand to the Midwest more quickly.

Like to, to find exactly as you said and what Dan Gavin said, the right stores to either be remodeled or new greenfield projects that they're going to be able to take on.

And I think this is just.

Aldi is on fire right now, and you really have to watch them.

Yeah.

There's no shame in shedding the, the dead weight.

So I'm excited to see where, where Aldi goes and if they hit these 225 stores.

That's crazy.

I know.

It's nuts.

Yeah.

I Remember?

I remember that conversation from retail spaces.

And honestly, fans, if you haven't listened to that conversation, you should look it up on our podcast channels.

Just look up Dan Gavin Aldi Omnitalk Retail, and you'll find it.

But yeah, I mean, I was sitting there listening to him.

I'm like, dude, you are the right man to run a real estate strategy, particularly for a grocer.

You know every angle that you need to consider and think about.

Well, and especially just like, the humility of it.

Like, they don't care.

They're not gonna.

They're not like, puffing their chest like, we made this investment, we're gonna go do it.

It's like, no, this is wrong.

We're gonna cut it.

We're gonna go and move forward.

And like, if you're gonna be a successful retailer, especially in the grocery space right now, you have to have that men.

The other thing I don't know about, but I'm curious about is, like, how much of this was worked out in advance, too, as in part of the initial deal.

Like, because all the same players are involved in here, you have the same CEO running this consortium, the former CEO of Southeastern Grocers running this consortium.

So who knows?

But all right, this next headline I'm pretty excited to talk about, and I don't know which side of the fence you're going to come down on.

I know what side I'm going to come down on, but headline number two, Gap plans to launch seasonal vintage drops throughout the year, according to Retail Dive.

Gap is expanding its partner with Sean Witherspoon, its global vintage curator, to release Gap.

How do you like that job, Chris?

I love when people watch us.

I get comments sometimes from friends are like, I could tell you are smiling as you read that headline, that there was something going on in your head.

And that was exactly what I was thinking.

Yes, it's global vintage curator.

Let's make sure we get that right.

To release Gap Vintage, all one word, I might add, annoying, which is a series of curated Gap vintage clothing drops.

The program's first drop releases Tuesday and will include Gap pieces from the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, all sourced by Witherspoon.

Gap didn't specify how many drops there would be, but did say they would include seasonal and theme drops.

The retail price range will vary, but the initial drop includes a 1990s striped pocket T shirt, classic logo hoodie, and nylon anorak windbreaker priced at $55, $85 and $90, respectively.

It also includes a 1980s denim jacket hoodie priced at $90.

Sounds like my style.

And the collection will be available online in the US with an exclusive collection sold in the company's Flatiron store in New York.

Anne, I'm curious.

Yes.

On a scale of 1 to 10.

Yeah.

How much do you like the idea of Gap vintage?

I'm a hopeful seven.

A seven.

Seven.

Yes.

Lucky number seven.

And I'll tell you why.

All right.

One vintage Gap is the most in demand Gap product right now.

Like that's what all very sad.

Next generation is looking to.

They're not going to the Gap store.

They are scouring thrift stores and consignment shops to find this product right now.

So I actually like this more from the perspective of it's a way drive traffic.

There's limited drops.

They're doing pop up shops around the globe like they're going into.

And they're doing this on Gap.com, which I think is a smart way to just try to gain interest from a new consumer that hopefully comes for the Gap vintage and saves for maybe some new accompanying Gap pieces like T shirts or some of the other staples.

And I do think that more retailers need to be profiting off the reselling of their product.

Whether it's vintage product or it's just, you know, re the drops of resales that we're seeing.

Much like what we've described in the past with like Nike and Goat or Stockx.

Like it doesn't make sense that those companies are profiting off of your brand.

But.

And here's the big but, Chris.

There's always a but.

Like we said in the beginning, the.

One person or team with Sean Weatherspoon curating one store and some pop ups.

One drop on Gap.com, like I don't even know from a marketing perspective if that's enough to get the scale that you want to get the success that you would want to bring enough people back to the Gap Gap brand.

I do think it's an idea worth trying, but I think it really depends on what Richard Dixon and the Gap team plan to do for the next phases of this.

