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Jason & Scot Show Episode 200 – Walmart Chief Customer Officer Janey Whiteside

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A weekly podcast with the latest e-commerce news and events. Episode 200 is our four year anniversary celebration, featuring an interview with Walmart Chief Customer Office, Janey Whiteside.

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Episode 200 is our 4 year anniversary, featuring an interview with Janey Whiteside, EVP and Chief Customer Officer at Walmart.

Anniversary Recap

Janey Whiteside Interview 
(Timecode 6:34)

In this wide-ranging interview, we cover many topics, including:

  • Janey’s background at Amex
  • The role of Chief Customer Officer at Walmart
  • Doing things at Walmart Scale
  • What does digital mean at Walmart
  • Private Label
  • Amazon
  • Challenges and opportunities of value focus
  • Innovation
  • The future of retail

Don’t forget to like our facebook page, and if you enjoyed this episode please write us a review on itunes.

Episode 200 of the Jason & Scot show was recorded on Wednesday October 9th, 2019.

Automated Transcription of the show

Transcript

Jason:
[0:24] Welcome to the Jason and Scott show this is episode 200 being recorded on Wednesday October 9th 2019 I’m your host Jason retailgeek Goldberg and as usual I’m here with your co-host Scott Wingo.

Scot:
[0:38] Jason and welcome back Jason Scott show listeners.
You guys can’t see us right now but Jason and I are wearing our Tuxedos and that’s because we are celebrating our 200th episode and 4 years of podcasting together.
Jason I don’t think we’ve told her origin story so this is probably a good time is any he has been for years so here’s my recollection was here.
This lines up with your memory.

Jason:
[1:03] Yeah and then I’ll correct it.

Scot:
[1:05] It would be a Jason Scott show without a lot of Jason cracking Scott so my memory is we were having some adult beverages after a board meeting that was part of the shop. Org.
Oregon digital Summit held in Philadelphia and this back in 2015 and we were about an hour into a payments discussion and
I decided was just starting to do some podcast listening a little late to the party there but better late than never.
And then you know what you started talking I was like you know every time I’m hanging out with Jason I
I learned a lot about payments and Retail and all that offline stuff that I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about
hopefully you learn a lot about e-commerce Marketplace for me and I said you know we should do a podcast where are you talk about your payments and offline stuff next.
Then we pretty quickly moved on to probably personalization or or one of your other favorite topics.
In a week later you called and said hey you know you talked about podcasting I have all the equipment and I’m ready to go and I figured this all out.
What’s your first show for singles day and we were Off to the Races so I learned an important life lessons from all this and that is with great power comes great responsibility.

Jason:
[2:28] Scot I think that might have been Spider-Man’s life lesson.

Scot:
[2:31] Oh yeah you’re right sorry I get my my marble and podcasting mixed up the real life lesson was if you’re going to pitch Jason on an idea you have to be 100% ready to run with it and be committed for at least 4 years.

Jason:
[2:45] Yeah yeah you pay a horrible price by pitching a if you’re not ready I think the secondary lesson here is if you want to pitch Jason and I have it work pitching something that allows them to buy new electronic Gadget.

Scot:
[2:58] Absolutely.

Jason:
[3:00] Yeah so I think when we started this I did a little research into podcasting and it was like the majority of podcast fail in the first Eight Episodes so
my my goal when we started was where we’re going to stick with this and and not bail during the first date episodes and I thought you know,
maybe the the 12 members of the shop. Overboard and our friends and family would with them and it’s been wildly more successful than that.

Scot:
[3:25] We 50 x 28 250 external no 25 x.

Jason:
[3:34] Yeah it’s amazing and I I was looking at some of our podcast stats last night and we have now crossed over 176 hours,
of content so if you are so inclined you could listen to us talk for seven straight days without taking a break 24 hours a day.

Scot:
[3:53] Awesome that’s a few hardcore streamers out there.

Jason:
[3:57] Yeah and if anyone chooses to do that will let us know.
Chicks I’m getting out of this early shows I’m going to stand up and then a couple months and we started adding guest so our first guest was Peter table and that was episode 15,
I also chuckled
several episodes were like 30 minutes and we slowly have prep up to the 60-minute mark and I think our 200th anniversary shows likely to go even maybe a little longer than that.
I was looking at some of the the podcast ads on our most popular guest was Ken worzel who is in the president of digital at Nordstrom he now is still the president of digital but also the CEO of,
I most popular new show was the show we did about Amazon acquiring Whole Foods.
The Deep Dives have been especially popular and surprisingly are most popular Deep dive was on artificial intelligence which is not necessarily what I would have guessed.

[4:49] A man of the guess I sort of to Hall of Fame guess we have a Samir bhavani and who is then with 1010 data that has been really interesting data on.
I know how how people a babe on Amazon and Tamara Gaffney who was with Adobe and had all the data from Adobe analytics on on House customer shocktober holiday
open those guess where I’m free shows and I’m I have to throw in an honorable mention
or Melissa Burdick and the genie dually they both been on two shows and a show fun fact they actually recorded a third show together,
and it never aired because we had some problems with permissions from one of their employees.

Scot:
[5:32] Those are some awesome facts Jason it’s been a great four years and in all seriousness we couldn’t have done this and we would have done it without you listeners we really
shit you guys listening to our thoughts around retail and e-commerce each week and we got just amazing feedback questions
guess I would have never imagined we would get on a podcast we really appreciate it and realize we are busy like you are and have a million things you should be doing and you really humbled and honored that you take time to listen to our thoughts.

Jason:
[6:03] Yeah I want to Echo your sentiments exactly. I’m super grateful particular for those listeners that have stuck with it for a long time like it’s now become one of my funnest things to do is go to some industry of van
and you know just random people in line waiting to register or get Starbucks or whatever will occasionally recognize my voice and it’s triggered all kinds of fun.
Fun conversations
you know in a few rare occasions people even recognize my voice at airport so that’s super fun and I’m really grateful for all the listeners that have made this a great show.

Scot:
[6:34] Well since this is our 200th episode and 4 year anniversary celebration we wanted to do something really really special I like to say it took us two hundred tries and I think we’ve actually going to deliver on something really exciting.

