Right About Now with Ryan Alford - Business News: Amazon’s Fuel-Cell Fleet, Fast-Food Price Wars, Sky-High Shipping, AI Guardrails, and Ikea Micro-Stores

Episode Date: June 20, 2025

SUMMARYIn this episode of "Right About Now," host Ryan Alford recaps major business news of the week. Topics include Amazon’s shift to AI-driven job replacements and hydrogen fuel cell trucks, the return of dollar menus at fast food chains, Walmart’s rollout of drone delivery, new international AI safety regulations, expanding right-to-repair laws, and IKEA’s launch of micro-stores. Alford emphasizes the importance of adapting to technological and market changes, offering actionable insights for businesses and consumers navigating a rapidly evolving landscape.TAKEAWAYSAmazon's job replacements due to advancements in AI technologyIntroduction of hydrogen fuel cell trucks by Amazon for sustainable logisticsRevival of dollar menus in fast food chains to attract customersWalmart's operational drone delivery service for rapid deliveryEstablishment of international AI safety regulations through the Geneva AccordPush for right-to-repair laws allowing consumers to repair their own devicesIKEA's development of micro-stores to enhance the shopping experienceImportance of adapting to technological changes in the business landscapeStrategies for businesses to leverage new trends and innovationsThe competitive landscape between major retailers like Amazon and WalmartSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This new year, why not let Audible expand your life by listening? Audible CA contains over 890,000 total titles within its current library, including audiobooks, podcasts, and exclusive Audible originals that'll inspire and motivate you. Tap into your well-being with advice and insight from leading professionals and experts on better health, relationships, career, finance, investing, and more. Maybe you want to kick a bad habit or start a good one. If you're looking to encourage positive change in your life, one day and challenge at a time,

look no further than Tabitha Brown's I Did a New Thing, 30 Days to Living Free. In the audiobook, Tab shares her own stories and those of others alongside gentle guidance and encouragement to create these incredible changes for yourself and see what good can come from them. Trust me, listening on Audible can help you reach the goals you set for yourself. Start listening today when you sign up for a free 30-day trial at audible.com slash wonder ECA. That's audible.com slash wonder ECA. On this week's Right About Now business news recap, Amazon says AI will replace some jobs.

Some? Hmm. They're also rolling out big rigs that are rewriting long haul logistics. The dollar menu is back in a big way. Drones are dropping Walmart orders in under 30. Nations just inked AI safety rules. Every marketer needs to know that's you.

And right to repair laws are turning wrenches into revenue. All that and more here on Right About Now. This is Right About Now with Ryan Alford, a Radcast Network production. We are the number one business show on the planet with over 1 million downloads a month. Taking the BS out of business for over six years and over 400 episodes. You ready to start snapping next and cash in checks? Well, it starts right about now. What's up guys? Welcome to Right About Now. It is Friday, June 20th, 2025, as we barrel through our summer here on our business news

recap. Everything you need to know, everything you don't need to know sometimes, but you need it. Imagine what you need and what you want are two different things. I'm trying to bring it all together. Hats off, hats on, too. I'm your lead shoveler today. Little shout out to my good friends, Mike, Cass, Lizarro.

They're in like week three. New York Times bestseller, Shoveling Shit. A love story for entrepreneurs. One of the best books ever written on how to be an entrepreneur, the ups, the downs, the realities, things to think about. Love those guys. And I am your chief shovel officer today shoveling it all. That's what we do.

We take the BS out of business, baby. And look, I've been telling you for weeks about this AI thing. Don't sleep on this. I'm telling you, those agents, AI agents, robots, whatever you want to call them, they're coming for some jobs. It's not that again, so this isn't fear-mongering. It's getting you prepared. You need to be using these tools and leveraging the way you can because every other company is going to be doing it too. The ones that don't, well, we ain't going to be talking about them because they ain't going to make the headlines.