Like if it's something they're planning on rolling out, if it's just going to stay this small thing, I, I unfortunately don't think it's enough to save the Gap.

But you're a seven.

You're a seven.

With that.

I'm a seven.

With the, with the, with that caveat.

You're a seven.

Okay, I'm coming down.

Yeah, maybe I'm Like a five.

Maybe.

Maybe I'm like the John Clear reorient yourself here.

I think so.

But maybe, I mean Chris, are you just kicking your for not saving all of your vintage Gap anorax and khakis from the 90s when you were working there?

I mean you got to, you could be making boot camp.

Nobody wants my resale clothing.

True, sure.

That's true.

True.

Where, what's your number though?

Where do you, where do you.

I'm, I'm, I'm at best the three.

Like I'm like in the two to three range on this.

Marketing wise, I think it's a great hook.

You know, people listen to this stuff, they read about it, people talk about it.

You've seen all the chatter on social media about this too, you know, so like it's getting buzzed.

So yeah, nice job on that.

But I think to your point, seasonal drops online in small batches of things you have to source like this, you know, and are on display at one store in New York.

They do nothing.

Numbers and some pop ups.

And some pop ups.

Yeah, but I mean, but still like that does nothing.

Numbers wise.

Absolutely.

Zero, zilch, nada, like all three of those words.

To say the word nothing.

Like it just nothing comes from it.

So I mean until I see something that gets people back in the actual stores in mass, I'm going to remain skeptical of Richard Dixon even though, you know, he's surely got the zeitgeist and he's coming to Shop Talk and I'm sure he's going to be the most watched session at Shop Talk without a doubt.

Because, because even all the points you raised, like the route into resale.

Yeah, I think it's something you can, you can capitalize on.

But that too doesn't stop the bleeding and answer the question of how do you get people into your stores to shop gas gaps regularly priced merchandise, which is what you actually need to survive.

So until I see that, you know, it's, it's, it's just not going to work.

Say nothing of the idea that like you said, you brought it up 100%.

The idea of scaling and sourcing old vintage clothing is, is an almost impossible idea to scale in of itself.

It's just never going to work in mass.

It's just, it's not physically, you know, economically sustainable as an idea.

So, so it's just branding, plain and simple.

That's why I'm like this is like a two or three.

And I still need to see more in terms of how is he Enlivening the product itself to get people to pay full price for what is in a Gap store?

Yeah, do.

What do you.

I mean, have you changed your thoughts?

I know I've asked you this question in the past, but have you changed your thoughts at all about, like, what would be a move that Dixon could make to get people to do that?

Chris, like, do you.

Where.

Where.

Yeah, it's funny, as you were talking.

What do you do?

Yeah, I was thinking about this.

Like, I think if.

If this move resonates from a marketing perspective, then I think you have to have a very, you know, deliberate conversation with your product development team, which, you know, I've always been curious if Zach Posen is the guy to get this, but, like, yeah, okay.

What is it that.

That the average consumer today, in today's world wants from your clothing?

Like, do you.

Do you go into logo merchandise a lot more if that's what people are buying, you know, from the vintage collection?

Do you go into the pieces and just kind of update them?

But you have to find some point of position, and then, of course, you have to stand behind that in the store with the inventory, with the bets, with the merchandising to say, hey, folks, if you're coming to a Gap store, this is what we want you to buy.

Yeah.

I mean, that's what Abercrombie has done fairly well.

They've taken a product position on certain items and they've done really well with them.

And so, you know, fashion, retail is the same thing.

You gotta do that.

And I don't know what that is yet.

They haven't really come out and said what that's going to be.

I need to go into a Gap store again.

It's been like three or four months since I have.

But that's where you.

You could potentially take this, right?

You could, but the proof is not there yet for me to say that that's what they're going to do.

So I have.

I have a question.

A crazy.

Okay, we're staying on this one.

All right.

Maybe we can cut this out if we need to.

But.

So I'm.

I'm almost curious, like, I.

It really got me thinking, like this week, when we're talking about the de minimis exceptions and Shein and Teemu and what that's going to do to the price of their clothing.

