Omni Talk Retail The Future of Retail Merchandising With Former Walmart EVP Turned Board Advisor Marybeth Hays | 5IM
Oct 23, 2025
Marybeth Hays, a former Walmart merchant executive and esteemed board advisor, dives into the transformation of retail merchandising. She discusses the shift to unified online and in-store responsibilities, allowing merchants to become true category experts. Real-time data is changing the game, and new technologies like RFID and AI-driven shelf intelligence are helping retailers better understand customer behavior. Marybeth also shares a fascinating Blue Moon beer story to highlight unexpected product pairings, while addressing the historical tension between merchants and operators.
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Unified Merchandising Responsibility
- Merchants now own both online and in-store assortments, removing dual-ownership conflicts.
- This unified responsibility yields better assortments and deeper customer understanding.
Narrow Your Product Focus
- Narrow product responsibility lets merchants become true category experts.
- Focus on brands, private label needs, and customer priorities to partner effectively with suppliers.
Trusted Real-Time Data Enables AI
- Trusted, real-time data is finally possible via technologies like digital shelf labels, RFID, and shelf-scanning robots.
- With trusted data, AI can surface trends humans would miss and end backward-looking-only merchandising.