Amazon Ads, Best Buy’s Marketplace & Macy’s Ever-Changing Strategic Narrative | Fast Five

Summary

Omni Talk Retail Podcast Summary

Episode Title: Amazon Ads, Best Buy’s Marketplace & Macy’s Ever-Changing Strategic Narrative | Fast Five
Release Date: January 14, 2025

---

Introduction

In this episode of Omni Talk Retail Fast Five, hosts Anne Bazinga and Chris Walton delve into the latest developments shaping the retail landscape. Recorded live from New York City during the NRF conference, the duo discusses five key headlines impacting omnichannel retailing. The episode features an insightful guest appearance by Tim Robinson, Corporate Vice President at Blue Yonder, who shares expert perspectives on handling consumer returns.

---

1. Macy’s Store Closures

Timestamp: [05:38]

Overview:
Macy’s announced the closure of its first 66 locations across 22 states, part of a larger plan to shutter approximately 150 stores. These closures primarily affect mall anchor locations and standalone furniture stores, signaling a strategic pivot for the retail giant.

Discussion Highlights:

• Chris Walton’s Perspective:
  Chris expresses a tempered surprise regarding the closures, stating, “I’m not like on the shocked level. Like if 1 through 10 with 10 was shocked, I’m probably like a 5 here” ([06:34]). He critiques Macy’s small format stores, emphasizing their inefficacy and questioning the future of department stores.

• Anne Bazinga’s Viewpoint:
  Anne argues that Macy’s actions are a pragmatic response to underperforming stores, stating, “Tony Spring is gonna make sure that these things work because his reputation depends on it” ([08:07]). She commends Macy’s for trimming the fat and making tough decisions necessary for survival.

Notable Quote:
Chris Walton remarks, “I don’t see you’ve got a lot here going on, Tony Spring. And so I’m very skeptical about your growth trajectory” ([07:23]).

Conclusion:
While Macy’s strategic closures may streamline operations and improve the bottom line, both hosts express skepticism about the long-term viability of department stores in the evolving retail landscape.

---

2. Amazon’s $11 Billion AI Investment in Georgia

Timestamp: [12:33]

Overview:
Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced an $11 billion investment to expand its infrastructure in Georgia, aiming to bolster cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. This massive investment is expected to create hundreds of jobs and establish Georgia as a hub for digital innovation.

Discussion Highlights:

• Anne Bazinga’s Analysis:
  Anne emphasizes the monumental scale of Amazon’s investment, noting, “$11 billion is more than twice the market cap of Macy’s” ([15:34]). She discusses the transformative potential of AI in retail and the urgency for other retailers to invest in AI to remain competitive.

• Chris Walton’s Concerns:
  Chris voices concerns about Amazon’s growing dominance, suggesting, “Amazon either gets bigger and bigger and puts more retailers out of business” or faces regulatory challenges ([16:27]). He warns of an uneven playing field as Amazon leverages its vast resources to dominate AI-driven commerce.

Notable Quote:
Anne states, “There's no way that you cannot use this. There's no way that if you are a technology company, you cannot be making these types of investments right now” ([14:28]).

Conclusion:
Amazon’s substantial investment in AI underscores the intensifying race for technological supremacy in retail. While it positions Amazon advantageously, it also raises concerns about market consolidation and the sustainability of competition.

---

3. Best Buy Launches Revamped Marketplace

Timestamp: [18:07]

Overview:
Best Buy is set to relaunch its third-party marketplace in mid-2025, partnering with Miracle, a software company that also powers marketplaces for Macy’s, Nordstrom, and Kroger. This move aims to expand Best Buy’s product assortment and provide new opportunities for sellers and advertisers.

Discussion Highlights:

• Historical Context:
  Anne recalls Best Buy’s previous marketplace attempt from 2011 to 2016, which yielded minimal revenue and customer confusion regarding returns ([18:06]).

• Chris Walton’s Optimism:
  Chris supports the relaunch, highlighting improvements in technology and omnichannel capabilities that differentiate the current effort from past attempts. He credits Miracle for enabling a more efficient and scalable marketplace model ([19:00]).

• Anne Bazinga’s Agreement:
  Anne agrees, emphasizing Best Buy’s robust loyalty program and potential innovations like live product demos that could enhance the marketplace experience ([21:35]).

Notable Quote:
Chris asserts, “I think this is a great move by Best Buy. Salute Corey Berry and hope we can get them on the show to talk about it more” ([20:00]).

Conclusion:
Best Buy’s revamped marketplace leverages advanced technology and strategic partnerships to overcome previous challenges, positioning it for greater success in the competitive e-commerce arena.

---

4. Handling Returns: Insights from Blue Yonder’s Tim Robinson

Timestamp: [23:12]

Overview:
Tim Robinson from Blue Yonder discusses the complexities of managing consumer returns in 2025. He highlights returns as both inventory and a critical component of customer experience, emphasizing the need for retailers to innovate in this area.

Discussion Highlights:

• Returns as Inventory:
  Tim underscores that up to 15% of items in the US are returned, with 95% eligible for resale at full price. He advocates treating returns with the same urgency as inventory management ([05:38]).

• Customer Experience:
  He highlights the importance of tailoring return experiences to enhance customer satisfaction while maintaining profitability and sustainability ([24:54]).

• Environmental Impact:
  Tim emphasizes consumer concerns about the environmental impact of returns and predicts a shift towards circularity and recommerce as key differentiators for retailers ([28:06]).

• Future Predictions:
  He envisions a future where returns policies are data-driven and personalized, moving away from one-size-fits-all approaches to more nuanced, customer-centric solutions ([29:43]).

Notable Quote:
Tim states, “There is no way that you cannot use this. There's no way that if you are a technology company, you cannot be making these types of investments right now” ([14:28]).

Conclusion:
Effective returns management is evolving into a strategic advantage for retailers, requiring innovative approaches that balance inventory optimization, customer satisfaction, and environmental sustainability.

---

5. Amazon Retail Ad Services

Timestamp: [31:00]

Overview:
Amazon introduced Amazon Retail Ad Services, allowing other retailers to utilize Amazon’s advertising tools to run sponsored ads on their own websites. This service aims to provide contextually relevant advertising, enhancing user experience and monetization opportunities for retailers.