Jason:
[6:47] That’s a lot of pressure.
That’s right Scott I am here with Janey Whiteside Walmart’s Executive Vice President and first Chief customer officer which working want to hear more about Jenny welcome to the show.

Janey:
[7:00] Thank you excited to be here.

Jason:
[7:01] We are thrilled to have you a tradition we might have on the show with gas is to get a little bit of their background prior to their current role so can you tell us a little bit about what you did before Walmart.

Janey:
[7:12] Yes so I’m going to age myself hip but before Walmart I spent 20 years at American Express so I started it have a job before that so I was at HSBC
before that 73 companies that you’re my twin tiers American Express I in,
when I first started I was I was in finance what if I start my career.
I’m in from banking to planning and finance and was starting to figure out that may be fine arts was wasn’t my passion where I want you to go moved over to American Express and I was doing.
Pricing work and realized pretty quickly that there was a lot of people of the other side of the floor the mox’s will something the other side of the floor and they seem type of way more fun,
I didn’t know we were having I am brushing away and I spread sheets and so you know was given the chance the opportunity to
move over to the new product development team that was really had to spend the night in the next 20 years and a whole variety of various disciplines across marketing.

[8:23] Business Development sales roles in a I feel very passionately that it’s really hard to sell on behalf of a company if you don’t really understand that.
The customer the brand you know how products are being built and sold and so but a lot of time bringing Business Development sales teams together
did your client management roles and when I left I was actually running the global.
Premium products benefits and services if you think about green go apartment since you’re in the cards that the AmEx cards and then,
all of the services that support them somewhat that CM Punk people familiar with the airport lounges.

Jason:
[9:12] Very cool and.
Obviously American Express his famously quantitative has a ton of data so when you talk about getting to know the customer it feels like you are in a unique position for really know your customers well.
Tell me if I have this right I want to say one of the cool promotions during your tenure at American Express was the beginning of small business Saturday.

Janey:
[9:37] Yeah so you know I’d like to say it was my idea it wasn’t as many people so I did and.
I think what’s most interesting honestly about small business sign today at the time of the continuation was.
It was an opportunity.
Afro-American expressed to really do something to celebrate to promote uplift small businesses around the country and it’s 9 in in a time of turmoil probably the first time.
I’ve ever worked on in the strip that was so genuinely in favor of the customer that,
American it wasn’t it wasn’t a favorite American Express our entire ethos was go find a small business
go go go test it go see it go see what makes them different and I hope he spend some money and if you spend that on National Visa or Mastercard and we don’t care I just want you to go and learn what is really different about small businesses and.
From a purpose perspective what was really interesting was everybody wants you to work on it
are you could handpick the talent across the company because everybody felt like you were serving at you know how a purpose and it was just a real passion and dedication of the teams that the continued the
that’s where all the way all the way through when I left at least.

Jason:
[11:01] Yeah and that is very cool because obviously that the whole Purpose Driven campaigns.
Very in Vogue right now like Somers wildly successful some like you don’t have dubious authenticity but it it’s totally cool to see those those campaigns that were so successful before it was the trend is yours.
Until after doing your bit to help small businesses in America you you change rolls to the diametric opposite of small businesses.

Janey:
[11:33] Yes I was just as I was talking about small business Saturday I’m going to Parlay this is how do you go from that to.

Jason:
[11:39] Oh I can transition any.

Janey:
[11:40] Obviously yes so I am Walmart first ever Chief customer officer.
On paper although you knows you go back through one of things I like to do when I go into any role any job any brand has to go by.
To look for what I like to go back to the archives I like to take a look at where are we today and where we come from.
If you go back and you take a look at the some old made in America bulk or in any of the things that you can see online.
What’s super interesting to me is he in his office he was incredibly small and a consummate retard.
Actually a marketing genius way before his time and he start when you start to think about and I will talk in a bit about things like.
Innate segmentation and design targeting and really talkative product positioning and how you do that way ahead of his time and so he really was right he was the first Chief customer officer,
because he was so highly thoughtful about.
A the mission and be the deployment of Batman and how you grow your business and obviously grew it from from it from a small business to the to the world’s the world’s largest company.

[12:55] I ate a what constitutes a chief customer officer today I like to say it’s everything set up at the beginning of the funnel at the end of The Funnel and then and supporting underneath so.
Supa tactically it means.
Unique source of a voice of the customer so and insights days Trends all of the how do we have it how we actually have a single voice of the customer and how do we ensure that that is used,
objectively across the company we will know their fax this yo fake facts this is fake news top news,
we need to make sure that we have the capacity to have a source of data that is used consistently and objectively.

[13:32] How do I identify the right customer Journeys we want to self how do you prioritize those how do you deploy the resources cross-functionally have against those I have a sort of Innovations like new product development.
Group so you may have seen.
Accidentally about will be cool in home which is really actually deliver groceries into the fridge I’m so taking that service expanding that continuing to test and then see if wet weather we take that in there a whole series of other Renovations with with the balcony.
And something about that the sum right at the front of the phone all this as we think but early stage Innovation Chief product officer runs all about you not digital product and then how do you deploy that didn’t know many fashion I have a team that runs.
I Services Knotts everything from
gold Financial Services we offer in the store to a credit card to any of the services in and around the store so I think about the build a better the FedEx of the nail salon on the Chick-fil-A that is in a in a in and around the store and drives and drives that as well as I Omni.
Services so if you think about something like cake decorating I you order the cake you order decorating online how do you integrate that even into that Walmart pay all those sorts of things.

[14:48] Interesting enough we run returns and to answer returns really in a custom problems with a huge issue for a second on Maclay and then.
At Walmart that the Walmart Media Group is it as the selling or so as the selling entity against their organization,
CMO. Samo and then I said that is supported by the customer care organizations what happens.
As you transact with us and and how do we support the customer service at the front entrance with folding the organization of the back in times of creating demand for the front and then supporting Anthony.

Jason:
[15:25] So that’s an incredibly broad scope which I imagined doesn’t leave a ton of time for side hustles.
And what do you think I predict admire about that structure is you you mention the polls to ask you most like it would early does sit
above marketing so like you know where everybody talks about sort of putting the customer at the center but you guys from literally an org chart standpoint are really putting sort of this customer ownership
like at the center of all of these different disciplines at Walmart which is to my knowledge.
A newer structure that we haven’t seen a lot of retail in the past.