I'm almost wondering if Gap couldn't come back a la like American Apparel, and could you have success in really, you know, being a brand that's American made, that's providing Quality product again, because we also know that that's an important factor for the, the next generation of shopper, this Gen Z shopper is looking for quality.

Now price point is a big concern there.

But, but I think, like, I'm wondering if that like Gap is an American brand, like could that help them, like provide this resurgence of we're making products here, it's good quality product.

We're doing it at the lowest possible price, giving you the style and then leaning on, you know, like you're saying like inspiration from what's selling on vintage Gap or even Zach Posen's inspiration.

But I mean, do you think that's even a shot that they could take that would help them?

I, I, I, I like where your head is going there.

I think that's just a very difficult proposition for a whole host of reasons too.

I mean the business, I don't know that the business model is, is set up for that.

You know, in terms of where their source, Gap has an incredible sourcing arm throughout the world.

Yeah.

There'd be an incredible cost increase to doing that.

The problem with Gap too is it sits in this like kind of netherworld in terms of pricing.

It's got Old Navy on one side, has been on the other.

So then you're probably taking the prices for your average Gap piece of cloth.

So maybe, but it would take a long time to get there and there'd be a lot of pain to rewire the operation that way too.

And at the same time, you mentioned the competitors, the fast fashion competitors.

They could come in and undercut you on price for the same goods, you know, comparably, you know that you're getting sourced in the US And I think, generally speaking, I think for the same item, people still gravitate towards price as much as they want to ring the, hey, made in Americana, made in America thing.

You know, Walmart's played that up.

But yet at the same time it's never like, you know, blowing the doors off their business too.

So like, I mean it's very different.

But yeah, I don't know, I just think it'd be harder to do than, you know, it probably, you know, seems.

But I just want Gap to survive.

Chris.

I just wanted to.

The good news is though, the good news is they could be on, I will say this, they could be on to something.

Yeah.

If they figure out what it is that their customer wants.

Yeah.

Going forward and how to price it.

Those are two really difficult questions though, for sure.

Right.

As you said, there's a lot involved in that process.

All right, well, thank you for indulging me.

Let's move on to headline number three.

Yes, EG America and Corso are partnering up to simplify store operations.

According to a Corso press release, the partnership will see Corso's technology deployed throughout the company's more than 1500 retail and fuel locations.

By combining advanced technology with human centric workflows, Corso's tech consolidates siloed solutions like tasks, surveys, performance analytics and exception reporting into a comprehensive, action focused and more enhanced platform that drives store performance at every level.

Chris, we know Corso.

We've been following them for a while, a long time.

But what strikes you the most about this particular partnership between Corso and EG America?

Oh, yeah.

Wow.

Well, as loyal Omnitalk fans will know, particularly our loyalist fans will know that we, I particularly, and we both have been a big fan of Corso's tech for a long time.

It's the biggest reason we've worked with them, I think consistently for going on five or six years now too.

And it's been a long time.

And the reason this story is particularly big is that they are taking their tech to convenience stores, 1500 convenience stores, I might add, as you, as you mentioned.

So, I mean, if you think staffing, training and oversight are difficult in retail, it's even worse in convenience stores.

So that's.

But that's probably why EG is finding value in that.

Yeah.

And, and the reason that this is important is, and Oliver Wright called this out in our interview with him from Accenture at FMI last week.

It's this whole idea of the next best action.

You know, go back and listen to that, that interview too, folks, because it was really, really top notch.

But he's basically saying, like, the great thing about AI is it it takes us out of this world where.

And having been a store manager and a district manager in retail, this is how it worked.

Like you just had tasks you had to tick off your list every day because that's the only thing we could monitor.

But now AI is getting to the point where it can actually recommend the next best action you can take, given the time that you have in the store and the hours that you have available to you as an employee.

Now, Corso calls that next best action a mission.

But that's the idea here.

It's, it's.

AI is unlocking a smarter deployment of our workforce by telling them what it is that they should do versus expecting them to do the same tasks every single day.

This is where the industry is going by way of AI.

And, and honestly, the other point is I think Corso feels like they are miles ahead on their own mission of simplifying the lives of store employees because they have been thinking about this for the past six, seven, eight years.