Discussion Highlights:

• Anne Bazinga’s Insights:
  Anne compares retail media to marketplaces, suggesting that while marketplaces facilitate product discovery, retail media requires retailers to operate as both retail and media companies. She praises Amazon’s solution as an accessible entry point for retailers to tap into advertising revenue ([32:03]).

• Chris Walton’s Perspective:
  Chris likens the launch to Amazon’s established strategies, noting, “The flywheel just keeps on spinning” ([34:23]). He views Amazon’s offering as a natural extension of its ecosystem, benefiting both Amazon and participating retailers.

Notable Quote:
Anne remarks, “You have to operate as a retailer and a media company” ([32:07]).

Conclusion:
Amazon’s Retail Ad Services represents a strategic expansion into retail media, offering retailers new avenues for revenue generation while reinforcing Amazon’s dominant position in the retail technology landscape.

---

6. eBay’s Partnership with Meta’s Facebook Marketplace

Timestamp: [35:34]

Overview:
eBay shares surged by 9% following Meta’s announcement to allow eBay listings on Facebook Marketplace in the US and Europe. This collaboration aims to enhance eBay’s marketplace presence and provide Meta users with a broader range of product listings.

Discussion Highlights:

• Anne Bazinga’s Analysis:
  Anne views the partnership as mutually beneficial, increasing trust and credibility for Facebook Marketplace while expanding eBay’s reach ([36:11]).

• Chris Walton’s Agreement:
  Chris concurs, highlighting the synergy between eBay’s extensive inventory and Facebook Marketplace’s vast user base. He likens the collaboration to a “one plus one equals three” scenario, enhancing visibility and accessibility for both platforms ([36:31]).

Notable Quote:
Chris states, “This is a really smart move on both sides. It extends their reach very nicely” ([36:11]).

Conclusion:
The partnership between eBay and Meta’s Facebook Marketplace is poised to invigorate eBay’s marketplace operations while enriching Facebook Marketplace’s product offerings, benefiting consumers and retailers alike.

---

Guest Segment: Tim Robinson on Returns Management

Timestamp: [23:12]

Guest:
Tim Robinson, Corporate Vice President at Blue Yonder

Key Insights:

• Returns as Strategic Inventory:
  Tim emphasizes treating returns as valuable inventory, capable of being resold at full price, thus contributing significantly to revenue streams.

• Enhancing Customer Experience:
  He advocates for a seamless returns process that meets customer expectations while maintaining efficiency and sustainability.

• Environmental Considerations:
  Tim highlights the growing consumer concern over the environmental impact of returns, predicting a rise in circular economy practices and recommerce.

• Data-Driven Policies:
  He foresees a future where returns policies are personalized based on data insights, moving away from uniform policies to tailored experiences that enhance customer loyalty and operational efficiency.

Notable Quote:
Tim states, “The brand that gets there quickest provides visibility and transparency about the second life of that item” ([28:06]).

Conclusion:
Tim Robinson underscores the importance of innovative returns management as a differentiator in the competitive retail landscape, urging retailers to leverage data and sustainability initiatives to enhance both operational efficiency and customer satisfaction.

---

Conclusion

In this episode, Anne Bazinga and Chris Walton provide a comprehensive analysis of pivotal developments in the retail sector, from Macy’s strategic store closures to Amazon’s expansive AI investments and innovative advertising solutions. Their discussions highlight the critical intersections of technology, strategy, and consumer behavior shaping the future of retail. Additionally, insights from Tim Robinson underscore the evolving significance of returns management as a strategic asset for retailers.

For those seeking to stay ahead in the dynamic world of retail, this episode offers valuable perspectives and actionable insights into navigating the complexities of omnichannel retailing.

---

Stay Connected:
For more in-depth analyses and updates on the latest retail trends, subscribe to the Omni Talk Retail Fast Five podcast and visit YouTube.com/omnitalkretail.

Transcript

[Anne Bazinga]

The OmniTalk Fast5 is brought to you with support from the A and M Consumer and Retail Group. The A and M Consumer and Retail Group is a management consulting firm that tackles the most complex challenges and advances its clients, people and communities 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 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 marketplace, dropship and retail media. For more visit Miracle.com that's M I R A K L.com and Symbi Simbee powers the most retail banners in the world with today's only multimodal platform for in store intelligence, see how Albertsons, BJ, Spartan Nash and Wake firm win with AI and automation at simbirobotics.com and 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 [e-mail] and finally, Scratch Event DJs Scratch Event DJs tap into its unrivaled network of top local DJs to provide brands with high quality curated in store experiences anytime, anywhere. Find out [e-mail] youm are listening to Omnitox 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 a 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 Omnichot 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. It's January 15, 2025. I'm one of your hosts, Anne Bazinga.

[Chris Walton]

And I'm Chris Walton and we are.

[Anne Bazinga]

Here live from NR New York City once again to discuss all the top headlines from the past week making waves in the world of omnichannel retailing. Chris, I'm giving this podcast every last ounce of energy that I have.

[Chris Walton]

I can hear it in your voice, Dan. You can probably hear it in mine too. I mean, I'm. I'm hoarse. I'm Hanging in there, man. I joked in the Retail Daily minute this morning, I used the quote from Escape from New York with Snake Plissken, and I was like, this is exactly how I feel. I want to escape from New York. I want to get home, take a bath, get my bed, you know, the whole nine yards.

[Anne Bazinga]

I love how you paused after Escape from New York by whoever Lipkin or whatever you just said. Like, I knew what the quote you were talking about. So, yeah, I was like. And continue. You're gonna have to explain that one for me as you always have to.

[Chris Walton]

Par for the course. And I've actually not even seen that movie, believe it or not. But anyway, that's. That's another story. And we've got a lot of NRF stuff to get to, and we got a flight to catch in a couple hours. We don't have ideal video conditions here. We're both in our. In our hotel room at the Four Points. Sheridan. Right? And it's a Sheridan. Is that what you're saying?

[Anne Bazinga]

But I mean, can we shout out to these people? They are amazing. I mean, I kind of don't want to share it with anybody because it is the hidden gem of hotels, I think, when you're going to nrf. But they are such a great team. I'm sure they're definitely not listening, so I don't know why I took the time to do that. But.