Janey:
[16:03] Yeah I think you’re right and you know we have a lot of debate in one of the comments Frankie that I’ve heard is all well Jamie should see much of the glorified say it
how many different constructs we’re saying Mo’s Purity demand gen or another company so they have a lot and I like it and take her surgery you didn’t hate me to talk about public affairs and Communications rights out Francis I don’t have that cuz that’s it that’s it
different skill but to me there is a difference between
understanding and helping your organization really truly build for the customer and pull that through in an organization that has been built up on it
Orion’s Belt tremendous scale 3 absolutely Flawless operation execution and its capacity to,
build create Source amazing products at great price please.
Those we need to continue to do and will continue to do but we need to make sure that we are mindful of the customer
that would that would join if that is really different from how do you create them and what do you do and how do you run a fully optimized Media budget which is in the end.
Billions.

Scot:
[17:16] It’s amazing the the Spectrum you work with must make your head spin it must be hard to prioritize everything you have on on your plate.
I was going to shout out to listener is one of my favorite books I’m kind of a nerd on amarillo biographies when my favorites around the early 90s was Sam Walton.

Janey:
[17:36] So I was looking it up this morning actually cuz I was recommending it to somebody it’s super easy read
sounds like it would be 90 but actually it’s not and I will tell you that more often than not I go back I just didn’t know we goes past I don’t go back to take a little reader of a section office it’s important to me as you think about the ethos of Wilmot weather is so much
goodness in that in times at the thought process Anthony the.
The unwavering dedication to building a business building at the right way and the the notion that.
You can democratize resale,
and just because you have less financial means I know you you live in a you don’t live in a city does not mean you shouldn’t have access to great quality items at really affordable prices.

Scot:
[18:27] Yeah it’s like urban legend but isn’t his office preserved in Bentonville and you can can I go see it and is that true.

Janey:
[18:34] Yep but yet yes I know yes it’s God’s office
so done right so I’m so dog sits in it now it’s the desk we just did a sort of mild refurb of that space in invented also yet it’s that and all its Glory
and you know I haven’t asked.
But now I’m going to his eyes when we moved to a new head off his way. So we have met making a new home office I’m assuming somehow it will be lifted and shifted and actually we are we building a replica in the museum,
downtown Fayetteville to so that way you know we have it preserved at 2.

Jason:
[19:09] Yeah I’ve got a Funny Story I Heard tell once is that he’s like.
Mildly a pain working in a historic office because he’s like you know he’s like when I first started I like asked if I could get a whiteboard over here and there and they’re like they’re basically like no you can’t.

Janey:
[19:27] Images like what is wood panels and uses of walk in and appreciate that duck like rearranges the books or something like that to change things that you can change it but I.
It does give you a sense that she will walking in there and thinking about.
Show me like literally Disney ultimate entrepreneurial story.

Jason:
[19:52] And of course if you do read the biography I would argue his actual office is probably that truck.
Because per your sort of Chief customer officer comment he spent an awful lot of time in the field visiting stores and talking to customers and I I think in the early days it was driving to them in the truck and then and later days it was in the airplane.

Janey:
[20:13] Yeah I mean Sarah.
There are so many people still around a colleagues of mine who have in them so many missed Asylum stories but
you are absolutely right I mean it so he literally was flying over geography is,
and from the air and it’s like the plane would figure out full that in a full that town where was the corner of Main and Central
Wright and salmon in and figure that out and then figure out that that’s what you need to do a graph you put your store if that’s not micro-targeting you know.

Scot:
[20:53] I want to start off the questions by kind of starting at the super high level so you guys see so many customers get so much data how do you use all those insights that are gathered to deliver better experiences for Shoppers.

Janey:
[21:08] It’s a great question 160 and 160 million people shopping Walmart everyday
so we are trying to slice and dice and make sure that we
information is usable to do the sorts of things that we want to take from an experiential perspectives if you think about Walmart stata
it’s primarily SKU driven right side it’s really interesting to me because I was told it’s Q level so I would say it’s kind of at the base level
what we’re trying to do is figure out how you Advocate that.
SKU level Day to you after Butte it to the right kind of customer right what does that cross across payment and is excetera think about is the diametric opposite of America special and you everything about the customer and I couldn’t get down to skew
are we going to ever get down to what are they actually dying here I know how many bottles of ketchup we leave so the question is how many did JT die,
when did she use cash when did she use a credit card when you buy them online and when did she go to the store so we lie during a top
just in terms of what people actually do the other piece that we are double triple quadruple clicking on is.

[22:25] How are people actually behaving in the stores and what what are the what are they saying how are they shopping different man how do you use that to make sure that we are old mention that experience and Laura’s
seek to rationalize things in the stores for operational efficiency with doing it in a way that makes sense.
Podcast medicine so that’s a whole other realm where we have some of the day to we haven’t spent a lot of time you know in.

[22:53] Some of the Behavioral Science components an ethnography and actually you know
space space evaluation as well as we think about bringing all of that together so you can come by and all of that day to what is it Louis to do it allows us to really think about who I desire until I get off,
what they really want with some degree of precision because by its very nature you know we serve all of America.

[23:16] Design for everybody because I thought that I bought it as you are busy designing for nobody at that point so how do we design those right experiences how do we prioritize while we go to sign those great experiences and I think probably most importantly.

[23:31] The way I like to say it is you think about going back to my sis I’m what made those first stools so great was he figured out where to put them
you have the right the right product in that was relevant at the right price point
I have really great people in the store who knew who you are and were able to welcome you in and you know it was a Gemini and mouth and Tums a fast frictionless fun,
personal experience I’m not worth trying to recreate that experience at scale with digital tools and so it’s really how much can we,
understand about a customer based on what we know where do we need to open that right we don’t know how do we old men that such that we can really create the sort of experience is that that most YouTube customers want
across channels and so you know I hate the word Albany but you know but still how do you let people
flow in and out of of online online offline various tools without making the experience really hot and ready Conkey
I’m really on a mission to try to make it fun fun to shop at Walmart physically fun shop at Walmart digitally so I’d like to bring some of that in them too.