Right?

Yeah, no, I, I think that's absolutely right.

I mean, I also feel like, Chris, we've been hearing so much recently, like at the conferences we've been at this year about the agentic AI component of this.

And so what I think we have even seen kind of unfold yet here.

But what I think, you know, eg.

Tractor Supply, Dollar General, some of the other brands across all, you know, verticals in retail are looking at is that you also, you also have another component that's going to take place here.

I think when you think about the main brain, the smart store, and you think about like what can be done on top of this and it's not just what tasks, the next best actions or tasks the human workforce can take, but also AI can take into this too.

Like, I'm wonder, especially when you think about, you know, one of the retailers that has ESLs or something, like once the, the person has done like the restocking of shelves or restocking of a display or end cap, now can you start to have those tasks line up in the Corso platform of okay, now that, now that we have a full end cap, do we change pricing on this end cap automatically?

And is that something that AI can be triggered to do as the next best action?

And then what does that mean for continuing the operational flow of a store?

And I think that's where we're even going further with this that we haven't even seen unfold yet because it's still, the technology's still building, they're starting, still starting to get some of these things deployed.

Stores are getting smarter overall as an operating system.

And that's the thing, I think here that that is going to be really cool to see and I expect that we're going to see many more retailers kind of take on this type of, of task management technology to do that.

Yeah, it's cool.

The way I, the way I firm up what you said is like we're kind of in the, we're kind of at the intersection between the now and next of a these stores.

And what you're talking about is kind of the future of.

Yeah.

Of where it goes next.

And, and the other reason it's important is like, you know, like, like we learned last week as well is like you you just don't have the employees, particularly in grocery and convenience stores.

You just don't, you just don't have the employees.

So you have to help them work smarter to get through what needs to get done during the course of a day to serve your guests or your customers the way you want to.

I don't know why I keep saying guests, but, but, but, yeah, that's coming back, right?

Oh, the target coming out of me, can't get out the camp, can't stop bleeding red.

But that's the idea here, right, Anne?

I mean, that's the whole idea behind technology like this.

All right, well, let's welcome Caitlin then.

On today's show, a perfect segue.

Joining us now for five insightful minutes is Caitlin Allen.

Caitlin is the SVP of market at Simbee.

And Caitlin is here to share her thoughts on the puts and takes of deploying AI and robotic automation at scale inside retail organizations.

Caitlin, let's start off with this.

What do you think are retail executive buyers largest misconceptions when evaluating retail automation?

It's no longer about if automation is driving value, but how.

And so following where industry leaders invest is important.

And we see the top CEOs and CFOs prioritizing three things.

The first is data quality, then scalability and then store coverage.

Yes.

You know, with the onset of AI, modern data models are needed.

And yet poor data is the Achilles heel of most automation solutions.

And so we see vendors, we see retailers rather working with vendors that really work with high data standards, defining those necessary elements in history and quality related to scalability.

As they're reinventing retail operations, they retail.

Retail's best are testing automation in areas like on shelf availability and price integrity to get started.

And then they're looking at scaling other use cases, be it across allocation planning, forecasting, planogram compliance or what have you.

And then the final piece is store coverage.

And you know, today retailers are tracking when products arrive and when they leave, but they have, they lack visibility into their store of what happens in between that, that point in time.

And so top CEOs and CFOs are prioritizing autom that surface the actions that matter most that they can start to understand what true execution looks like in the store.

And I would say in closing that all of those three priorities really expose the misconception that leads when evaluating retail automation, which is over rotating on one device type.

This is really a conversation that needs to be about combining sensors for optimal coverage and data quality.

Okay, well Caitlin, we know that Simbi uses computer vision AI.

It's still new to some of the retailers listening to our program.

So can you help us identify what differentiates good computer vision AI from bad?

Sure.

So computer vision is what's used by things like fixed cameras on the shelf or autonomous, autonomous mobile robots, et cetera, just to kind of ground that in something we can all see.

And I would say one factor really separates high value computer vision from the rest with two key supporting elements.

So the main thing that's important is value that's been proven at scale across multiple chain wide deployments, in multiple retail subsectors, in geographies and use cases where there's many applications.