[Chris Walton]

But our fans are. And they will take up and snack up, snatch up the hotels. In fact, I want to give a shout out because I. I ran into a fan in the elevator and I have no idea what his name is. I just know he was at booth 3, 4, 5, 6. I can't remember the company's name, but he's like, you're Chris from Omnitok. And I was like, I had just gotten my shirt on. I just gotten down to get coffee. Didn't have a badge or anything.

[Anne Bazinga]

Yeah, yeah.

[Chris Walton]

All I can remember is his booth number because it was 3456. So shout out to him. Hope he's still listening. I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to stop by because we were just so busy at the show. But. But yeah. And should we. Should we get going?

[Anne Bazinga]

Yes. Thank you to everybody who stopped by to. @ nrf. We just can't tell you enough how much we appreciate everybody coming up and saying hello and sharing your. Your own Omnitok experience. So we love it so much. But, yeah, let's get to the show.

[Chris Walton]

All right. And, well, believe it or not, we're sitting here in New York and it's time to start talking about our next big conference in New York City. Before we get to today's headlines because coming up this June 24th and 26th, when hopefully it'll be much warmer here because it was freaking cold here in New York, you can come join anime at the Commerce Next Growth show. You can discover actionable insights from industry leaders and take your e commerce and retail strategy to the next level. With 2,700 plus industry leaders and 75 plus action packed sessions, skilled retailers and brands qualify for a free ticket. That's free folks. Or you can use code omnitalk O M N I T a l k. That's omnitalk all one word for 10% off and secure your spot today. So today's headlines are of course brought to you by Commerce Next. And in today's Fast5, we've got news on Amazon's $11 billion investment in AI in the Great state of Georgia. Best Buy launching a new revamped marketplace with miracle Amazon again, this time for letting online retailers use its ad tools meta allowing listings from ebay on its marketplace. And Blue Yonder's Tim Robinson stops by for five insightful minutes on how retailers should think about handling returns in 2025. But we begin today with what feels like what feels like to me and I'm curious what you think More bad news out of Macy's.

[Anne Bazinga]

Oh, we might have a discussion on this one. Let's go to headline number one. All right, Chris. Macy's last Thursday revealed that the revealed the first 66 locations that it plans to close as part of its plans announced nearly a year ago to shutter about 150 stores according to Retail D. The 66 locations span 22 states and many are mall anchor locations. Several are also standalone furniture stores that in some cases will shift operations to nearby full line stores. Department store is closing four of its 24 small format stores, a shift from the acceleration of small farm openings announced in 2023. Six out of the nine of the retailers freestanding off price backstage locations will also close. Chris, are you surprised at all by details surrounding Macy's store closure news? I think I might know the answer to this.

[Chris Walton]

Yeah, I, I think I am, I am somewhat surprised. I'm not, I'm not, I'm like, I'm not like on the shocked level. Like if 1 through 10 with 10 was shocked, I'm probably like a 5 here. Like I'm, I'm surprised that this is what they're saying because Particularly that it looks like it's in a, it's an about face on their small format stores, you know, and like it's 100%, it's about face. And, and I think, I think that about face is important to call out for two reasons. First, we visited these stores in Texas, I think one of which is closing now, if I'm not mistaken from reading the article. And we were not impressed. In fact, I think my joke at the end of that video tour was if it walks like a Macy's and quacks like a Macy's, it's still a Macy's because. And I still for the life of me can't understand why the world needs a scaled down Macy's. I've just never bought into that idea. So, so, so that's why I'm kind of not surprised by this.

[Anne Bazinga]

Sure, sure.

[Chris Walton]

Then two, and this is the more important point here, it tells me that they don't have a new path to growth upon which they can rely with any great certainty right now. And that is, that is fricking scary. I think everything they've been telling the media and the analyst community could soon blow up in their face. And while Macy's. Here's the other point. While Macy's is reporting supposedly good news about their bold new chapter strategy in their 50 stores. Like, I'm always skeptical when I hear about 50 store tests because the entire executive team is right around those. The entire store operations team is right around those. They're getting the resources to be successful.

[Anne Bazinga]

Yeah.

[Chris Walton]

So yeah, they're going to work in the short term. But at some time, at some point, those types of pilots revert back to the mean. And so.

[Anne Bazinga]

Right.

[Chris Walton]

That's why I'm just like, wow, I don't see you've got a lot here going on, Tony Spring. And so I'm, I'm very skeptical again about your growth trajectory and whether department stores are still going to exist.

[Anne Bazinga]

Yeah. It's like having 50 flagship stores. Right.

[Chris Walton]

I mean, it is. That's, that's the thing. If you know retail like we do, like, yes, these are going to be successful because by crook or by Nook or whatever the hell the expression is, Tony Spring gonna make sure that's not right. I know, but by hooker, by crook, that's what.

[Tim Robinson]

Yeah, right.

[Chris Walton]

Tony Spring is gonna make sure that these things work because his reputation depends on it. Right. So, so, so, yeah. So, I mean, I don't know, but.

[Anne Bazinga]

Yeah, it diverts media attention. It diverts media attention. I mean, no, I guess My whole point is that I actually think this is the most sensible thing that they can do. I mean I think that what Tony Spring is doing is trimming the fat here. Like this is just Macy's is making sensible moves about, you know, you got to, you got to start shutting some of these down because they're having a huge impact on the bottom line. And you know our sources that we've talked to at Macy's, you know, like, like it was mentioned in the article, like a lot of these mal the only ma. Like the only store that's still in a dead or dying mall and no one's going to come there. There's no other reasons to get them there. So it just doesn't make sense. It's a bad experience because like I think you said in a conversation we were having here, like there's nobody that wants to work there. Like it's just, it's, it's a bad experience. It's souring your experience with the brand immediately. So I think there and it makes sense. And you know, honestly Chris, I kind of give them kudos for shutting down these small format stores because I think a lot of other retailers would have.

[Chris Walton]

KE stuck their guns.

[Anne Bazinga]

I think they would have tried to push it. And you're 100% right. Like small format Macy's, I don't hate the idea but it can't just be Macy's shoved into a smaller box. And I, that was a big problem for me was that there's a glut of inventory. Like it just the, you know, the sales experiences weren't consistent. Like it just, it didn't make sense. So I think I'm actually, I'm kind of impressed. I'm going to give me a, give Tony Spring a little bit of a boost here and say like this is a very Amazon move of them. Like this isn't working. We're cutting it out. Even though we invested a bunch of money, we told everybody we were going to. This was our strategy. Like we can't make money off the backstage stores. The small format Macy's isn't working. Like they're, they're going to have to try to course correct and make those tough decisions right now if they want to survive as a brand. So yeah, not surprised, I guess.

