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Hey, CPT guys, listeners, PVSB here. And we want to take a minute to tell you about something that Sree and I are genuinely proud to be a part of. And that's the Cornell OmniCommerce Leadership Program, an immersive on campus executive education experience at Cornell University in beautiful Ithaca, New York, happening July 27th through the 31st. This isn't a webinar. This isn't another online certificate you do in your pajamas. This is five days on the Cornell campus surrounded by senior executives from retail, CPG and ad tech service providers all wrestling with the same questions you are. How do I win the omnishopper? How do I navigate retail media? What does agentic commerce mean for my business? The faculty lineup is extraordinary. We're talking Cornell professors alongside practitioners from Mars, Snacking, Nestle, Walmart, Ajo delhez, Fetch Dollar General, Monster Energy, Bayer Consumer Health, and yes, sri and I will be right there in the room with you. You walk away with a Cornell SC Johnson College of Business certificate, 36 professional development hours, and more importantly, a concrete Omni Commerce roadmap you can bring back to your organization on day one. Seats are very limited. The program is built for VPs, directors and senior leaders who are serious about getting ahead of where commerce is going.
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Visit the link in our show notes
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to learn more and request information. Search online for Cornell OmniCommerce leadership or find the direct link@cpguys.com we'll see you in Ithaca this July.
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Now let's get into today's episode. June 16, 2026. And this is the Commerce Rift brought to you by the CPG guys. 10 minutes of the news stories that matter in commerce this week. I'm your co host, pbsb. I'm joined as always by Paparaj, the first father of pop stars, co founder of Think Blue Consulting. Sree, how are you doing?
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I'm doing great, Peter. Very excited that we're headed to Cannes Lions in less than a week. Should be awesome. We got an amazing program and a month later we got the Cornell Omnichannel Media program. Can't wait. Lots of great sponsors, participants.
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Absolutely. Sree couldn't be more excited about the big venue. So many things going on. The CPG guys, residents, we're recording lots of episodes and we're meeting lots of people. So if you're in Cannes, drop us a line, let us know. Let's see if we can connect while we're there. Let's kick things off with a story of executive changes. Once again, Bayer today announced leadership changes with its Consumer Health division to accelerate growth, strengthen commercial execution and further enhance speed of decision making. These changes reflect the company's commitment to continuously adapt and advance its Road to Billions aimed at helping billions of people live healthier lives. As part of these changes, Bayer has appointed new global leaders across the marketing, insights and analytics and commercial operations functions and named a new Consumer Health President for the United States, its largest consumer health market. Here are the appointments it includes Samantha Vevi appointed Global Chief Marketing Officer Consumer Health she'll lead global brand building, marketing and consumer strategy. She joins the global Consumer Health Leadership team and she'll be based out of Whippany, New Jersey. Of course you know Sam's a good friend of the CPG guys. She's going to be at Le Residence sri. She'll be at the Women in Commerce Media Reception the happy hour on Wednesday afternoon. So please stop by. We can congratulate Sam as she's elevated from a North America role into a global role. Analia De la Fuente Appointed Global Chief Data Officer Consumer Health she'll lead insights and analytics globally, advance the company's data driven capabilities and and she will join the Global Consumer Health Leadership Team. She's out of Basel, Switzerland. And of course our friend Dave Tomasi he's appointed Global Chief Commercial Officer for Consumer Health. He'll lead global commercial operations and business performance across all markets Remains on the global consumer health Leadership team having previously served as I mentioned, as the president of the U.S. consumer Health Team. He's out of New Jersey. And lastly Trevor Thrun appointed President of US Consumer Health he will lead Bayer's largest consumer health market. He'll join the US Country Leadership team and of course previously Vice President and General Manager for the US Upper Respiratory category also based out of the US office in Whippany, New Jersey. Says Julia Triana, member of the Bayer Board of Management and President, Consumer Health Quote these leadership changes mark an important step in strengthening our ability to best serve our consumers and customers in dynamic marketplace. By bringing together deep expertise in brand building, commercial execution and consumer focus. Backed by data and insights, we are sharpening our focus on what matters most helping billions of people around the globe live healthier lives with the most trusted self care solutions. We aim it to build an organization that is faster and even better positioned to reach more consumers and deliver on our strategic priorities. I'm convinced these leadership changes will help accelerate growth, strengthen customer and consumer focus and unlock the full potential of data and artificial intelligence to build trusted brands, ultimately advancing our road to billion strategy
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over to you sri so thought of the morning Newsbeat. Yeah, you heard it right. Peter Drone Life reports that Walmart in its Alphabet owned drone delivery partner Wing plan to add a whopping seven new markets to the network. By the way, in Arkansas, now you can actually receive drone delivery in many parts Memphis, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco Bay Area and Salt Lake City. The company had previously announced that we're expanding to Orlando, Tampa, Charlotte, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Los Angeles and Miami. Jean de Liv is here. According to the story, the additions pushed the partnership toward nearly 20 U.S. markets support a previously announced plan to build out more than 270 locations and reach over 40 million Americans by 2027. This follows early phases of that plan, which began when the partners launched their first major Houston expansion in January 2026. Wing, the story notes, has completed well over 1 million commercial deliveries. The company pairs its FAA permissions lightweight delivery drones with Walmart's retail footprint to run routes already operating in the DFW, Dallas, Fort Worth, Katie Houston and Metro Atlanta. Wings drones cruise at speeds up to 60 mph and use a tether to lower packages directly to yard or driveway in as less than 30 minutes. And here is our dear friend Kevin Koop's view remarkable the degree to which Walmart has been able to accelerate drone delivery program while Amazon, which sort of stalled the ball rolling when Jeff Bezos announced the initiative in 2013 on 60 Minutes, has been unable to get airborne to anywhere near the same extent. I would imagine that Amazon will be able to make up for that loss of momentum, but for now, Walmart certainly has a commanding lead with thousands of stores that can use as base stations for short distance delivery flights. I think, Peter, you have something with U.S. department Store. Let's get at it.
