Commerce Riff with Sri & PVSB - October 20, 2026

PETER: It's October 20th, 2026 — and this is the Commerce Riff, brought to you by the CPG Guys. Ten minutes of the news stories that matter in commerce this week. I'm your co-host PVSB, and I'm joined as always by Papa Raj, the father of pop stars, co-founder of Think Blue Consulting. Sri, how's the fall treating you?

SRI: All good!

PETER: Alright — four stories this week that cut right to the heart of where commerce is headed: Amazon pulling the plug on its grocery partner storefronts, Albertsons' retail media arm bringing in a Walmart Connect veteran, KFC trading Pepsi for Coke, and Kimberly-Clark navigating a social-media firestorm in China. Let's get into it.

Story 1: Amazon Closes Its Grocery Partner Storefronts

PETER: Let's start with grocery, because Amazon just changed how it works with grocers, and it tells you a lot about who Amazon wants to be in the category.

PETER: Amazon confirmed to Grocery Dive that it is closing an unspecified number of retailer-specific grocery storefronts on Amazon.com. Partners in the program have included Winn-Dixie, Metropolitan Markets and Weis Markets in the U.S., along with grocers in Europe like Morrisons. Amazon did not say which partners are affected.

PETER: Why? Amazon says separate storefronts forced shoppers to navigate varying fees, delivery windows and checkout experiences. In its words, it is “simplifying the shopping experience” by “transitioning from individual grocery partner storefronts to other collaboration opportunities.” Shoppers will be guided to the best available grocery options on Amazon's marketplace, and Amazon says it will alert them before any changes.

PETER: So what are those other collaboration opportunities? Retailers acting as hosts for Amazon Lockers and return points in their stores, co-locating Amazon operations with their stores or warehouses, and using AWS to power their e-commerce, supply chain and data analytics. Meanwhile, Amazon is ramping up its own grocery business. It offers same-day fresh delivery to more than 2,300 U.S. cities and towns, plus parts of Tokyo and London, and says it will expand to more regions in Japan and the U.K. and enter more countries in the coming months.

PETER: The CPG lens: Amazon is moving from storefront partner to infrastructure provider, and it is putting its own grocery experience in front of the shopper. That means one Amazon-run shelf instead of many retailer-branded ones, and your visibility there comes down to Amazon's content, availability and retail media rules. It connects to what we covered last week with Mars's research: if the shelf is the algorithm, Amazon is making itself the algorithm for more of grocery. For regional grocers, the question is whether Amazon is a partner, a landlord or a competitor.

SRI: [Response / reaction.]

Story 2: Albertsons Media Collective Taps a Former Walmart Connect Exec

SRI: Staying in grocery and moving to retail media, because Albertsons Media Collective just made a leadership change worth watching.

SRI: Albertsons confirmed it has named Steve Shee vice president of operations and strategy for the Albertsons Media Collective. Shee most recently served as Walmart Connect's head of advertising and revenue operations, and Albertsons says his 20-plus-year career has been defined by building high-performing teams, transforming operating models and using technology to help companies scale.

SRI: The timing matters. Shee announced the move on LinkedIn on October 5, the same day the company confirmed that Brian Monahan, the senior vice president who led the Media Collective for just over a year, had left. Chief Marketing Officer Emily Turner has taken the helm as Albertsons continues consolidating its internal departments.

SRI: Shee will head up the annual operating plan and execution of the company's three-year strategic plan, which launched at the start of last year in an effort to cut 1.5 billion dollars in costs. He will also advance revenue operations aimed at strengthening performance and delivering long-term value for advertisers, customers and partners.

SRI: The CPG lens: this is a hire for the operations side, not the sales side. Retail media networks are moving from the land-grab phase into the run-it-like-a-business phase, with operating plans, revenue operations and cost discipline. And the talent is flowing out of Walmart Connect. Sean Tinnelly, who we recently had on the show from Dollar General Media Network, also came up through Walmart Connect, where he led the Pantry business. Walmart's playbook is being exported across the industry. For brands, expect more rigor from every network on measurement, packaging and pricing, and be ready to negotiate with networks that are under pressure to show returns.