[Chris Walton]

Yeah, you're right, you're right. It's kind of, it's probably a smart move but it's not a move that makes me feel any better about the trajectory.

[Anne Bazinga]

That's, that's, that's 100 agree. Yeah, like there's, there's got to be more going. I, I still like, I think that there, you know, I really think that Macy's just needs to sit down, take a hard look at what, what the future of Macy's needs to be and then start acting on it and even, even start consolidating I think some of the larger Macy's footprints to, to, to really figure out what makes the most economical sense, what the new customer wants.

[Chris Walton]

It's interesting too because he came out yesterday and said, he said, I think on stage at nrf even he said like we believe in having three brands. He doesn't want to spin them off. You know, he wants it when, when. And I actually think we've talked about before, but I think Bloomies as a smaller strategy makes a ton of sense. But. Yeah, but the other point I make too, and before we move on is we interviewed Joe Call, their head of assets protection and great guy, learned a ton.

[Anne Bazinga]

So brilliant, great interview.

[Chris Walton]

To hear his perspective, particularly on putting products behind glass was really interesting to listen to. But the thing I got listening to him, I was just like, man, department stores are just so hard and so outdated. You've got multiple entrances, you've got a guard, you've got split levels at most of these stores. Like it's just, it's just the, it's just kind of the dinosaur in a lot of ways. But anyway, all right, headline number two. According to Reuters, Amazon said last week that it's cloud computing division, Amazon Web Services plans to invest about $11 billion to expand its infrastructure in Georgia to support cloud computing and AI technologies. Quote the investments in Butts and Douglas counties are expected to create hundreds of jobs and enhance Georgia's position as a hub for cutting edge digital innovation. End quote. And yes, I'm still getting over Butts County. How should the rest of retail.

[Anne Bazinga]

How has that gone? Unknown. I've never did you about Butts County. I didn't know.

[Chris Walton]

I mean this county, this is the.

[Anne Bazinga]

This is the overtired like three year old sense of humor right now coming out in me. Where Butts County? Who knew? Okay, you were asking me a very professional, important question.

[Chris Walton]

Let's try, let's get back to keep this, this podcast classy. And how should the rest of retail be reacting to Amazon's $11 billion AI investment in the Peach State?

[Anne Bazinga]

I think everybody should be paying very close attention to this. Nvidia, their CEO was speaking at CES earlier, whatever week we're in right now. And then we had Azita Martin on Stage with John Furner here at nrf, just talking about even more. Like, we know Nvidia is huge. We know that they're the key to all of the continuous AI development that's going to be happening. But, Chris, what they were showing on stage at nrf, rough, it's just like, it's even beyond, I think, what we can even comprehend. So I think the fact that Amazon's investing $11 billion in continuing to bolster their AI capabilities, especially, you know, everybody's got to get their piece. And right now is the time that you got to be doing it, because you know it. It's going to be impossible to catch up to people like Nvidia. But if you're not doing anything to think about this, like, you got to figure out how you're going to set yourself up for the structure or the foundation to have successful pieces in place to really succeed with AI, because there's. There's just no way that you cannot use this. There's no way that if you are a technology company, you cannot be making these types of investments right now. Especially the agentic AI stuff. Chris, like, for those in our audience.

[Chris Walton]

Yeah, explain what agentic AI, this was a. Relative to interpret agentic AI.

[Anne Bazinga]

Yeah. So like I was telling you, like when. When we, you know who we were. Oh, Keith. Keith Mercier from Target or from Microsoft.

[Chris Walton]

Microsoft.

[Anne Bazinga]

On our podcast leading up to nrf, he was talking about agentic AI. And I think that for a lot of people, that was like the first, kind of, the first place that we were hearing about it. I immediately assumed agentic AI, like an agent, a call center agent, a bot that you're interacting with on the website. Oh, God, no. This was like Azita and John were on stage, they were showing like a complete transformation of a DC where agentic AI just basically means, in my understanding, it's just these are the jobs that AI is doing a thousand times better than people, and they are just going to catapult every single industry. And so that's where this $11 billion investment in Georgia, you're just like, yeah, this is the kind of money that we're going to have to be throwing at this. This is kind of infrastructure we're going to have to be building for this to be successful. It's. It's beyond what I think we can even comprehend right now.

[Chris Walton]

Yeah. Or said another way, all those inventory planning and allocation jobs that are the starting grounds, Right. Most retailers, those are going to become, you know, AI agents in the long run is basically what is How I would read into that. Yes, what you just said. So, I mean, and I don't have much to add here. I mean, I just thought of a way to put this in perspective for our audience. 11 billion, 11 in $11 billion investment is more than twice the market cap of Macy's which we just talked about. Macy's market cap is $4 billion. So $11 billion is more than twice the value of Macy's right now. Yeah, that's the scale of the resources that we're talking about here with which Amazon has to win and forge its trail in the next generation of AI based commerce. That's crazy when you think about it. And so other retailers are not going to stand a chance. So I'm a little more like, like doomsday tinfoil hat here and going back.

[Anne Bazinga]

To understandable machine we used to use.

[Chris Walton]

Like three or four years ago because it's gonna be impossible to keep up with them. I'm not even sure Walmart can keep up with this, you know, at the end of the day. So the only path I see here is that Amazon either gets bigger and bigger and puts more retailers out of business, Right?

[Anne Bazinga]

Yeah.

[Chris Walton]

Or gobbles them up too, maybe acquires them, you know, who knows? Or the government gets involved and breaks up aws because yeah, the, the combination of those two is just making Amazon so powerful in this landscape that there's no way it's going to be a fair playing field, you know, with, with them being able to, you know, have that in their back pocket to dominate the space.