We try not to talk about the negative news. That's all it's going to be. An Amazon CEO came out and just said it. Said literally, said it to the workforce, said, your jobs are going to get replaced. So you need to embrace this thing and know that there will be different jobs, but some of the same that you've been doing ain't going to be around because these AI agents are going to be replacing some of the everyday tasks. Look, Amazon is one of the biggest companies in the world. They're making this known. Their headlines say it.

They're sending notes to the employees. Don't sleep on this. I'm telling you, this stuff's coming. You need to understand it. You need to be using it and you need to be leveraging it and embracing it because putting your head in the sand, well, you know how that goes. You don't want sand in your mouth. I'll be in the beach in a couple of weeks.

I hate sand in my mouth, sand in my shoes. It's no fun. So don't be putting your head in the sand. Pull it out. That's what we're doing here on the show. We're telling you about these things and it helped. We're gonna be bringing more and more resources on the show to talk about what this means, how you can get ahead, how you can leverage it.

There's gonna be action coming out of the show, tactics, things you need to do, specialists, the best. Because again, we're not just gonna talk about it. We're gonna tell you what to do about it, how to take action and how it can impact your business. In other news, Amazon is piloting Mercedes-Benz Gen H2 fuel cell trucks on EU freight routes. Five test trucks run about 620 miles on one tank

and refill in under 15 minutes. Amazon has secured enough green hydrogen to power around 800 trucks once the program scales. Heavy freight is notoriously tough to decarbonize. So cracking hydrogen's cost curve could give Amazon an unbeatable logistics edge. This is about more freight to more places, less fuel time and all that. So again, could bring costs down, but it's going to be tough to compete with Amazon in this space.

You know, we talk about electricity all the time. You talk about all these other ways with power and electric cars and self-driving. Well, don't forget about carbon too. So there's a lot of ways that we can be saving. And ultimately, just like in AI, Amazon is always innovating. This isn't about sitting still. They're going to show us the way with AI. You're going to listen, you're going to pay attention and use it in your business. And here they are with

trucks going further, going with less fuel and ultimately can be less cost for us. Speed, efficiency and removing friction. That's what Amazon is always about. Dollar Menu 2.0. Removing friction. That's what Amazon's always about. Dollar menu 2.0. The fast food giants are betting these discounts will reignite traffic. You know, it's, it has been a, I've seen this. I've noticed just in my periphery, you kind of look around and you go, okay, what's happening out there?

I was joking with my son about Arby's. Arby's when I was growing up had the five for five, the greatest deal ever. Five roast beef sandwiches for five bucks. Well, now you got a new special out. It's four for 10. I'm like, has the cost of roast beef sandwiches has doubled, but has salaries doubled in that same time period? Hmm. I don't know. I doubt it. Costs up, salaries flat, sort of, maybe increased 20%, 25% over that time period. I'm talking about like 20 years ago. I don't think we've doubled our salaries,

but these costs are up. But hey, I'll take four for 10. Wendy's has got the 100 days of savings, bringing back that $1 Dave single. Hey, that's what I'm talking about. Dollar burger. Need some dollar burgers. I got four boys to feed.

Are you kidding me? With Jogo and my wife, we went to the store. She bought 28 Gatorades on Friday. By Monday, end of day, gone. Every one of them. I need a value menu for drinks, for Gatorades and Kool-Aid and all that shit. Like, holy cow, these boys are growing. My wallet needs to grow a little more. Burger King ties the BOGO Whopper deals to quirky holidays, keeping

loyalty members checking in daily. Hey, I will say this about Burger King. The flame broiled whopper is the, is one of the best burgers. If you're going to eat a fast food burger, give me that flame broiled. It does taste like frame broiled. I still know exactly how to do it. And they've really flame boiling it. Maybe, but ultimately it's a good burger. And I, Bogo whoppers sounds good at the Whoppers, at the offers house.

Bogo Whoppers is what the offers need. Chipotle's Summer of Extra drops free burrito codes and a burrito for a year lottery. Oh, I don't know. Burrito for a year lottery. Give me some Mo's. Short term giveaways build long-term loyalty and lifetime value inside expanding rewards programs. This is true. I will say this though.