It's easy to claim that you have a product that does certain things.

But then when, when vendors or when retailers dig in to verify vendor claims, they often find out that, you know, claims might be a little hand wavy and really like.

The reason I start with that non technical answer is this, this is about the business outcome, right?

That's how to, to really take take a sense for whether computer vision is good or bad.

And then the supporting points for that are really around depth perception and total cost of ownership.

So you know, depth perception is basically another way of saying that good computer vision sees in 3D.

Mobile robots have become known as the most accurate and scalable and cost effective retail solution because they can move around.

Right?

And that eliminates data coverage gap.

And that also relates to the topic of total cost of ownership.

You know, when you have like just fixed cameras, for instance, you have hundreds of them per store, that really drives up your costs and your maintenance as well as your risk of damage.

Whereas like a robot really requires minimal infrastructure and it's kind of the difference of managing just one device versus hundreds.

So I would say bottom line, computer vision is really about having, you know, proven results at scale in prior applications.

And that's especially the case when it is backed by a solid business case that spans depth perception and cost efficiency.

Caitlin oftentimes, and we've lived this, we see a disconnect between the stores, organizations and the HQ side of a retail operation.

So what do you think are the most significant disconnection points between those two sides of the operation when it comes to retail tech deployments?

And, and what if anything, can both sides do about it?

Successful rollouts, Chris they don't just test technology, they're really more dedicated about building momentum across the organization.

And so we see the best retailers bridge that gap by doing three things, picking representative pilot stores that reflect real business realities, like store size, sales volume, operational readiness, tech savviness.

When they select their pilot stores, the second thing they do is stack rank their KPIs, and that's really about prioritizing the one or two that matter most.

And that's usually something like profitability and on shelf availability and sometimes price accuracy.

And then the third piece is around engaging store teams early, right?

No one wants something to be thrown over the fence at them.

So engaging store teams in decision making, thorough training, development, and emphasizing automation's role and being a power tool for them, not as a replacement of labor, really brings things over the line for all parties involved.

The best thing about what happens when what you just were talking about takes place in a store is that there's some really big aha moments for those customers who are deploying robotics.

Do you have any good examples that you could share with us quickly?

Two come to mind.

So most of those top performing stores that we're talking about, they find that 60% of the items that they believe to be out of stock actually to be in store.

So over half of the items they think they can't sell are there to be sold, which is an amazing aha.

And then I think the second Ann is really around kind of longer term use cases of understanding what real time shelf conditions and precise item location can do to inform things like better e commerce accuracy, automated reordering and demand forecasting and then merchandising at scale like to the effect of things like retail media and working with suppliers and vendors.

And that's such a privilege to see those kind of AHAs go off because it's kind of rare to see your business in a new light.

So that's one of the things I love about my job.

Great stuff, Kaylin.

Thank you.

Headline number four Save A Lot wants to take the grocery industry by storm.

According to Grocery Dive, Save A Lot is planning to hit the ground running in 2025 after a year of readying key initiatives, according to a recent interview with Save A Lot's chief operating officer Bill Mayo.

In the past year, Save A Lot announced the launch of its first ever loyalty program, debuted a micro fulfillment center in New York City, and opened a Hispanic grocery store concept, all initiatives that Mayo said will catapult the discounters growth in 2025.

Save A Lot, which is out of St.

Ann, Missouri, for those of you that may be unfamiliar, currently operates approximately 800 stores across 32 states and said back at NRF 2024 that it has designs on growing its store count to over 3,000 locations at some point.

And I'm curious, where does Save a Lot rank on your unofficial retailers to watch list?

The unofficial and Mazinga retailers to watch list of 2025.

Well, I have to say hi.

Tractor Supply is one that I've got on my list this year but Save a Lot is the next one that I feel like I'm going to be.

Well, and Aldi, I think Aldi.

Yeah, those are, those are my top top three right now in 2025.

And as an aside, can we just say that Bill Mayo is one of the perfectly named CEOs for someone in the grocery industry I just love.

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.

I'm Bill Mayo and I'm the CEO of a grocery store.

Perfect.

That's pretty good.