Scot:
[24:48] Yeah a lot of the knowing I will talk about Amazon but you know I never said wow that Amazon experience was fun it was just kind of a transactional
I’m a I’m a four-time entrepreneur and I’ve done three B2B companies in my latest companies consumer and I found when I was B2B was always easy to say
customer first but it’s actually been surprisingly hard because I found its constantly at odds with what the rest of business.
I’ve been dying to get someone of your tenure on a on a podcast like this and asked you that question.
How do you navigate that and cuz there’s times when it’s not right to do what the customer wants to know.
Retail returners or getaways price things that the company doesn’t make money in surviving the customer still happy how do you think about that and then how do you articulate it into the organization so.
All the way down to that store associate a kind of understand calculus.

Janey:
[25:45] That’s what the key to the code right.

Scot:
[25:51] You figured it out so I.

Janey:
[25:52] So I wish I wish I wish I could say to I wish I could say it you know the keys Dakota 62 or so I think,
can you questions go to I’ll give you I’ll give you a Walmart example if this predates me
you know how his stories of what we got a whole bunch of customer research and what we what we heard was that what we should do is put
at what we should move the pharmacy closer to Webb and it closer to grocery because that’s a mission right so we understand that Grocery and Pharmacy tend to be a mission so let’s move it away from where it is at the front so nice let’s move it towards the food.
Turns out when you do that. That’s great but his will happen if they go in and out either to the phones in the grocery they don’t go anywhere else in the store right it’s it’s hard for us to be able to maintain the prices
that we have you in those those those everyday low prices on the food and the food and grocery side if we not
if they’re not buying other things so what happens in the in the long run on the back of that decision eventually prices go up.
I said you said to customize hey would you like to have your Pharmacy in Grocery close together
but if you are like it but in the long run that’s going to mean that you pay more for those they are to be no I’m quite happy to have to take that extra couple of seconds and so applying that business logic.
Is really important the way that we are watching it through is that.

[27:21] As I said you know I said it’s my job to understand objectively who the customer is and what we’re hearing from and I’ve what really hard to.
Build and preserve a voice of the customer team that has no skin in the game in the answer right and that is really important to me so they can be entirely objective.
But not solving finding they bring that forward we use that to them prioritize what we think based on in a whole series of mattresses you can which you can.
Probably figure out something frequency in and size and and then attempt to design the experiences of the solutions against it,
what I that need to do is as we go through that process is so it would bring it inside so we prioritizing I then need to turn to my,
a colleague some of the merchants on my cut my colleagues in operations or in a central operations are running the stores inside okay so here’s what I think we need to do.

[28:23] How would we operationalize that and then what tends to happen is we’ll say well I know that you want it you know I know that you want to design experience this way.
His reality right that’s going to increase cost full-time but if you did it like pretty please find it this way until we take those ideas typically and we pressure test them and say what okay well how would we deploy that.
How and what do you think the intended and unintended consequences that we go back to that idea and it tends to get here and we modify but.
Make sure we haven’t stripped out so much that it becomes you know I’m attracted to the customer so it tends to be a super purest start.
Then we can I let me apply some brain power ran into prioritization and then typically as it goes into a coyote operation eyesight.
You come back to actually maybe we solving and with wig Recreation too many problems on the back end or something she was actually.
We can solve several of these problems at one time if we get if we just move some move some things around and so.
Who is it giving tight though between Arrow obviously.
I would like to roll out reptile pets welcome people in high five than when they came in right I’ll be able to recognize who they were and have everything ready pack for them.

[29:40] That’s not going to work right what is super important to our customers is the consistency with which were able to deliver.
Great items at everyday low prices so number one delivery point is that all the time and then it comes and then comes behind that okay.
What’s the right experience that we can build to sit to support that.

Jason:
[30:02] It’s funny as a very young man I was pitching.
Some new new customer experience to a merchant at Walmart and I’m not going to date Myself by saying how long ago this was in the merchant was talking about the operational challenges and I’m like yeah but.
Like you would know this is a much better customer experience and the you know this this wise is Walmart Merchant looks at me and goes Jason White carpets would be a better customer experience to you’re probably not going to see those in a Walmart.
Right answer to me like I feel like the inside you have there is is like preserving the voice of the customer in respecting the voice of the customer about putting it in the context of.
This this is larger ecosystem of experience I often you see people make the mistake of just like.
Asking a customer questions getting a customer preference in a vacuum and prove your point.
Is a very complex ecosystem with a lot of inputs and outputs I want to continue the trend of asking you hard questions that we don’t know the in.
So I have to be honest like to me thinking about your role one of the things that makes it daunting is.
Typically marketing you know we we try to Target the particular customer right and we think about segmentations and I’m going to Tracy’s personas and you know I know Walmart of course has has the Persona of the famous busy mom persona.
But the challenges at your scale you guys are so huge that hundred sixty million Shoppers a week the.

[31:31] Almost any Persona you you create is then too small to be economically relevant to Walmart so so how do you do Marketing in personalization and targeting and world and wedge,
like literally everyone is your customer.

Janey:
[31:48] So the way you are absolutely right funny that my first kind of couple of weeks and he going you listening tool so I went round am I listening to and I say to everybody okay so who’s the customer.

[31:59] And everybody would say what everybody would you mean everybody that it will everybody and I don’t know but who is the Target customer,
I understand that you serve everybody,
that does not mean that should talk account some and soda so just as you know you see in a McDonald’s is a great example to me right now
people that you see the wife and it’s going to be pretty woman the people that you see in the McDonald’s advert probably
on a real direct reflection of the people that have something in in in my gums every day but it’s a reflection of where they want to go in and what that Target is inside the difference between serving everybody and designing for very specific Target and so
we have done a lot of work on this this idea of the design Target you’re not new to it to anybody listening to this you know and we talked about this busy family
spaying a design Target and then we sort of thing about this Continuum these busy families on this continuum
with an entry the Continuum is what is the ultimate driver at any point in time they do they do Flex between.

[33:10] Money in time right everybody
everybody no matter where you are and what is it some point balancing off money in time I’m so you think it went and we think about that designed talk about how do we how do you think about
where we where we playing to be financially.