I don't know if anyone is like me with these rewards programs, but I've got like 50,000 points on McDonald's rewards program and I forget to use it about every other time we go to take the kids. And when I do go to use it, you can only use one code per visit. And I know for anybody texts me or DMs me and goes, Hey, you know, you can just check out twice or whatever. Yeah, we could do that, but it's kind of annoying. So it's like these rewards program. I don't know. I don't know who they're rewarding. They're ruining us or themselves. Delivery in 30

minutes by air. You know, I've been taught, I feel like I've been doing this show for seven years. We've been doing the news segment for about four. I feel like I've talked about drones and delivery from Amazon to Walmart to a million others about a hundred times. And you know how many times I've actually seen it ever done zero, but we're going to talk about it today. Walmart and wing add drone drops to a hundred stores across five metros. All right. We're not far from Atlanta or Charlotte, so maybe we'll see one of these drones in action here in G Vegas, South Carolina.

They're serving Atlanta, Charlotte, Houston, Orlando, Tampa, about 50 million people, Walmart's 4,700 stores double as launch pads aiming to cut last minute costs below a dollar. Launch pads. You know, you read this stuff, I say it out loud, then I'm like, you know, it sounds ridiculous, but I'm waiting to see it. Again, I think we could go back in the coffers

and play at least 27 articles I've read about drones delivering stuff over the years. I'm ready to see some. I'm ready to see some benefit from it, but we'll see. If drones hit cost parity, Walmart turns its store network into a same day delivery edge. That's why this matters because look, it's Amazon versus Walmart, if you hadn't figured that out. The race to the bottom of cost and ultimately drones. I don't know. I don't want them racing to the bottom though. I want that shit delivering on time and intact. How much is the repair rates going to go up on some of this stuff when these drones start crashing with your camera or whatever? It's probably going to

be just your toilet paper that they smash. Hopefully not your loaf of bread. We'll see how it plays out, but their drones are getting better. So we'll see. Will we see the proliferation of drones delivering goods? Robots are taking over even the skies. All right. We talk about bots, AI all the time. We need guardrails for it all, including the bots. 28 nations inked a Genova accord on safe and responsible AI. You know, that makes you feel warm and fuzzy,

kind of like my wife telling me I might get lucky this weekend. I don't know. It seems like a maybe. The fact is the first legally binding safety rule book for large AI models. A new international AI safety board will publish report cards and can hit the stop button on risky systems. A lot of wordplay, a lot of word salad, all that. I will say this. Ultimately, it is going to impact how we do marketing. CMOs need an AI governance plan now, or they're going to get fined and shut down because, again, if

you have these robots in place and you have the risk that can be involved with setting prices, targeting ads, doing things like that, There's gonna be an impact and customers will push back and marketers need to be ready because I, you know, the days of kind of back when Facebook used to be, you can actually get organic reach until they came out and realized that Facebook was using all your personal data to target you hardcore with everything. The same thing here, AI is moving at such a speed.

There's going to be governance around this stuff and there will be fines and certain things for big brands to be aware of and small brands. I wouldn't mess around. I will say though, I don't have a lot of faith in international boards around some of this stuff. So we'll see how the U S gets involved ultimately, but we do need guardrails. There's no question about that. My, uh, take and sentiment around this is less around the need for it, but who is

actually put it in place and forcing it and making sure that it's in the right hands, fix a favor hits the bottom line. All right, guys here, let me put some explanation into this one. Ultimately, we buy a lot of stuff that can't be repaired. There's some legal things that you think about, wheelchairs and farm equipment. Personally, I don't wanna fix either one, but I do think there's a lot of other things.

TVs, a lot of different things that are made to break, but can't be repaired, either for legal reason or otherwise, or you just can't get access to the parts. But now you've got 35 states debating right to repair laws, and Texas may soon join with electronics legislation. You've got early wins in New York and Colorado that show big savings on those wheelchairs and farm equipment, and ultimately brands that sell parts kits and how-to guides can turn repairs into a profitable service arm.