But no, I think, I think I'm, I think there's a lot of momentum behind Save a Lot right now.

You know he came in, there was definitely some low hanging fruit.

The creation and expansion of a loyalty program.

Number one, huge getting them into retail media.

Number two, being another big thing.

But, but I, I really think that with the support of this, I mean he's an innovative Wake Fern Bread leader.

He, he's going to take this brand and just explode with it for the, the year ahead.

We Talked about expanding 800 stores to 3, 000 stores in the next few years.

The movement into the micro fulfillment centers which you and I got to go see the fabric in Brooklyn, like it makes it easier to expand the brand online and offline to introduce new people to brands where there aren't bricks and mor.

And especially in the convenience and Hispanic grocery spaces too.

Like talk about categories that are also getting much bigger.

Like being able to serve that need, I think is going to be another.

Like they've just, they've got all the legs of the stool going to really help them take off this year.

And then the last point is you have all this data now.

Now I think that's going to be a new, a new muscle for Save A Lot because they haven't had this much data about their consumers through loyalty programs, through you know, the partnerships with things like you know, the fabric MFC and getting new customers in those areas.

So that will be something that they'll have to really make sure that they invest in.

But if they can do that, which it seems like they can with Bell Mayo's leadership, they, they are going to be one to watch this year.

But where do you rank them?

Well, hold the Mayo and I don't know, like, yeah, I pretty much 100% agree.

Okay.

100% agree with you.

So, so, I mean, you know, for all the same reasons I, I would add sprouts into that list too, you know, and, and like Aldi, like we already discussed in this, in this episode, because unlike others, they have room to grow, right?

Yes.

You know, they have a prototype that can potentially scale, or they're discovering what that is and they still have opportunity to deploy it.

So, and, and then they're doing other cool things.

Like you mentioned the Brooklyn facility we saw.

I mean, that, that's a, it's a, the thing I give them credit for, it is a 100 ballsy move.

I mean, I don't think ballsy could be more attributed to any move in the history of retail than a St.

Ann, Missouri retailer entering New York City with no presence and seemingly seeing a flood of orders.

Regular coming regularly coming in through UberEats.

We were there, we were watching Uber drivers come in.

They're like, oh my God, what is going on here?

Yeah, that's just with Uber Eats, imagine if they got on the other delivery platforms too.

So your, your, your volume is going to scale without any extra investment ultimately, at the end of the day.

So, so, and if that model works, you could scale that to any major city that you want to where you don't already have a presence.

So, yeah, I mean, the last thing I'll say, side note, I, I, I don't think I told you this.

I actually extended Mr.

Bill Mayo a open invitation over this past weekend to join us for a five insightful minutes whenever he is available.

I just gave him an open invitation and hope he takes, I hope he takes us up on it at some point because we would love to talk to him.

I know, I know you would.

And I would.

Yeah.

He got back to me, he said, yeah, thanks, I'll let you know.

So here.

You have a direct line to Mr.

Mayo?

Yes, I do.

Yeah, yeah, no, we've been communicating.

He hasn't committed yet.

So I'm kind of, I'm kind of trying to turn the screws on him a little bit.

Say, come on, Bill, we want to talk to you and learn more about this because it sounds really cool.

All right, well, until then, we'll, we'll move on to headline number five.

Instacart is piloting adding CPG brand tasks risks for its workers.

Chris.

According to Grocery Dive again, Instacart is piloting a program in which its independent contractors can accept in store work on behalf of CPGs.

Say for example, taking photos of in Store displays.

The pilot is currently running in select markets with select workers.

Instacart said without providing further information, workers involved in the pilot can opt into brand tasks and will see how much the task pays before deciding whether or not to accept it.

Instacart said it workers are also not penalized for.

For not accepting a task.

Chris, are you pro or con?

Instacart adding CPG brand tasks for its gig workers.

Oh, can I say that I'm prawn?

Anne, can I say prawn?

Is that, is that an effective answer for this?

I'm kind of mixed.

I'm okay.

I think I'm prawn, but I'm.

That's okay.

Probably more.

I'm probably more pro than I am Condo, I think.

Okay.

You know, but I would say I'm prime.

I'm like right squarely in the middle.

