Hello Omni Talk Fans! I believe it was the late, great Inspector Gadget who once said, "Go go gadget arms."

And that is exactly the image one should have upon hearing of Amazon's announcement this week that it plans to bring its latest consumer-delighting innovation, its "Just Walk Out" technology, to two brand new Whole Foods stores opening next year.

The move signals that Amazon officially believes it has worked out all there is to work out on the technology's readiness for full-scale grocery shopping.

The only questions that now remain are: 1) How long before Amazon begins retrofitting the tech into existing stores? 2) What grocer and what technology provider will jump on board the checkout-free grocery trend at scale next?

FWIW, in regards to the second question, our money is still on Tesco and Trigo.

In today's Fast Five Podcast, Chris and Anne:

- Debate the significance and many angles to consider in this momentous Amazon announcement.

- Discuss Kroger's continued storeless expansion in Florida.

- Question Walmart's newly announced partnership with Instacart to deliver groceries to New York City. 

- Argue the merits of the "shop-in-shop" trend by turning the microscope on Hy-Vee's move into fitness equipment.

- And, close with a discussion of what the retirement of Target CIO, Mike McNamara, means for Target and retail overall.

There's all that, plus Kanye's velvet blankets and Anne's favorite bush. 

Listen to This Week’s Fast Five Podcast

Be careful out there,

-- Chris, Anne, and the entire Omni Talk team

P.S. LinkedIn has not been our friend of late. For those of you who tuned in yesterday to hear our discussion and live chat with Epsilon SVP Lisa Collings, we apologize for the technical glitches.

But, fortunately, you can still watch Anne's full length interview with Lisa on the subject of navigating 3rd party data in this new era of retailing by clicking here or on the image below.