I think this is good for consumers because ultimately we should be able to repair this high cost stuff. This is prosumer if you ask me. And the proactive brands can turn looming legislation into a customer loyalty and revenue engine. Again, don't fight what's coming. See how you could gain from it

and making these things accessible to your customers. Again, much as I hate to pull out the old screwdriver and repair bag, ultimately I'd also don't like writing thousand dollar checks for stuff that should be repairable. Win-win. Finally today, Steve Alford, my father had this concept 25 years ago. It was actually in the kitchen remodel business doing pop-ups for kitchen remodels where you promote like the top cabinet faces, the top accessories that go in the kitchen and things that go in almost every kitchen remodel, but doing it in a pop-up fashion versus having these huge stores that have all this stuff for remodeling and just overkill. Well, IKEA is kind of taking that same, same approach with the flat pack, small footprint.

It's micro plan and order store lands in Oregon. The studio let shoppers design kitchens and closets, then ship direct. No warehouse maze required. Damn, those things are mazes. You've been to this, sent one of those? There's two mazes in the IKEA world. One going through the store and then two trying to put something together. Whoa.

Tick me out, please. At roughly one-tenth the size of a classic blue box that slashes rent and staffing costs. That's good. IKEA plans eight more US micro stores and 39 pickup hubs by 2025. Now if they could only make those instructions and putting this shit together a little easier. That's what my wife's for actually. She has patience and is in his ADD as me. That's why I love her.

But ultimately I do like this concept. I liked it when Steve Offord had it with kitchen remodels. Dad should have patented the idea a long time ago that, well, they say ideas are cheap executions, everything. Tiny planning studios, plant IKEA in dense neighborhoods and feed more customers into its growing e-commerce funnel. I do like that.

You know, forever it seemed like you couldn't exactly find what you needed from IKEA online. That's gotten a lot better. The e-commerce store is better. I just don't like putting all that shit together. I like buying it ready-made. That's why I like Facebook Marketplace. People have already gone through all the trouble. You put it together and they don't need it.

I'm like, yeah. And you buy cheaper. Here here for Facebook market place. Key takeaways. You got hydrogen trucks, could slash freight emissions and hand Amazon a cost and branding edge, dollar menu, deep discounts, buy invaluable first party data and loyalty that outlast the summer protos. again, they're getting you in for those cheap prices, but ultimately they want to get your data because they want to remarket to you. And it's a good tactic.

If you're a marketer again, you're not always selling something for the profit of that deal. Lifetime value people. That's what you need to be thinking about. That's what they're thinking about. They're going to give you away the burger because they want the email so that they can hit you with the whopper down the road delivery in 30 minutes pairing drones with 4,700 stores make sub one dollar same-day delivery walmart's new superpower hopefully i'll believe it when i see it asterisk asterisk check mark cross whatever else signifies i'll believe it when i see it, asterisk, asterisk, check mark, cross, whatever else signifies, I'll believe it when I see it.

Guardrails for the bots. A binding AI treaty means every brand needs a compliance playbook before regulators come knocking. And fix it fever hits the bottom line. The right to pair laws can turn spare parts sales and DIY guides into fresh revenue streams and build loyalty. Make this stuff fixable people. And finally, IKEA is coming with these micro stores.

The Steve Offord special. That's all for today. I do want to remind you follow right about now on your favorite podcast app. You're probably watching this there. Again, hit that subscribe button. If this is your first time listening, we appreciate you. We know you have options, but go watch us on YouTube as well. Got the full video, audio. We got a great production team here is doing a great job. Joel and studio is always putting it together. We're taking it to the next level. Radius, review us. Drop me a DM on Instagram.

That's the best way to get me. I'm over there all the time. Get a lot of DMs, get feedback on the show, things you wanna hear, things you don't. Hey, and if you like this shoveler, chief shoveler hat that I got from Mike and Cass Lazaro, shoveling shit out now, New York Times best seller. They were on the show. Go back and watch that episode. Amazing episode and it's right.

And guess what? If it's on the show, it is right about now. We'll see you next time.