[Anne Bazinga]

Yeah, that's a great point. And not just Amazon. I mean, you look at all of these companies like Nvidia even like, I think there's going to be legislation changes that have to happen because people like Nvidia, people like Amazon that have these deep pockets are investing so much money and being able to do like no one's going to be able to, to catch up with them. It's just, it's impossible. Well, let's go on to headline number three, Chris. Best Buy plans to launch a new third party marketplace in the US in mid-2025, according to Modern Retail. CEO Corey Berry told investors about the new marketplace on an earnings call in November, saying it would give its customers access to a larger assortment and new categories. It will also give sellers and advertisers a new avenue on which to increase their reach and build their brands. She said the new platform is a partnership with Miracle, a software company that also powers third party marketplaces for Macy's, Nordstrom and Kroger, which you've definitely heard me say before. Because Miracle is also a sponsor of this podcast.

[Chris Walton]

Yes. Full disclosure.

[Anne Bazinga]

Yes. And that complement this traditional e commerce sites with a larger selection from third party sellers. The move follows a previous attempt from 20, from 2011 to 2016, when Best Buy launched a marketplace to compete with Amazon but shut it down, it only brought in 1% of Best Buy's revenue and created confusion among buyers who thought they could return the inventory to Best Buy stores. A Best Buy spokesperson told E commerce bites in 2016. Chris, this is also our A and M put you on the spot question.

[Chris Walton]

Wow, I'm on a roll with these questions.

[Anne Bazinga]

Yes.

[Chris Walton]

All right, let's do it. Yeah.

[Anne Bazinga]

Chris. Marketplaces continue to thrive and multiply. Call them the new retail media network. To that end, we'll. Marketplaces like Best Buy stand on their own long term. Or will this proliferation of independent retailer marketplaces end up significantly consolidating?

[Chris Walton]

Interesting. Interesting. I don't know. I don't know if I agree that they're the new retail media of 2025. I think, I think they're a little bit different here. And, and to answer that question, I don't really see any, I don't really see any consolidation. I think, you know, some marketplace efforts will be more successful than others and some will get the traffic, therefore, and others won't. But at the end of the day, running them has gotten so much more efficient because of the platforms that are out there that I think it makes it easier for people to try to do this and see to what degree a marketplace works for them. But yeah, I don't see consolidation of marketplace efforts happening. Which is why, honestly, if I come back to the headline, I am decidedly pro on this move because, you know, the, the thing I'd call it, it's not 2016 anymore. You know, it's not, it's 2025. And you know, just to call it out, you know. Yeah, and, and retail and Best Buy have both changed a lot in the last 10 years. Like, I think this 10 years has seen the most change in retail that I can ever remember. Yes. And so a number of things I call out that are different than, you know, back in 2016. One, platforms like Miracle just make it easier. Like I said already, like, they make it easier. And you know, there's a lot of platforms you can do this with. But, but you know, they're using Miracle, they're our sponsor and it just makes it easier to do second, the Omnichannel sophistication with rich retailers are operating is far greater than it ever was. So the idea of returns being the hamstringing factor here isn't as large of a concern as it probably was before. I think people have started to figure out how to do things around that. Different business models, different technology solutions have come up around solving that problem and it will continue to get better and better. And then here's the last point I'd add too, or no, second to last point. Actually, I've got another point after this. Third, I think subscriptions are a bigger part of the game here. Yeah, so, and loyalty. And we learned from Christian Revo yesterday at the Reva Group that loyalty is a key piece of my fourth point, which is going to be retail media. So teased. But Best Buy has a pretty robust loyalty program with lots of great benefits. So I could see customers going on their site, on their site wanting to purchase other items from Best Buy given their loyalty and the fringe benefits that come with being a member. And fourth, of course, the retail media landscape is way different. We've talked about this a lot on our show. But retail media, the marketplaces extend the reach of retail media. And Best Buy is one of those retailers that has a national retail media reach. So for all those reasons, those four reasons, I think, I think this is a great move by Best Buy. Salute Corey Berry and hope we can get them on the show to talk about it more.

[Anne Bazinga]

Yeah, I agree. I mean, you kind of hit on all the points, Chris, that I, I, I agree with. I think, you know, it's a search game. If you, if you can show up to more people, you have more access. And like you said, you know, Best Buy has a great loyalty program. They also, I think have things like that they can tie in down the road. That makes sense, like Geek Squad support for those items. I do also think that the returns issue can be solved. I mean, you take a look at what Walmart's doing with their, Walmart, you know, with Walmart plus and what they' with their marketplace, like they've got it figured out. The solution is out there. Best Buy is an intelligent retailer. They can definitely figure that out. And that's a great value to Best Buy's customers. The other thing too, that I'm also curious to see if Best Buy starts to bring into this. You know, they built that platform where you can go on bestbuy.com and you can click the button and do a live demo with a blue shirt right then and there. I mean, if they can expand that capability to offer that to their marketplace vendors too, where, like, hey, you want to use our technology in order to, like, have a conversation with this person about the patio set that they're about to buy from Best Buy like this, this is a great opportunity. And I think you're 100 right in that this isn't a one and done thing. Best Buy is coming back to this with new strategic measures in place to make sure that this is successful. So I, I salute the move as well. I think it's a great, great, great revisiting of the marketplace and definitely picking the right partner in Miracle. We've, we've worked with them quite a bit and I think they, they've seen a lot of the retailers they're working with are seeing a lot of success from that. So good job.

[Chris Walton]

All right, well, well, great segue here too. And because it just so happens that we have Tim on to talk about returns, let's bring Tim onto the show. Joining us now for five insightful minutes is Blue Yonder's corporate vice president, Tim Robinson. Tim is here to take us through Blue Yonder's most recent consumer returns survey. Tim, first question may be obvious, but I want to get your take on it. Why should retailers be reimagining returns?

[Tim Robinson]

Hi, Chris here. Thank you. So, I mean, there are probably three key areas. I think the first thing is it's easy to forget that returns are inventory. You know, up to 15% of items that are fulfilled across the US come back as returns, and 95% of those items could be resold or full price. This is inventory, you know, so they should be treating them like inventory with the same level of urgency and priority. I think the second thing is the customer experience angle now that E commerce, online shopping is such a big part of the retail experience. You know, looking at the deed, understanding the details around returns, what consumers want, you know, have the sort of experiences they want. But also thinking about your profitability and sustainability is very important in that regard as well. And I think, like lots of facets of E commerce as it's evolved over the years, you know, the Buy Net, buy it now, one click experience, or, you know, new payment methodologies that have grown, help grow E Commerce. I think returns can be a differentiator. I think, you know, unique returns experiences, the technology you deploy, the experience that provides consumers, can set you apart from the rest.