[33:29] Sensitive busy family it’s probably what you would quite to the end to the to the Walmart Shopper but you find interesting things in that like you know it’s still not going to go to
15 stores to try and find in a package of pasta lower price that looking for consistency
in the goods they buy and access to the right to the right sofa brands.

[33:52] To your point about making it smaller obviously soon as I start took him at busy family she was exactly that’s productive right that’s smaller than the entirety of who we still have you not wrong,
I’m so then what we did was a whole bunch of statistical work to say okay well he think about the segments we’ve done a broad segmentation have six segments across that 160 million.
You think about that how do we statistically correlate to the actions that we would take on behalf of a solving for the busy families
correlate strongly enough to the other segments and so you know I was have this child that I said what round that has this in a ring which is these the time-sensitive is he found his we must protect them they are a cool right we protect them with
always living on everyday low price and in Iran and trying to create the best sort of experience and if we do that.
I know that those are cool to also helping yourself that more,
time sensitive busy, you still needs everyday low cost and infection is expensive but once more than once a mortgage last next to that really wants this little buy online shop shop still components
and then you start TNS you pull out of that Circle we’ve been correlated those actions that you would take
against the other of the six segments that we understand where we want to how deep we want to go in and how broad you want to go and so we’ve been working through this.

[35:11] Better part of a year now I think that lens I’m just starting to see most conversations now start with.
Yeah he’s abroad picture boy we want to go as we lens for that you know that time since too busy family his will how we might start to think about making slightly,
different decisions don’t get me wrong this is not about you know.
I’m moving away from opening price Plano moving away from Braddock go to or any of the above but it allows us to start to think about how would we back to those Janice how would we prioritize where we would do things like
cake ordering all the work that we’re doing install maps or you know that what that we’ve been doing you seen as talk a lot recently about online grocery pick-up and now about delivery those are the sorts of things that you start to look at when you say what
if if time becomes even more of a fact than we thought it was before how would you solve these things differently right lot of work not on the product side now round things like
read email so healthy read emails the busy busy families can run in and pick up at our great-great alternative to pick him up fast food on the way home right side suits that are not true selection right how to how do we do that so it’s starting to lens the way that we
crazy experiences and we and whistle and it would have sold the stores.

Scot:
[36:33] Brickell I’m the I’m the e-commerce side of this podcast partnership in.
Love marketplaces I’ve started Channel advisor which is a partner of Walmarts and so I couldn’t go on without asking a Marketplace question so walmart.com you guys.
It took a while but you guys really have your sea legs on the marketplace how do you see that kind of tying into the customer experience obviously caused an explosion of selection but where are you guys in your thinking around the the. Com.

Janey:
[37:03] Super important to us so I can you think about a top priority issue him up till you know what will talk a lot about Marketplace of putting time as a brain power
Thor in into that why do I think I’m making sure that I’m Marketplace experience is good enough right.
I’m not in a we recognize that even though you might be buying it from Jamie’s toys. The reality is
you have coming to walmart.com to buy that and we need to make sure that we stand behind that experience I’m have the right tools and capabilities to do that and that you are not in any way disadvantaged by buying the marketplace I’m right so I’ll give you good example.
Why.
It was really important for us to make sure that if you bought a Marketplace item you could return it in the store as well as online right in that time I didn’t say oh I see that you bought this is not going to take it back.
Sounds sounds easy but does really hard right side of building a marketplace where you’ve got fed party sellers when you’ve got such a you know such a big physical asset is hard.
But it’s really I think it’s really it’s really important because.

[38:16] It’s important we have a large selection of items because the reality is I don’t want a customer to go anywhere else.
I want a customer to be with us super frequently for groceries and a frozen consumables and we feel really good with a forward-deployed inventory in a in a butt in time is a 95% America to get that frequency.

[38:39] When you’re shopping with us her groceries I want to go to fill everything else right I’m so you know and I’m frankly.
Yeah I thinking is you should be able to eat and we should be able to be able to pull people through which is you come to us day in and day out cuz you know that we going to get you those great groceries.
But we have a great selection 1p items that you can add into your basket and by the way if you want to that for the super random thing that we are we are not economically going to have to carry you can get it you can get it now at the same time.
It’s a package same bundle yeah what one click away so I think it’s really important as customers start to.
Curate.
Whether they do it I know she had to do it deliberately or not I think people are starting to curate how many places they actually spend time in the past you think about you probably show up in like 30 or 40 different sites.
The one thing Amazon has got people to do right is to just go to one place instead of talk about it as the library affect right my kids.
Use I’m literally lose Amazon as a lively right is turkey disintermediated Google they just go straight into Amazon and becomes it it’s really important for us we have the capacity to be able to dislodge that,
with our you know it with without differentiation that’s at the Forefront when she’s always say that the grocery component.

Jason:
[39:59] Like it is interesting a lot of these like new digital behaviors are creating.
New opportunities but also new challenges so like want you mentioned all the progress you guys made with online grocery pickup.
I’m a huge fan Advocate it just seems like every time you talk to a customer that’s all white changing experience and it’s easy to see why busy families are.
Quickly adopting this new behavior and it seems like you guys are killing it on for filling that behavior The Dilemma in my mind is.
You got these beautiful stores that are designed to surprise and Delight people by discovering other products they want to buy when they come for their essential oils and you’ve got this you know,
super valuable center of the store where we can discover an instapot while we’re we’re shopping for our groceries or Pharmacy or all these other things
and for sure there’s a bunch of purchases that in my mind a lot of consumers and never put on a shopping list like I never put the Oreos or the gum on the shopping list I secretly sneak them into the cart bike at the last minute so in the world.
You’re helping everyone sort of transition to shopping off of a list and doing online grocery pickup.
Is there a risk of losing that that impulse purchase and that that you know how to how do you.
Help customers discover new things in a world in which you’re sort of forming a list habit of you will.

Janey:
[41:18] So is Mariska.
I’m working really hard so yes and I think it’s two-fold right one is
even though you might be doing pickup.
We still need to create a really great stores that exactly do that right surprise and delight and every so often you going to want to come in
right and so how we do that and think about balancing when we pull people into sores versus when they didn’t pick up,
really really bored so thinking about the physical dimension of this and then on the the digital space you’re absolutely right like how do you
how do you.

