The Retail Podcast

Aldi's $39 Thanksgiving vs Sam's Club | Jill Dvorak

Aldi Thanksgiving for $39 feeds 10, Sam's Club goes bigger, and NRF expects 4.2% holiday growth. Jill Dvorak, SVP Content at NRF, on why value is winning the holiday seas

Christmas in London Starts at Selfridges | Simone Oloman

Christmas in London starts in October as Selfridges unveils its Christmas in the City windows. Simone Oloman, Co-host of Five Things Friday UK, covers that plus Gap x Vic

Sainsbury's Wins the Weekly Shop, Walmart's AI Agents

Sainsbury's is winning back the weekly shop on price, while Walmart writes the rules for AI shopping agents that buy on a customer's behalf. Today's Decoding Retail also

Why Walmart Is Letting AI Shopping Agents In

Walmart has opened its platform to third-party AI shopping agents, which means retailers now sell to machines as well as people. Today's briefing also covers UK inflation

Debenhams Group CEO: The Online Department Store | Dan Finley

Debenhams Group CEO Dan Finleyexplains how the brand was rebuilt as Britain's online department store and whyits marketplace model is shaping the wider group. Recorded a

ChatGPT Virtual Try-On Goes Live, Tractor Supply, Kroger Cuts 3,000 Jobs

ChatGPT virtual try on is live, and NRF SVP Content Jill Dvorak explains what it means for retailers. Plus Kroger's 3,000 job cuts, Tractor Supply, Ross and Prime Day pul

Gymshark's First Celebrity, Stelios's easyShop, Cyber Attack Hits Hobbs Owner TFG

Simone Oloman, Co-host of Five Things Friday UK on The Retail Podcast, asks whether Stelios's easyShop marketplace can win shoppers from Amazon and Temu. Plus the TFG cyb

LVMH Uneven Quarter, Albertsons Review, Just Eat Ad

LVMH results show luxury demand moving at different speeds inside one group, with fashion and leather goods down 5% while selective retailing grew 8%. Alongside that, Jus

Is AI recommending your brand? Ben Jeffries on creator-first AEO (YouTube Festival London 2026)

Shoppers are asking AI assistants what to buy, and those answers cite YouTube videos. Ben Jeffries, co-founder of Influencer.com, explains creator-first AEO, the sports-b

Amazon Grocery Shake-Up and US Inflation Hits 3.7% - Daily Retail Briefing

Amazon grocery storefronts for individual retailers are closing on Amazon.com, while US inflation reaches 3.7% and Adobe finds 49% of AI shopping assistant users have aba

Boots Chief Customer Officer: Creators Are the New Beauty Counter | Charlotte Lock

Creators are the new beauty counter. That is how Charlotte Lock, Chief Customer Officer, Boots, describes where customers now discover products and find advice they trust

YouTube Is Now Where Shoppers Decide to Buy, with Sophie Neary of Google

YouTube is no longer just where shoppers see your brand. It is where they decide to buy it. On the red carpet at YouTube Festival London 2026, Alex Rezvan, Host of The R

Ahold Delhaize Outage, Kroger Cuts 3,000 Jobs

The Ahold Delhaize outage has left websites and apps down since Sunday and Dutch stores showing last week's shelf prices, a reminder that pricing now depends on central I

Nike Sales Decline and the Prime Day Rush | Jill Dvorak, NRF

Jill Dvorak, SVP Content at NRF, on Prime Day, Walmart's $300m bulky-item hub and the Nike sales decline in China. Is early discounting growing holiday demand or just mov

ChatGPT Try-On, UK Footfall Down 2.9% and Refresco IPO

ChatGPT virtual try-on puts OpenAI between the shopper and the checkout, while UK footfall fell 2.9% in September and every format went down. Today's briefing also covers

Frasers, Lidl, Burberry and Boots: UK Retail Five Things Friday

Lidl adds 43 million visits, Frasers ups its Burberry bet and Boots changes hands. Simone Oloman, Co-host of Five Things Friday UK, explains what this week's moves mean f

Amazon Layoffs, Tesco Profits and Walmart AI Savings

Amazon layoffs hit around 1,000 corporate roles, most of them in its stores division, as Tesco's profits rise and Walmart puts its AI savings back into customer service.

Boots Sold for £6.7bn, Walmart Drone Delivery Expands

Walmart drone delivery with Wing is expanding to more than 270 stores by next year, and Boots is going private in a £6.7bn deal with the Weston family. Today's briefing a

Quick Commerce vs Convenience: 7-Eleven India Lesson

Quick commerce now decides who survives in India: 7-Eleven is shutting around 60 stores because convenience without 30-minute delivery is no longer enough. Jill Dvorak,

Walmart Drops Pricing Patent as ASOS Is Hacked

Walmart is dropping a patent that would have let Scan & Go personalise prices at the point of scan, while ASOS confirms a cyber attack that reached customers through its