[Anne Bazinga]

Well, Tim, I can imagine a few reasons, having been a retailer myself, but what are you hearing from retailers are making returns so complex these days?

[Tim Robinson]

Yeah, I mean, that is the killer question. For us, it ultimately comes down to the fact that returns are by their nature multi channel. They come at you from all different directions. You remember when you were in retail, some of those returns come from digital returns platforms where you have some insight and information. Others, a customer has just ripped a label off of a parcel and filled out a form and sent it back to you. Some returns go back to the store and store colleagues may or may not capture reasons as to why that return is coming back. It's truly, truly multi channel. One of our customers in Europe describes returns as their worst supplier. So 15% of all my SKUs come from this supplier. I don't have any visibility about when they're coming. I don't know what's coming and I don't know what condition it's in. And I think that kind of, that phrase really kind of describes why it's so complex.

[Chris Walton]

So Tim, I'm curious, from the chair top which you sit, how are you seeing the best retailers address returns and how does that ultimately benefit their end consumer, their end customer?

[Tim Robinson]

So I mean, I would say over the last 10 years, lots of time, money and effort has gone into digitizing like the consumer front end. So, and there's been some great businesses are born out of this desire to digitize the consumer experience. And that feels like in many, many cases, particularly in more mature E commerce markets, you know that the job is done at that end of the experience. Now it's all about what to do with that information. You're now getting more and more information about returns than you ever were before. Who's returning? Where are they returning? Why are they returning? What are they returning? The best retailers in this space take that information and tailor both the choices and the options they give consumers. Do you get a refund? Do you get a full refund? Might get the partial refund. Where can you take it in order to drop it off? And they're also using that data to make the best supply chain decisions. How quickly can I get this back into inventory and sell it for price? You know, how can I avoid this item going to landfill and ultimately having the value ripped out of it? Because the system required me to. So I think it's going to be about, it's now about differentiation and use of data and tailoring both under the hood logistics solutions and supply chain solutions to suit but also those downstream customer experiences.

[Anne Bazinga]

Well, Tim, you brought something up just now that I think is really important to highlight. In the Blue Yonder survey that you did, 55% of consumers that were Pulled said they were somewhat concerned about the environmental impact when doing a return and only 27% though would continue a returns process if they knew that their item would go to a landfill. How do you expect circularity and recommerce to kind of affect how we as consumers look at returns?

[Tim Robinson]

I mean, I hope all the signs, the macro signs are that this whole return space will ultimately evolve into a sales channel. That is the signs we're seeing. The speed at which consumers are adopting C2C pre loved recommerce experiences in different parts of the world is really encouraging in that regard. It kind of highlights that there is no kind of old world, old school, stuffy stuffiness around buying something that was ultimately pre loved. I think one of the key things that the industry is going to need to provide consumers with in the not too distant future is absolute visibility of where your return is going. I think the idea that these items go back into a black hole and you don't see it is something which society is going to rally against as time goes on. But it's like Chris's question earlier on about differentiation. I think the brand that gets there quickest provides visibility and transparency about the second life of that item. I think could differentiate and could win. They could get ahead of the game really, really quickly.

[Chris Walton]

That's a really, really interesting point that I've never thought about giving visibility to what happens when you return an item and that being a point of differentiation for a retailer. So, Tim, we always love to end with predictions and you just kind of made one there. But I'm curious, do you have any other predictions in terms of how you seeing how you see returns evolving over the next say five to ten years?

[Tim Robinson]

Yeah, I've got one which I've clung on to for a while which is starting to starting to play out, which is generally in most cases, retailers apply a one size fits all approach to returns policies. You know, it's 30 days return policy for everything. It's 30 days returns policy for every consumer regardless of whether you're a consistent spender, a loyal customer. It just is a blanket policy and it's 30 days and full refund whether it's a $10t shirt or a $2,000 handbag. The thing that I think the biggest move is going to be around using data. You understand every sku. You understand its price, you understand its value, you understand every customer, you understand their value, you understand their behavior. The idea that we can't use that data to offer tailored returns, policies and rules and experiences to consumers is nuts, really. And that's where I think it will go. I think we're having some fascinating conversations with retailers, particularly in the US at the minute, about using that data to tailor the rules, the returns rules, the policies for you, the consumer, based on what you're buying.

[Chris Walton]

Wow. Great stuff.

[Anne Bazinga]

Tim, thanks for joining us.

[Chris Walton]

All right, headline number four. Amazon aims to expand its advertising business by letting retailers use its ad tools in their stores. According to cnbc, Amazon is letting other retailers use its homegrown advertising tools to run sponsored ads across their own websites. The new offering, called Amazon Retail Ad Services, allows companies to show, quote, contextually relevant ads in the right place at the right time, end quote, in search results, product pages and other areas of their site. Amazon said with Amazon Retail Ad service, users will be able to customize the design, placement and number of ads shown across their sites, as well as use Amazon's ad measurement and reporting tools. The service operates on systems that are separate from its own retail business and retailers manage their data, no surprise, via AWS accounts. And what do you think of Amazon's new retail ad service?

[Anne Bazinga]

I think this is a smart pivot for Amazon. I actually really like this and the reason is because we had Robert. Joe, will you help me pronounce his last name? Joe? I want to say Joe Jose is the basketball player that I cannot.

[Chris Walton]

Basketball player, yes.

[Anne Bazinga]

Who's my eternal enemy. Also, side note, my brother texted me last night and said that I, I said Jackson Smith. I said Najiba and it's. I did not pronounce it right. He's like Ann, you've got to get your sports people's names right. You said what Jackson Smith and Najiba in the Seattle Seahawks video we did at Lee and Field. I did not pronounce his name right. Thank you for fact checking me a month later. And Jokic is the next one that I'm going to get fact checked on. I am certain. But anyway, back back to the Schwarz Group. So we were talking to Robert yesterday and I thought it was so, so eye opening for me how he explained retail media networks. I think he's still one of my favorite interviews. But the thing that he said is to be successful at retail media, you cannot just take your like advertising or media buyers from your retail environment and then make them in charge now of your retail media network, which I think a lot of retailers were doing early on. You have to operate as a retailer and a media company. You are essentially replacing, you know, inline media that these media buyers used to to buy and not all companies are designed to do this or agile enough gets back to what you're talking about. Macy's like, they're just not agile enough to do both of these things. So I think Amazon is providing a solution here that allows retailers like that to get into some of this advertising revenue. No, it is not ideal because, yes, you're still working with Amazon and they're getting some of this information, even if they say it's a separate business unit. But I think that this is still a good place for people to start to see the value that they can get from advertising like this Amazon, this Amazon ads capability and then figure out like, can we build this on our own? Do we need to find a partner? Do we need to join another network in order to be successful? Because there is revenue, a lot of revenue to be made here if you can do this in the right way. But what do you think about this, Chris?