[42:01] Create that impulse purchase behavior and where do you know where do you do it in the van so which I seen him in a lot of ways of where in the purchase.
In the in the patches funnel do you do it the high-end you want.
Is it Joy Lights of the discovery phase right is it is it through the checking out phase is it through in a
do you want a present product upfront I see that you’re buying bananas and you should go get during these other things and where do you want to use different sorts of tools.

[42:31] Digital allows you to do really interesting League you get it right I’m taking about your very first question about dates or is
we can actually start to and I do things so we can have done somewhat with BuzzFeed on shuffle
I like shoppable recipes you think about the generation of that this world and make sure you could say I’m feeding a family of four
and once got celiac disease and one is in one has a biology I need six meals right prison to it right presenting percent what I should
why should be able to do by
oh and by the way they still miss Tita here are a few things that you might want to think that I would even chew it did I all we know who else is in your household so let me show you those things.
As we think about services like in home what’s super exciting to me about that is somebody going into the home how about we start to think about
physical training of products right was so if we know that you’ve got two boys at home when doing groceries how about we drop off these four or five things
if you like them keep them if you don’t we’ll pick him up when we come back how do you how do you start to think about.

[43:41] The services that we have on the predictive are the predicted nature what we can do to release a type of pus license and just think it’s just a surprise until I feel that the impulse in a different kind of way right.

Scot:
[43:55] That’s a sneak, like predictive for or try before you buy kind of.
One thing that’s kind of rocks e-commerce world it’s kind of funny if you think about it is Amazon’s come out with a bunch of private labels and everyone’s all up in arms and you know.
And then you read that that Sam book and he talks about the Old Roy dog food or is it old what’s the dogs safe.
How about I think what is Amazon’s done though is that kind of taking it from you this is kind of like the product you bought two what products are like this kind of found this customer segment.
That wasn’t there before and they’ve created a whole new thing and targets gotten really good at this as well where where are you guys in your thinking about that at Walmart of private labeling and how that fits in.

Janey:
[44:51] So we have a.
Big and very fast growing really exciting private label business across Walmart right on the stores have that long for you, and you think about some of the
Rhymes that sit within that on the Walmart side and on the same side I sometimes amazing private label products to,
so you know that continues to get a lot of time a lot of attention a lot of focus on his idea is really like really growing and we are super excited about we will continue to do that and also that both,
online and offline
obviously we have acquired some direct to Consumer Brands we have created some direct to Consumer Brands everything from soda prenovost to it to Old well and that remains an important part of a strategy
I know we’re thinking through which brands are going to be online or online-only and when and why should things be sold in the stores will continue to do that as we round out that rotor assortment.

[45:55] And then I think that’s an interesting piece you know for me in the middle which is how do we think about.
Next-gen which is not in a.
Make a scene and I can let you know I make his Mark products private label products or in a great value toilet paper but you think about the work that we’ve been doing to incubate product either ourselves with Supply so I think about.
Kristen and Dax and hello Bella or I think about some of the work that we’ve been doing and they are not in the ladies ladies shaving space on we’ve worked with,
big Brands to to develop custom product
it’s that sits in at 6 and I stores you can grab the apparel space weather is the weather going to be like Alan and Sofia and that collections scoop,
you know I take a class at New York fashion brands that we both now and now we have that collection so we working through the many various ways we can think about using different brands within the family and and how do you deploy them,
I think what makes us very different now is it is not our intention to,
ever bring people into the Walmart family sell their products online and then use that to you noted to use that data to then.

[47:16] The time and where we want to get why we want to put private label product it’s a different approaches with incubating because I was a two shows us that the arrow
price that either adapt in the market or is it capital particular price point in the market must put in Italy open price point Verizon in in many cases I think we can create
product the right way about that price point and that’s really really where we going.

Jason:
[47:49] So there’s a side pause here that I’ll fix we were just sorting question.

Janey:
[47:50] We were just sorting question.

Jason:
[47:56] We just put a note in her on the time so I don’t mess up.
That makes total sense I want to go back to you earlier when you were talking about your scope you mentioned a bunch of the things in one of the things you mentioned that you don’t hear all that much about is Walmart pay we we have.
We spent a lot of time talking about digital Wallets on the on the show and sort of,
consistent theme is there all these amazing customer experiences that happened in places like Asia.
Haven’t been a successful here and my friend this is part of the reason they haven’t been as successful here is there is not.
Super convenient seamless digital wallets like they’re their there is an Asia either promise that Walmart pay is secretly more successful and meaningful than.
A lot of people give him credit for and you guys just don’t talk about it that much so am I am I wrong is it an important amenity at Walmart or or Walmart shoppers using it and had Patty you think about it.

Janey:
[48:55] Yes I just did the first part of that question.
As we think about you guys you do it I’ve been studying it super apps I would obviously a particular prevalent in in Asia now it’s interesting when you take a look at my super apps
I mean most of them developed out of what I tried and then and then group
elements is usually the consistent glow across all the super apps right so as we think about where we go with
with Arab stretching super apps you write won’t pay becomes interested component of that so I’m I mean won’t pay is
is successful customers use it if you look at a licensed in the latest credit card that we just went through Capital One right you enroll at in Walmart pay you get a significant Advantage from doing that
it is a Hope In Our intention that we leaned into that mall in store maybe around the store right around the store and in your in your community so.

[49:56] Creating opportunities to just make it much more Flawless and if you enrolled in Walmart pay we know more about you and that’s for we pretend she can offer you a series of experiences that we couldn’t
if you didn’t know it’s about as much about you writing so so me making sure that there is enough value
and functionality in Walmart pay the people choose to enroll and engagement not just download it but engaging it
is super important because then that means I can get more right I can get more information about you which goes back to me said that I can create much better experiences for you right I can,
gets come and go or at United We will we will know more about your behavior which might make up my allow us to do different sorts of things on the back end in terms of returning products or not unlocking out of sorts of things inside it becomes it does become
for us that glue that allows us to then start to think about okay well how do we create,
all the sorts of in an ongoing experiences this what to do right it’s not where it needs to be and we need to create more of an instinctive reason for being in and benefit.
But it is important positive of how we anchor in and where we go I’m going.

