2024's Top Retail CEO: Walmart's Doug McMillon vs. Surprising Challengers
In the latest edition of Omni Talk’s Retail Fast Five sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Avalara, Mirakl, Ownit AI and Ocampo Capital Chris Walton, Anne Mezzenga, along with guest hosts from the Alvarez & Marsal Consumer and Retail Group David Ritter and Chad Lusk discuss 2024’s Retail Awards. In this short, they explore why Doug McMillon's success in attracting high-income customers and driving Walmart's digital transformation earned him CEO of the Year, with strong competition from Fran Horowitz's Abercrombie revival and Brian Niccol's impressive leadership at both Chipotle and Starbucks.
Key Moments:
0:02 - Introduction of CEO nominations
0:22 - Doug McMillon's success with high-income customers
0:37 - Personal anecdotes about Walmart+ impact
1:48 - Discussion of return-to-office strategy
2:57 - Fran Horowitz's Abercrombie transformation
4:27 - Analysis of other CEO nominations
5:14 - Brian Niccol's dual success story
5:54 - Examination of Starbucks turnaround strategy
#retail #retailstrategy #retailtrends #walmart
For the full episode head here: https://youtu.be/iyNND1vZe7A
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Transcript
Retail CEO of the Year.
Speaker A:And Chris, we're just going to get it over with, so I'm going with you first, who is for the eighth year in a row, your retail CEO.
Speaker B:Of the year, Doug McMillan.
Speaker B:And honestly, there isn't even a close.
Speaker B:There isn't even a close second.
Speaker C:Though.
Speaker B:Like I'm not even going to say him and somebody else.
Speaker B:I'm just, I'm giving it to him for the simple fact that 75% of Walmart share gates are coming from households that make over $100,000.
Speaker B:That is staggering and a credit to him and his leadership team.
Speaker B:And it all comes down to the story.
Speaker B:I've told this story before, but I'm going to tell it again.
Speaker B:I was at my reunion, my college reunion, 20 year college reunion with a friend of mine, he's a CFO in Vegas and he told me that he's like, chris, I love Walmart plus because I never have to go into a Walmart store.
Speaker B:And he's kind of hoody toity.
Speaker B:He won't mind me saying that.
Speaker B:But now he shops via Walmart plus regularly and sees the benefit just like you did Ann in the beginning of the show.
Speaker B:So that's why McMillan wins it for me and I.
Speaker B:Yeah, and he'll give it next year too, probably.
Speaker B:But yeah, I love the guy.
Speaker A:It's hard not to pick Doug this year.
Speaker A:I actually, Chris, I also picked him.
Speaker A:I know, Chris, I'm telling you, like from actually, you know another point when Walmart, when somebody from Walmart picked up a return for me the other day that something didn't work, like in I could pick somebody that day, they came to my house cause they have Walmart plus they picked up a return.
Speaker A:I didn't have to box it or anything.
Speaker A:I was like, this is changing the game.
Speaker A:And probably for the reason that you just mentioned with your, your college friend who's like, I don't have to deal with that errand at all.
Speaker A:And that is a huge, huge time savings.
Speaker A:And I think people are going to become even more loyal to Walmart this year because of that.
Speaker A:But the reason also, Chris, that I picked him that you didn't mention is because I think he made the bold decision to bring teams back to Bentonville this year.
Speaker C:Yes.
Speaker A:And I think that that's going to have a huge impact.
Speaker A:That's a really difficult decision to make as a CEO and he's doing it and I think that it's going to really continue to help Walmart be the biggest retailer of, of the year, probably next year and years forward because he is bringing people in.
Speaker A:It's an action focused culture, minimal bureaucracy.
Speaker A:When you're all in person, you're making those decisions quickly.
Speaker A:And he is, I think, the example of a fearless, humble leader who's pushing his team to take risks in the right way.
Speaker B:So I, yeah.
Speaker A:Got to give it to him.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker B:And that's a great point on the return to office because, you know, I wrote an op ed for the Star Tribune this week about Target and whether it's losing its mojo.