Maybe a slight hedge towards pro.

Okay, here's the reason I like the idea.

I like the idea because in general, I think this is a much better idea than Instacart's claims of telling the industry that it knows how to run a grocery store, which I think is just absolutely laughable because it's a smart extension of what Instacart already does well, which is deploying gig workers into grocery stores.

So there should be some scale there.

There.

The one caveat I have about it, though, is that you're asking your workforce to do an entirely different task.

And like everything we talk about on the show, everything you do has a cost, which is going to mean slower pick times, more misspicks because of distractions.

I don't think Instacart knows that yet, which is why they're piloting now.

The important thing for me, though, is as I was thinking about this, I think all of that can be avoided if the tasks are routed separately.

So for that reason, I think on the whole, I really like this idea.

Like if you just have a gig worker staff that does goes and does the CPG work, one that goes and does the picking, problem solved, in my opinion.

It doesn't sound like that's how they're routing things yet when I read the headline, but who knows?

And they're going to learn from it, and that's why it's a test.

So I think Net net, I'm actually talking myself into.

I'm pretty pro on this, I think.

Yeah, yeah, I, I agree with you.

I mean, I think the key thing is how is this rolled out?

Like we.

There's no information on that.

I think think to your Point, if this means that, you know, as a gig worker who I kind of set up my day and I have to stay in and around the grocery stores, that I know that I could get orders from coming in my way, like, this is a great thing to do when you're killing time.

If it's a totally separate task, like, hey, I can get paid X number of dollars for going in this grocery store, walking around, taking a few photos, I think anything that as.

Like you said, as long as it stays separate and it does not slow or impact picks, I think that's the.

That's a key thing here.

I still think, though, that this is maybe a temporary solution for all the reasons that Caitlin just identified in that five insightful minute segments, like, I still think that making an investment in something like a robot to do this that's repeated, that you get consistent information the same way you don't have people taking a shot from one side versus the other.

Like, like, that is.

That is the investment that I would make in the long run.

But, you know, that is an investment, and there's some retailers out there who can't do that.

So some information is better than none.

And if they can pay somebody $25 to go take a picture, like, that's probably a worthwhile investment.

So I, I'm.

I'm pro.

If it.

If it.

Like, if those caveats apply, I guess.

Yeah, now you're bringing me back down.

I think you're right.

It's, it's.

It.

It's not the best way to do this.

No.

But it is a decent stopgap measure for many of the retailers.

The other point I make, too is I thought it was interesting the Instacart Communications team was, you know, lighting me up this week, but I unfortunately wasn't able to get back to them because I've been busy, busy at Manifest this whole week about their rollout of the smart card at Kohl's, wanting us to cover that.

And I was like, this.

This, to me, is so much more interesting in the smart card at Kohl's.

So that, you know, that's why we.

We picked it so.

So to tell our audience how the sausage is made.

All right, let's do the lighting round.

All right, let's go.

Chris, question number one.

The car fragrance category is growing so quickly that luxury fragrance houses like Jo Malone, for example, known for personal scents, are now offering signature scents for your vehicles.

Chris, which luxury scent would you want consistently piped into your car?

Or are you more of a hanging tree kind of guy.

And if so, what's the hanging tree scent?

Oh, my God.

And this is funny.

Like, I'm generally not a sense guy in general.

Like, I don't.

You know, I don't wear cologne.

I don't really like perfumes that much.

But I will say this.

Yeah, this is funny.

There was a perfume that my flight attendant was wearing on my flight out to Vegas on Monday, where I found it so intoxicating that I almost went up to her and said, in a.

Good way or a bad way?

Yeah, in a good way.

Like, okay, wow, that is amazing.

And I almost went up to her.

I wanted to go up to her and ask, like, hey, what is that perfume you're wearing?

But I did it because I didn't want to be the old guy creeper because I'm probably, like, 20 years older than her.

And I'm guessing.

I'm guessing that's probably the smart move.

This is where I regret not traveling out with you, because I could have sent you to do that.

You could have, and it would have been great.

But, yes, you know, yes.

But, yeah, that.

So I don't.

I don't know.

I don't have an answer for that.