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Yeah, of course we're talking about Kohl's, based out of Wisconsin, right From our friends at Retail Dive, they report joining other major retailers with summer sales. Kohl's is hosting deal days from June 23rd to June 28th. Hmm. While we're in Cantry, it looks like there's going to be shopping while we're across the across the pond, the department store said in a Wednesday press release. During the event, the retailer is pricing hundreds of items below $20 and offering free shipping on all online orders. Shoppers can save on products across categories including apparel, shoes, beauty, home goods, back to school essentials and outdoor toys. Shoppers will earn $10 in Kohl's cash for every $50 spent on qualifying products. They the retailer is also holding Kohl's daily deals offer each day in stores on its website and through its app, Kohl's courting shoppers seeking discounts from dorm room essentials, school supplies and summer wardrobe upgrades. The department store moved its summer sale to June last year. Its four day Summer Cyber Deals event launched in July, one day prior to Amazon's Prime Day. Meanwhile, other major retailers this year are also rolling out other summer sales earlier, and Amazon recently announced its Prime Day sale will take place between June 23 and June 26. Following that change, Walmart and Target each announced summer sales on or around those same dates. Kohl is competing for consumers as it tries to reverse declines. In Q1. The retailer's net sales dipped by 1.7% year over year, while comps decreased 1.1%. The company's losses narrowed by $1 million from a year prior to 14 million. Kohl's Q1 sales have plunged over 27% since 2019. Wow. With volume down an eye watering amount, according to an earlier global data report. Kohl's is currently executing on long term turnaround strategy, which in part includes providing undeniable value per company memo from earlier this year. In addition to its earlier summer sale, Kohl's focused on affordability. In February, the company introduced a deal bar hub where shoppers can find products priced below $10 on in all of its stores. Wow. Sree, let's close it out, shall you?
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Yeah, and we're going over to Schnook Supermarkets where our dear friend Tom Henry, who's the cio, cto, who I call the absolute smartest technologist that exists in this retail and CPG industry on planet Earth. And so let's talk about the fresh sector inside our grocery store. Schnooks wants grocery shoppers to know that quality stop of mind, especially for its perishable items as traditional grocers look to regain their footing against larger rivals and will grocery shoppers in the key fresh categories Confidence in the Fresh Guarantee. You heard it Peter. Fresh guarantee comes from the proprietary sourcing programs and expert in store execution happening behind the scenes every single day. We are proud to put our name on a guarantee this strong because our teams do the daily work to earn our customers trash, nooks Chief Merchant Kim Gray said in a statement. Customers must have a copy of the receipt that is a week or less old in order to qualify for the freshest guarantee. Schnooks highlighted several initiatives that it says enhance the quality and freshness of its products. The grocer runs a bakery plant and floral design center which supplies entire store fleet. The chains butcher's cut and hand trimmed meats while its produce department triple inspects fruits and vegetables as a quality control measure. Several major grocery chains also offer customers freshness guarantees, including Safeway Stop and Shop. Last year, Uber rolled out a freshest guaranteed and chose a full review and a refund for eligible items. The move by Schnucks, which runs 112 shows across the Midwest, comes at a time when mass retailers have gained ground in fresh sales. According to data compiled by Surkana last July for an Alex Partners report, traditional grocers accounted for 46% of consumer spending on fresh fruits and vegetables, down 5 percentage points from 2019 on mass and club store shares climbed 4 percentage points to 33%. Take us home, Peter Tree that's a
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wrap on this week's Commerce Rift. Before we go, make sure you've caught up on our most recent episodes of the CPG Guys, featuring Doug Van de Velde, Chief growth officer at W.K. kellogg's, and Newell Brand CEO Chris Peterson. There are conversations you won't want to miss. And Next up, episode 600 with Tony Rogers, the chief marketing officer of Dollar General. If any of this sparked a thought, drop it in the comments. Leave us an email. We read all of it. And if you're not already following us on LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and YouTube, well, now is the time.
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The content in this podcast episode is provided for general informational purposes only. By listening to our episode, you understand that no information contained in this episode should be construed as advice from CPG Guys, LLC where the individual author, hosts or guests, nor is it intended to be a substitute for research on any subject matter. Reference to any specific product or entity does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by CPGuys LLC. The views expressed by guests are their
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own and their appearance on the program
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does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent. The views expressed by CPTGuys LLC do not represent the views of their employers or the entity they represent. CPTGuys LLC expressly disclaims any and all liability or responsibility for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or other damages arising out of any individual's use of, reference to, or inability to use this podcast or the information we present in this podcast.