Scot:
[51:15] It wouldn’t be a Jason Scott shoaf we did talk a little bit more about Amazon we also talked a lot about Walmart.
But you mentioned I think you said when your kids kind of got trapped in the the prime prime trap and it’s hard to get them out of there
we seen a lot recently is Amazon you is using that and if people are starting their and now they’re pulling ad dollars away from companies like Google.
Go to Walmart’s made some moves in the ad Network.
Space is well soul of your thoughts on how do you view advertising and and maybe been a broader question of how do you how do you use their stop people or get him out of that.
Prime trap that you get stuck in.

Janey:
[51:56] So stop with the prime trap I think you know.
I firmly believe that there is a Tipping Point one way or the other white right and there’s a Tipping Point that got people into Prime
all the stupid people that get people out of prime I think it’s a price of prime goes up right people to come over flat reflective on
what am I really getting into and what do I need so the number of times that I people have people say will I get free shipping with prime I know you just paid for the beginning of the year so free
differently is is really intriguing it says you think about the Tipping Point on oan and you think about the services within the
how do we know which customers to really start to take a look at
is it really worth it run if I can get same Goods or more Goods at the same or better price can system at the same delivery
do I really want to be paying $129 a year for
whatever is The Marvelous mrs. maisel and the content that that we’ve got six how do you nudge people how do we start to show people that are
better options at Outback the pieces of this and then and then again then the Tipping Point starts to come up and now I need to evaluate what else is in there and and what do I get on the ad business yet I mentioned I need the Walmart Media Group.

[53:18] Yeah but saying you dismiss for us and so we are,
committed to building a world-class a world-class what I caught a world-class advertising business the people would be proud and would choose to advertise on whether it’s at Walmart or not
why does a difference between leaning on the supplies to do it but this is this is this is a platform that people want access to an obviously
about just got to the deli put the more that we can slice and dice and and a half back today to the more attractive it becomes.

[53:47] What I think is different about what we are going to do and I philosophy is we believe in creating really great
customer experiences and creating an environment in which you can continue to trust Walmart to do the right thing
buy you as a customer on biodata I’m so we famously
commit to Everyday Low Price Rite he famously have shunned you know some of that you had to shopping boxing gloves we haven’t taken money to be able to place products in stores we are not going to break that philosophy not ethos online we will only
any experiences that we sell against will be in our opinion a creature to the customer
and so are we spend a lot of time actually tweet we’ve been told him he’s going to the plans look at do we believe this is good for the customer is it confusing,
do they actually understand what’s going on here.

[54:50] Would we be willing to corrupt search algorithm no right those results around and there are some decisions that we’ve made very recently about things that we will not sell because I don’t think it’s in the in the in the best interest of the customer so it’s a different ethos that we have around
Walton Walton way we can do and then one that is absolutely predicated on
the Trust on privacy and security of your data that I think it’s is potentially like him with some of the other models out at today.

Jason:
[55:19] I do think that’s one of the fundamental challenges like is sort of digital advertising for retailers is a relatively newer phenomenon and everyone struggling with.
You know how do you maximize your business opportunity there while still saying customer-centric and you know there certainly are a lot of people that feel that like in the case of Amazon particularly.

[55:41] Visited while taking money and in some cases like aren’t giving customers the best search results as a result so it’s it’s interesting to see how everyone sort of makes those decisions for their own business,
I’m super happy we’ve been spending the most of the time and in this conversation talking about things that I view is sort of core to the customer and in super relevant,
intermediate for today and not a lot of shiny baubles but I got to be honest I wasn’t do kind of like The Shining pot.
Pivot for just a minute to sort of innovation and you know you follow the Walmart there are a bunch of sort of cool Innovations you got.
Alphabots you’ve got you know that in real life store that’s not far from here Sam’s Club Now jet black all all these sorts of things.
Any of those projects that you think are like you’re particularly excited about or that you think are likely to turn into a.
A supervillain and customer experience I got I would assume a bunch of those projects you’ll learn things from.
And then you know maybe it’ll be a different iteration of that that ultimately delivers on the customer promise like what what should a listener’s look forward to.
Really double down on at Walmart.

Janey:
[56:54] So it looks like I got it the secret of one away which is Walnut was seve how to stop at store right this would have liked future so,
first woman to spot in is is what I took right and so super excited about
the capability and the service that we can build that what that actually what that actually means in terms of I love the idea of somebody coming in and putting groceries in my fridge mean never having to worry about them
and then where do you take that in times of maybe it was not just groceries could it be and I could it be prescriptions could it be something else by the way when’s the wedding if I come in once a week and pick up my dry cleaning and where else can you go in the service
where else could we go with Hardware right so can you move to full auto replenishment right can you start to think about it
is all sorts of super interesting ideas we’ve we’ve got in there that could be controlled through the what if you had like ovens
but you could Papa you know what I’m really great ready-made meal in before you left and didn’t you could you could set it at United to Cookeville right from your phone when you’re on the way home from work except really excited about that black I think
conversational Commerce underneath that is really interesting to me as his voice.

[58:17] And you know the capacity to be able to walk around create list when I show up.
I always forget something that I and I couldn’t check out my oh shoot I should put apples and I should put something else in.

[58:33] I love the idea of an episode of war and you and any point a text but when I say apples it knows that you know
will but we know that I buy in a full pack of organic honey honeycrisp apples it’s not it’s not coming up with anything else it becomes super plus nice to you and you I’m really excited excited about
conversational Commerce capability where it allows us to power at scale we get back I think it’s great and I
I use it all the time I left you may have to just text and I.

[59:06] Kitchen paper and it’s apparently off. It’s here in the afternoon this in a meeting say I like but the scale of the conversation, spiteful.
It’s something that I’m I’m really excited about and obviously at some point we need to.
Leaning upscale to what you’re seeing about whether they see IR else will someone for Jamie’s done with the signs and Times of Skyland go in and out right you don’t have to check out lines in the store.
Is an issue for us it is an issue for us ticket holiday time because he wants me to find him waiting in line how do we stop to not make that have to be a reality for customers.
But do it anyway the design on the back end so I would be remiss if I didn’t say there was so much innovation technology that is going into.