But I did like the perfume that the flight attendant.

So random Delta flight attendant perfume would be what you would pipe into your car.

Some perfume that will remain undiscovered for the rest of my life.

All right.

On Friday, Triunion Seafood sent out a statement explaining it has voluntarily recalled select lots of canned tuna products sold under the Genova Bandcamps, H E B and Trader Joe's brand names over potential botulism contamination.

And Costco was also on that list.

So tread carefully.

And my question for you is, do you like Chunk Like Tuna, or are you strictly an albacore kind of girl?

I like all kind of tuna.

Oh, I don't.

I don't.

I don't discriminate.

I mean, I guess if I had to pick, I would pick albacore.

Actually, I have started eating more mackerel because I was told by a medical professional that mackerel has more protein and less mercury than tuna.

It's just a little bit more costly.

But, yeah, it is.

You eat Chunk Like Tuna, the hot dog of tuna.

That's so.

I mean, yeah.

Why?

It turns my stomach.

If you put enough.

If you put enough mayo and mustard and stuff in it, it doesn't even matter.

It's just, like, protein.

Like, I just need to get protein.

And it's a very easy way to do that.

So unless you're eating it on a plane.

Don't eat it on the plane next year.

Nice smelling.

No, you should.

You should not eat tuna in mixed company.

In general, I think that's a good rule too.

You don't bring tuna to the office.

No, you do not.

Is also a major faux pal.

Unless it's cold.

Cold is fine.

Hot.

No.

No way.

Hot tuna.

What's hot tuna?

Like a tuna melt?

You can smell that?

You can smell hot tuna?

Yeah, yeah.

Cold tuna.

Nobody can really.

Or like a tuna pasta salad or something like.

Nobody's.

You're not bugging that many people, I don't think, but.

Oh, no, but I work alone, so I'm not in an office department anymore.

Yeah.

Good thing we got rid of that office.

All right, Chris, question number three.

DoorDash has partnered with Hustler to provide.

Oh, my God.

Product and sweet and spicy flower displays just in time for this Friday, Valentine's Day.

What other holiday do you most wish DoorDash would offer a last minute shopping dealer partnership for?

Oh, my God.

You know, I think, think.

I don't think they have this, but I think what's coming to my mind is actually like last minute birthday ideas.

You could have like an actual, like, you know, merchandising category for that alongside all their other categories.

They have like, just things you need to get really quickly.

And it could be like packages, it could be gifts, it could be anything.

That.

That would be my idea because I know.

Anne.

Yes.

Your birthday is one of your top five holidays that you like to celebrate every year.

So that's why I included it as a holiday in answering this question.

Question.

Yes.

Yes, I think that's a great idea.

They do have a gifts category, but I do think they could get even more specific in that area.

So Doordash, do they have a gift category?

Okay, yeah, that's good.

But it's.

But it's light.

It's light on idea merchandise, right?

Yeah, it's like flowers and that kind of thing.

Yeah.

But you know, man, flowers.

Dime a dozen.

Really.

Literally.

Yeah.

And you are the doordash.

Not this time of year.

Not a dime a dozen this time of year.

Definitely more like a dozen.

A dozen dollars per.

Per rose or whatever it is this time of year.

And if you read the inflation report that just came out, nothing's a dime a dozen anymore.

That came out this morning.

My God.

All right, recent.

A recent review links three potentially blinding eye conditions to glp.

One, drugs like Ozempic.

Do you think news like this will do anything to slow down the Ozempic and GLP1 train.

Anne oh, not a chance.

Not a chance.

Really?

No, I in fact eye blindness, this you think is is not a.

Is not a.

No, I think the, I think the government better start preparing to do, you know, reinstallations of the like loud blinking, it's safe to cross signs because we're going to have a lot more, a lot more infrastructure that needs to support the recently blinded if that's the case.

God, between cannabis and GLP1, we're going to have stone people that can't see.

This is going to be great.

All right.

Happy birthday today to Josh Brolin, Taylor Durden and to the man who I was most disappointed and did not return for Top Gun Maverick.

Perhaps it was because his character Jester was dead.

The great Michael Ironsides.

Ironside.

Excuse me.

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