[Chris Walton]

Yeah, I mean, your point, your point about retail media is really interesting because going back to the, you know, I think about what A M said, like drawing the comparison to marketplaces, I feel like the analogy I would use is marketplaces is more akin to a retailer like, like, you know, say you're a crossfitter and you want to become a marathoner. Like, you know, it's, it's, it's, it's not a bridge to, it's not, it's not that different of a muscle use. But like the, the idea of standing up a retail media business in a lot of ways for retailers is like, you know, being a marathoner and wanting to become a gymnast. Right. It's just. Right, it's just a whole nother thing that you've got to learn how to do. And so, yeah, I don't have much to add on this story. I mean the thing to me is just going back to what we said in the second headline, the, the, the flywheel just keeps on spinning. Yeah, I mean this is, this is, this is a, a page from the playbook we've seen a thousand times with Amazon selling its tax. So, you know, which in turn generates more cloud usage. The flywheel gets going which just keeps making Amazon more and more powerful with every single user. So, so if I was Amazon, I, I mean net net, I, I absolutely 100 be doing the same thing. And that's all I say. I mean it's no brainer. Yeah, no, help out all the online retailers that need to place ads on their site because they want to place ads on their site and they want to do it effectively. And they want to get money for it.

[Anne Bazinga]

Yeah, Right, right, right. Oh, all right. Well, Chris, let's go to headline number five. EBay shares soared last week after Meta allowed listings on Facebook's Marketplace in the US and Europe. According to CNBC, shares of eBay jumped 9% on Wednesday as Meta said it will allow some listings to show up on Facebook Marketplace. The rollout will begin with a test in Germany, France, and the U.S. the partnership could provide a boost to ebay's marketplace business, which has struggled to compete with e commerce rebels like Amazon, Walmart, and Temu. Chris, do you agree with the market's reaction to ebay selling through Facebook Marketplace?

[Chris Walton]

Yeah, I do. Yep. 100. I do. I don't have a lot to say on this one either. I'm going to keep it quick and turn. Turn the microphone over to you. But I think it's. I think this is a really smart move on both sides. I think, you know, on. On ebay side, it extends their reach very nicely. And for Facebook Marketplace, too, I think it brings more trust and credibility to the platform.

[Anne Bazinga]

And me, too.

[Chris Walton]

And also you get additional items, too, which in a marketplace, having additional items and, you know, catches more people, catches more eyeballs. So I think it's clearly a case of one plus one equals three in my mind. I think this is really smart.

[Anne Bazinga]

Yeah, I agree. I think this opportunity really has legs, especially to, I guess, bring people back to ebay. I don't know if that makes sense, but, like, I, as. As consumers, like, or introduce, even, like.

[Chris Walton]

I still don't really ever use ebay.

[Anne Bazinga]

I've never really used it. Exactly, though. Exactly. And again, this gets back to, like, the search game that we were talking about with Best Buys Marketplace. Like, you know, it. If I'm going on Facebook Marketplace, which is widely used now by so many people to find everything from furniture to collectibles, you name it. You know, to be able to have ebay's items plugged in, like, that's. This is already happening so much. Like, I don't know how much time you spend at Facebook Marketplace, but I go there first for most.

[Chris Walton]

As little as possible ad as possible.

[Anne Bazinga]

Fair, fair. I go there for most things, especially, you know, having just.

[Chris Walton]

I know you do.

[Anne Bazinga]

And so I. I'm telling you, there's already people who are, you know, doing the palms. Have you heard that that acronym, like palms posted on multiple sites. So, like, you already posted on multiple sites. So, like, you. The person is posting it on Facebook Marketplace, but they're also posting it on Craigslist they're also posting it on ebay. They're also posting like, this is already happening. Think of all of the products you could have access to if you're just uploading all of your stuff now to ebay and it's just being shot out. It's like podcasting. Like, you put your. You upload your one piece of media, and now you can put it out to all these channels where all these people can find you. Like, it's brilliant. It just makes so much sense. Ebay's already got this whole system locked in and ready to go, and you already have easier accessibility to things like shipping and shipping labels, taking that work out of it for you. So. So I think the most important thing here is just, you know, making sure that that infrastructure is in place so that the customer experience is seamless, because people are going to, you know, be one and done with this if it's not working the right way the first time. So that's the only thing that I think is the watch out here is.

[Chris Walton]

Is that people get angry on those Facebook groups. Right? We were talking about that at dinner yesterday. Yeah, those Facebook groups look out. Especially those Facebook bomb groups. They. Yeah, they get a hold of something, they're gonna tear it apart. Yeah.

[Anne Bazinga]

Oh, my God. I did make some notes for you, Chris, on other things that they're talking about. Handyman recommendations. There's a lot of things we can talk about.

[Chris Walton]

Oh, God. I don't. I don't even want to know. I don't even want to. Maybe I do, but I don't. I don't, but I do. Yes. That's the power of social media. You don't want to know, but you really do.

[Anne Bazinga]

Right. Okay, Chris, let's go to the New York City themed lightning round. Chris, question number one for you. We had a lengthy debate in the cab about why horses have horseshoes, resulting in another lengthy discussion around how weird the words hoof, hoof, hoof, and hooves. Chris and I had to look up how to pronounce these words. And hooves are. What other word have you always found sounds weird to you?

[Chris Walton]

Oh, my God. That's so funny that, yes, we did have a conversation about this in the cabin. It was a long conversation. I mean, we probably spent 15 minutes on this whole thing. But I. The.

[Anne Bazinga]

The.

[Chris Walton]

The word that I think sounds weird is onomatopoeia. See what I did?