[1:00:00] Think I got pick up Tawas which of facilitating online grocery Central operations Team all doing in and around the stores,
to make them in a tip to make it be able to lean into this customer experiences and to appropriately ultimate when he did.
All the rarest gives us the end of the fiscal capacity to be able to do some of these other things I’m about half the customer or on behalf of the associate there is so much Innovation Frank is going into,
yeah they’ve even got the training academy is and some of the virtual reality would doing in the and some of the things you’re going to see is coming out with this year or which types of leads its way back to creating a,
more efficient happier Associates who create a really great customer experience and I’m so that they also.

Jason:
[1:00:52] Nice I have to admit during an answer the one thing I did have some sympathy for the poor jet black person that gets your orders cuz that’s got to be like high stress when the boss is like ordering stuff,
and it supposed to show up quickly at her home the it’s funny when you guys first announce the in-home you know I got called by a lot of media that want you know they’re quick sound bite in the the
typical narrative was our consumers really going to trust a stranger. Coming to your home and in my typical answer was.
Like that’s not comfortable Behavior today that’s not what we’re all used to,
but if I’d come to you five years ago and said are you going to trust calling strangers on the internet to come pick you up in their car you would have had a similar reaction and you know customer behavior is obviously.
It’s it’s easy to see that same shift happen.
With this in-home opportunity like you know if the amenities are there and to me the funniest thing was when you watched it.
One of the first in-home services Mark Lori did and of course you have them all wearing body cams as a sort of a security measure and I’m chuckling because I’m like.
If there’s one person I’m not worried about stealing from me it’s it’s Mark who’s made quite a lot of money on his last last two companies.

Janey:
[1:02:07] Yeah you know what is interesting though.
About what you say is you’re absolutely right right mean the as you come up with an idea wouldn’t be great for groceries if we can put groceries in people’s faces that that’s great.
I don’t know that I want a stranger in my home what I really excited about sign who leads the team and he’s got an amazing organization what I’m most excited that they did was they said Okay so.
What was solving for is he asked the other logistics behind being able to do this but that’s irrelevant if we don’t solve the trust Factor.
So what are we going to need to do to solve the trust factor that has gone if that has done everything from,
the locks that are put on in and the security behind not behind the book The Body cams
behind the selection the training of the associates who do it I’m Frankie like how do you protect the security of the associate 2.
And in many cases and so it’s a really interesting case study of actually solving for the intangible which is the trust component.
Is
Much more important in solving the tangible right and you know we’re still we’re expanding our testing and I was still going through and had how do you start to scale something like this spot.

[1:03:26] It does
it does require you to do things something different and announce never going to be for everybody right it’s never going to be for everybody it’s not you know and it’s always going to be higher touch
interesting Lee you know economically it has some some real positives for us right as well but it’s just it’s so being that intangible
what are the things will you have to take off
to make somebody feel comfortable having access to having access to your home and those are the access pieces and then looking somebody comes into home and putting groceries in your fridge
I’m a mess up the fridge I know they said they squash things are they put them in wrong are you going to admit all of those levels of how do you get somebody to relinquish control.
Of that customer Jetty patrolling Kush control enough that they not worried about
the security of the delivery component right after the execution of that cuz otherwise it’s not taking that stress away from somebody right they just sitting there watching watching to make sure it’s happening the ultimate goal and Harry’s you are so trust you you’re so trusting of the service that you forget they have to do it.

Scot:
[1:04:36] Just like an Uber type experience where it’s become so second-nature now that you don’t really.

Janey:
[1:04:41] Right I mean yeah I mean you don’t I think something and then when you get those spikes and something unfortunately terrible happens.
If you start at that is now shocking right it’s it’s become such the norm that when something terrible happens it made you know you like it wow
several years ago right I mean I grew up in the UK and grew up in the world right now in London
can cabbage. Puff the knowledge you need and they were like bag and I don’t have that the notion of.
Somebody could I could become an Uber driver tomorrow riding on a mini didn’t even think about that
you getting into a car with a stranger who probably doesn’t know where they going is relying on Waze Stevens and even tell you where the real trouble Rock.

Scot:
[1:05:33] We really appreciate your time and we’re kind of getting up to time one last question we were to hop in our retail time machine trademark Jason Scott,
and go to 2030 explain to listeners, like what would you love for that Walmart shopping experience to be like kind of 5 to 10 years in the future.

Janey:
[1:05:55] Who’s great question.
I’d love for you know I’d love for our stores to still be around but to be really interesting gauging places where people went to enjoyed going,
and when and when.

[1:06:19] To have fun as opposed to it you know so the bracing yourself to go and do you get your weekly shop so how do we create all the fat but then how do you augment that.
Gigi’s Lee beforehand so that you know when you’re in that you can actually focus on having the fun
and you know and I’m just really grateful us experience is so it will actually you’re walking in and you’ve already pre-ordered your gross is not coming to you but you know you’re able to.
Donkey basketball with LeBron in the sports Department through virtual reality right or I shall getting close to the store we’re reminding you that it’s your nephew’s birthday next week
what’s the packing groceries why don’t you go take a look at Lego and you know it’s probably how you got eliminated reality popping out of your phone right and you’re able to do
but you know most of the tasks while still that I think is probably way to go but like for us.
You mentioned it earlier but nobody ever says that I mustn’t fun right there’s a functional nature to to retile particular in the retail space that we’re in with.
How do we how do we turn that that functional into
antiphon I want things a fun you start to engage with the more and so it becomes a real it becomes a want to do buses I must’ve really excited about doing the grocery shopping at Walmart,
that would be great.

Jason:
[1:07:45] That is an awesome vision and that’s going to be a,
good place to end it because it’s no surprise even on our fourth anniversary show we’ve completely used up all of our listeners allotted time,
Janey really appreciate you taking the time to come chat with us and share some of the Visions for where Walmart’s going as always if you enjoy the show feel free to leave us a comment on Twitter or face,
and I for sure if you haven’t done it already up here for years in for God sake It’s Time to Get on iTunes and finally give us that five star review.

Scot:
[1:08:18] Exchanging really appreciate you taking time to be on the show and helping us celebrate 200 episodes in 4 years.

Janey:
[1:08:24] You are very welcome honest be here thank you.

Jason:
[1:08:26] Until next time happy commercing.

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