Speaker B:And the number one question I got in response to that article was how much do you think Target's return to office policy is hurting them from a merchandising and inventory planning standpoint in terms of the training and tools that they need to give to the people working in those areas?
Speaker B:And so I.
Speaker B:Great call.
Speaker B:Great call out.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Dave Ritter, your next Retail CEO of the year, is it going to be.
Speaker D:So this is a little bit out of character for me.
Speaker D:Oh, with Fran Horowitz.
Speaker A:Yeah, she was my runner up.
Speaker D:Yeah, she's my runner up too.
Speaker D:To be honest.
Speaker D:There's not that many fashion brands that have gone from hot to not and then have gone from not too hot.
Speaker D:And she has managed to make them credible and cool again with a totally different demographic.
Speaker D:Like, they were cool with the four of us probably when we were, you know, teenagers and maybe into college.
Speaker B:And now like five years ago they're cool with us.
Speaker B:Like five years ago.
Speaker D:No.
Speaker D:But now they're cool again with, with teens.
Speaker D:And, you know, I, I think that is, that's almost a case study of one.
Speaker D:I think it would be really tough to come up with other examples of a brand that has struggled.
Speaker D:And, and I think she's done a wonderful job.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Especially with the allegations against the former CEO this year and all the other challenges that she's faced dealing with.
Speaker A:Like, and it's not just teens.
Speaker A:Dave Ritter, I am a new Abercrombie fan.
Speaker A:This year I've spent, I'm a loyalty member.
Speaker A:I've spent lots of money at that store this year.
Speaker A:It's not just for teens anymore.
Speaker A:But that's a fantastic pick, Chad.
Speaker A:We're wrapping it up.
Speaker A:Open the envelope and tell us who the Retail CEO of the Year is.
Speaker C:I peaked already because this one, I had heard from the Academy that David had a couple nominations, including Tarang Amin from Elf Beauty, who has just kind of nailed marketing on TikTok and Roblox to attract younger audiences.
Speaker C: are up some ridiculous, like: Speaker C:David likes to play oddball, lifestyle person.
Speaker C:So he actually had some consideration for Mark Zuckerberg for integration of AI into advertising.
Speaker C:Plus just kind of always great for a headline.
Speaker C:And how he's changed his whole image with his like gold chain wearing wrapping, custom cars, kickboxing.
Speaker C:Yeah, yeah, Just kind of nerdy chill, right?
Speaker C:But I had to edge David over and I'm glad that to say that the Omni goes to Brian Nicole.
Speaker C:Oh, and Brian gets a twofer.
Speaker C:He gets, he gets a twofer because you know what he's done with Chipotle.
Speaker C:Incredible, right?
Speaker C:His track record in kind of building growth there through innovation and delivering exceptional customer experience.
Speaker C:Just absolutely nailing mobile ordering and pickup, just crushing it.
Speaker C:And now he's come in and laid out a plan very clearly for Starbucks, right?
Speaker C:And we, we've talked about this before in the podcast.
Speaker C:Like what Starbucks needed was investor confidence, right?
Speaker C:There wasn't acknowledgement of there being problems, why they existed, what they do to fix them.
Speaker C:And like after two months, Brian was very clear, right.
Speaker C:It's about speed, it's about great product, but at the right value, it's about a great in store experience for those who want it.
Speaker C:Yes, proof will be in the results.
Speaker C: u know, win the OMNI again in: Speaker C:So he's given that investor confidence that Starbucks needed and yeah, that's only a.
Speaker A:Few months in and Brian Nichols already getting your award.
Speaker A:CEO of the year.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:Talk about tailwind and.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:But I got to think because, because two of the four picked them.
Speaker B:I think Doug wins and.
Speaker B:Right, Doug, I think so.
Speaker B:You know, I mean two of the.
Speaker A:Four guy give it to your.
Speaker B:I'm no math guy, but I think that means he wins.
Speaker B:But all right.