[Anne Bazinga]

Oh, I love that word. I do love.

[Chris Walton]

See what I did there? Because it's a word that sounds like it is.

[Anne Bazinga]

Yes.

[Chris Walton]

And yes. What word Sounds weird. Onomatopoeia. Yes.

[Anne Bazinga]

Oh, my God. Oh, my God.

[Chris Walton]

Bad Bunny and Jimmy Fallon held a surprise concert in the New York City subway station this week. Bunnies notwithstanding, what is the baddest animal in your mind?

[Anne Bazinga]

Mice.

[Chris Walton]

Oh, yeah. Yeah.

[Anne Bazinga]

I just feel like they're run into.

[Chris Walton]

Some badass mice in your.

[Anne Bazinga]

Diane, you just can't. They're like. Even my sister in law was like, we had a mouse kind of cute. And I was like, no, that's what they want you to think. They want you to think they're like sneaky bad animals and they will just find a way. And they freak me out so much. I hate them. Them. So that would be my. The baddest animal. What's your baddest animal? Oh, geez.

[Chris Walton]

I hadn't thought about it. I think I. I think I probably go with mice too. I hate mice. Like, mice. Mice are. Mice are just terrible, terrible, terrible creatures. I don't like cats. Either end. I don't like.

[Anne Bazinga]

Oh, God. You're gonna. You gotta be careful. You can't get into domesticated animals. Mice are like, you're. That's okay, you're.

[Chris Walton]

But I scratch me one time. It was. It was. It was disastrous. It was.

[Anne Bazinga]

You get a fever.

[Chris Walton]

So cats are bad animals. They're badass animals too, Ann. Yes, I did get a fever after the cat scratch. I got a cat scratch disease. There's a little disease called cat scratch disease, and I got it. Jesus.

[Anne Bazinga]

You definitely did. You definitely did. I did surprise it all.

[Chris Walton]

I don't remember what it's called. Somebody can look it up. But yeah, Cat scratch disease. Yeah.

[Anne Bazinga]

Yeah. Okay, Chris, if you had to stand in without warning as an extra with an ensemble dance number in a Broadway musical, would you rather do that? Or 30 minutes of open mic stand up at a comedy club without warning? They're just like, chris, go.

[Chris Walton]

Oh my God. I mean, you know, you know the answer. 30 minutes is a long time. But I'm definitely choosing the stand up because. Are you, you know. Yeah. I mean, as bad as my dad jokes are, they are nowhere near as bad as my dancing skills. And so being like Broadway dance number, like, no, no, no one wants.

[Anne Bazinga]

But you can hide. Like, that's the thing. Like, you can.

[Chris Walton]

No, you can't.

[Anne Bazinga]

You could, like kind of be in the background of the dance ensemble dance number and singing like, stand up. You're just under the light, man.

[Chris Walton]

Hey, that's okay. I like to be in the light. But as Shakira once said, and my hips don't Lie. I'm not hiding. I'm not hiding. All right. The famed Governor's Ball is coming up soon, and its lineup includes the likes of Tyler the Creator, Olivia Rodrigo, and I think it's pronounced Hosier. I have no idea.

[Anne Bazinga]

Yeah.

[Chris Walton]

When was the last time you bawled out Cinderella style? Have you ever ball. Gone to a ball, Anne?

[Anne Bazinga]

I guess so. I, like, had to go to a gala. Is that like a. Yeah, yeah.

[Chris Walton]

Gala will qualify as.

[Anne Bazinga]

I guess that would be the closest thing, but no gala.

[Chris Walton]

What kind of gala was it?

[Anne Bazinga]

A regatta gala. It was a fundraiser.

[Chris Walton]

Friend's joke.

[Anne Bazinga]

What's a regatta gala?

[Chris Walton]

It's a friend's joke. It's from friends. I think they go to a regatta gala or something. Remember that?

[Anne Bazinga]

Oh, yes. Oh, my God. I thought you said it had a French joke. And I was like, you've been hanging out with a lot of French people this week.

[Chris Walton]

We have. We spent a week in a French booth.

[Anne Bazinga]

Yes, but I don't know that term. Yes, yes, the regatta gala. Okay, now I remember, but yes. No, I think it was, like a fun. I don't even remember what the fundraiser was for, but I had to dress up.

[Chris Walton]

What did you wear? Did you wear a flowing gown? Did you know? Was it like one of those where you wear a corset and the.

[Anne Bazinga]

Oh, God.

[Chris Walton]

Underneath you is really big?

[Anne Bazinga]

No, if we're talking. That's a gala.

[Chris Walton]

That's.

[Anne Bazinga]

Or that's a ball. No, I haven't. No, it was just like a. A. I don't know, like a.

[Chris Walton]

Did you wear a tiara?

[Anne Bazinga]

I did wear a tiara because one of the times.

[Chris Walton]

Oh, my God.

[Anne Bazinga]

Not. Not as, like, an attendee, but we were like. Some friends and I were volunteers. So, like, we walk. There was like, a little. One of the jewelers had, like, a little headbandy dime, like an actual diamond thing that I got to, like, wear around, and then people bid on it and then. Yeah.

[Chris Walton]

Wow. Wow. You're a Tierra model and. Was a Tierra model.

[Anne Bazinga]

It was a tiara model. At once. One time in my life. It was fleeting. It'll never happen again. But that's amazing.

[Chris Walton]

Wow. Who knew those things even existed? All right, happy birthday today to Regina King, Ernie Reyes Jr. And the man who played the super hottie tag to Jennifer Aniston's Rachel on Friends. Eddie Cahill. Do you remember Tag Ann?

[Anne Bazinga]

No. I need to watch Friends again. I think I was like. I watched it religiously when it was.

[Chris Walton]

Out, but I'm guessing you would remember him.

[Anne Bazinga]

I think oh, I'm gonna look him up after.

[Chris Walton]

Don't worry. All right.

[Anne Bazinga]

Don't worry.

[Chris Walton]

And remember, if you can only read or listen to one retail blog in the business, make it Omniton, 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. So stay on, on top of your game as a retail executive and also regularly, regularly and regularly feature special content that is exclusive to us and that Ann and I take a lot of pride in doing just for you. Gotta get out of New York. Yeah. Thanks so much 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 so until next week, on behalf of all of us at Omnitok Retail, as always, be careful out there.