PETER: [Response / reaction.]

Story 3: KFC Ditches Pepsi for Coke

PETER: Now to the beverage aisle, or rather the fountain, because the Wall Street Journal reports a big move in a very old rivalry.

PETER: KFC said it has struck a deal with Coca-Cola to be its beverage provider at thousands of U.S. restaurants, with the switch starting in January. It is a blow to longtime supplier PepsiCo, whose shares fell Thursday after the Journal first reported on the talks.

PETER: Some context to keep the headline in proportion. PepsiCo will still supply many markets for KFC International, the much bigger arm of the chain, and Pepsi will continue to serve Taco Bell. But KFC is one of the biggest sellers of Pepsi among U.S. restaurant chains, according to Beverage Digest. Its U.S. restaurants carry Pepsi, Starry, Mountain Dew and Aquafina. And PepsiCo owned KFC until it spun off its restaurant divisions in 1997.

PETER: It lands at a tough time. CEO Ramon Laguarta has said PepsiCo isn't competing well in soft drinks, including its signature Pepsi brand. Mountain Dew has slumped as energy drinks rise. PepsiCo has also lost Marriott hotels and the Costco food court recently, though it did add Subway.

PETER: The CPG lens: beverage is a high-margin corner of the restaurant business, and chains are treating it that way. KFC has launched its own line of sparkling lemonades, boba refreshers and shakes at some locations, and is chasing younger consumers who want novelty drinks. So the fountain contract is no longer just about price and pouring rights. The suppliers who win are the ones who co-create the menu. Pepsi did that with Mountain Dew Baja Blast and Taco Bell, which has generated billions of dollars in sales. KFC hasn't put that much emphasis on beverages. If that changes, the supplier with the best innovation partnership gets the account.

SRI: [Response / reaction.]

Story 4: Kimberly-Clark Forecasts a Sales Decline After a Social-Media Firestorm in China

SRI: And let's close with a story that is a useful counterpart to last week's Reckitt segment. The Wall Street Journal reports that Kimberly-Clark is feeling the effects of a social-media firestorm in China.

SRI: Kimberly-Clark forecast a third-quarter sales decline and backed its outlook for the year. The trigger was a social-media firestorm in China this past summer, with allegations that its diapers contain formamide, a solvent used in a number of manufacturing processes. In August the company lowered its organic sales growth forecast for the year, said the attention hurt second-quarter sales, and warned the headwinds would continue to dent sales and profits in the near term.

SRI: The numbers: the Huggies maker expects third-quarter sales of 4.13 billion dollars, down from 4.15 billion a year ago, with an organic sales decline of 1.3 percent, and adjusted earnings per share of 1.70. Both are above Wall Street's estimates. Analysts polled by FactSet expected sales of 4.09 billion dollars and adjusted earnings of 1.58 a share. The stock ticked up 3.1 percent to 102.50 dollars in premarket trading.

SRI: The CPG Guys view: last week it was Reckitt posting 12 straight quarters of double-digit growth in China by going all in on social commerce. This week it's Kimberly-Clark showing the other edge of the same sword. The platforms where a brand can build a business can also turn a rumor into a sales problem in a matter of weeks. That's where creators come in. Arthur Leopold, co-founder and CEO of Agentio, who we recently had on the show, runs a business built on connecting brands with creators, and the lesson applies here: the creators who tell your story when things are going well are the ones whose audiences listen when something goes wrong. Build those relationships and your response muscle before you need them.

PETER: [Response / reaction.]

Wrap

PETER: That's a wrap on this week's Commerce Riff. A quick reminder to catch up on our recent episodes — we've had two great conversations you don't want to miss: Arthur Leopold, co-founder and CEO of Agentio, and Sean Tinnelly of Dollar General Media Network. Both are essential listening for anyone thinking about how brands win with creators and retail media. Links in the show notes.

PETER: If anything we covered today sparked a thought, drop it in the comments — we read every one. And if you're not following us on LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube yet, now's the time. We'll see you next week.