GrocerTalk

Omni Talk Retail

GrocerTalk is brought to you by the Omni Talk Podcast Network and is hosted and edited by Ben Miller, a leading commentator on retail innovation whose experience embraces grocery retailer roles, agency-side insight and consultancy leadership in grocery and CPG, and most recently as VP Original Content globally for Shoptalk and Groceryshop.

  1. 1h ago

    “Surveillance Pricing,” AI Hype Rapidly Becoming Reality, and the Realities of Rapid Delivery | GrocerTalk

    In this episode, sponsored by Instacart Enterprise, Portager, Vusion, and Sifter Solutions, Ben Miller is joined by Jordan Berke, Founder & CEO of retail consultancy TOMORROW, for his first time on GrocerTalk. Jordan shares a little about his retail background and the work he’s doing at TOMORROW before he and Ben jump into surveillance pricing, the realities of rapid delivery, AI hype becoming reality, and whether retailers are actually listening to their shoppers. This week, they discuss: • Seattle approving its Fair and Transparent Pricing policy to ban so-called “surveillance pricing,” and Walmart CEO John Furner laying out the principles that will guide Walmart’s use of AI and pricing technology. (Source) (Source) • Tesco store employees raising concerns about the operational impact of its Uber Eats and Deliveroo partnerships, and what grocers need to consider as more ecommerce fulfillment shifts into stores. (Source) • Instacart CEO Chris Rogers’ claim that AI will transform grocery more than any other retail category, what AI shopping agents could mean for the industry, and the growing questions around who ultimately owns the customer relationship. (Source) (Source) • Sam’s Club giving its members a bigger role in shaping what it sells through its Member’s Mark Community, which now includes more than 200,000 shoppers providing feedback on products, merchandising decisions and the broader member experience. (Source) Plus, Jordan joins Ben for GrocerTalk Grab & Go, where they share the grocery stories that have caught their attention this week. Ben digs into Instacart’s latest marketplace partnerships, including Dollar General joining the platform with no price markups, and keeps an eye on the potential sale of Tesco’s Central European operations. A few things worth checking out from this week’s episode: Catch up on Omni Talk’s Groceryshop 2026 coverage, including conversations with some of the biggest names across grocery, retail, technology and CPG. Watch the latest interviews and episodes across the Omni Talk LinkedIn page, podcast channels and YouTube. Episode 007. Welcome to GrocerTalk. P.S. Be sure to check out all our other podcasts from the past week here, too: https://omnitalk.blog/category/podcast/ Music by hooksounds.com.

    “Surveillance Pricing,” AI Hype Rapidly Becoming Reality, and the Realities of Rapid Delivery | GrocerTalk
  2. 4d ago

    Groceryshop 2026 Takeaways | Live

    What a few days at Groceryshop 2026. If you weren’t in Las Vegas for the show, this conversation is about as close as you can get to catching up on what mattered. Recorded live on stage at Groceryshop 2026, Ben Miller, host of GrocerTalk, brings together Chris Walton, President and CEO of Omni Talk Retail, Deborah Weinswig, Founder and CEO of Coresight Research, and Kelly Lindenau, Content Director at Groceryshop, to break down what actually stood out from a week packed with big ideas, big announcements and a whole lot of talk about the future of grocery. The conversation gets into the questions retailers are wrestling with right now. Where is agentic commerce really going? Is disintermediation becoming the bigger threat? What happens when the LLM starts to become the store? And with shoppers demanding less friction, faster decisions and better value, what does that mean for pricing, private label, marketplaces and the physical store? Chris, Deborah, Kelly and Ben also trade their favorite AI use cases, stats, quotes and technology takeaways from the show, including why the most important technology on display may not have been the flashiest. They debate what retailers should actually be paying attention to, what might be overhyped, and what could have a real impact on the way people shop. In this episode: • Why agentic commerce is still a big question mark for grocery • The growing threat of disintermediation and what retailers can do about it • What it means if the LLM becomes the store • Why “speed of shopping” may matter just as much as speed of delivery • How marketplaces are changing where and how consumers shop • Why pricing transparency could change the competitive landscape • The growing power of private label and retailer-owned brands • What supermarkets need to do to give shoppers a reason to come back • The most interesting practical AI use cases from Groceryshop 2026 • The technology, stats and quotes that actually stuck with the panel • What the group thinks retailers should be watching as we head toward 2027 🎧 Subscribe to Omni Talk for more conversations with the leaders shaping grocery and retail.

    Groceryshop 2026 Takeaways | Live
  3. 4d ago

    WHSmith North America’s Katie Blackburn on Travel Retail, Retail Media and Airport Shopping | Groceryshop 2026

    Live from the Vusion podcast studio at booth 913 at Groceryshop 2026 in Las Vegas, Ben Miller connects with Katie Blackburn, Vice President - Commercial Strategy & Operations at WHSmith North America, for a GrocerTalk conversation on the evolving world of travel retail and the changing needs of airport shoppers. Katie breaks down how WHSmith North America operates roughly 300 stores across around 50 U.S. airports, using localized concepts and curated assortments to serve travelers with very different shopping missions. From quick, convenient purchases like chargers and hydration to discovery-driven shopping experiences, the conversation explores how WHSmith balances speed and efficiency with exploration and engagement. The discussion also dives into WHSmith North America’s growing retail media network, including its investment in digital in-store screens and new programmatic capabilities developed in partnership with SMG. Katie also shares what’s ahead for WHSmith North America in 2027, including a planned accelerator program designed to help emerging brands reach the millions of passengers traveling through U.S. airports. In this episode: • WHSmith North America’s travel retail business • The different shopper missions shaping airport retail • Balancing speed, convenience and discovery • Self-checkout and the changing checkout experience • Curated merchandising in high-traffic environments • WHSmith North America’s retail media network • Programmatic advertising across physical store environments • Digital screens and in-store brand engagement • What’s ahead for WHSmith North America in 2027 • A new accelerator program for emerging brands 🎧 Subscribe to Omni Talk for more conversations with the leaders shaping grocery and retail.

    WHSmith North America’s Katie Blackburn on Travel Retail, Retail Media and Airport Shopping | Groceryshop 2026

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

GrocerTalk is brought to you by the Omni Talk Podcast Network and is hosted and edited by Ben Miller, a leading commentator on retail innovation whose experience embraces grocery retailer roles, agency-side insight and consultancy leadership in grocery and CPG, and most recently as VP Original Content globally for Shoptalk and Groceryshop.