Dive Brief:
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Macy's on Tuesday announced the appointment of Jill Ramsey to the newly created role of chief product and digital revenue officer — established to focus on bridging the gap between physical and digital customer experiences. Beginning Jan. 8 Ramsey will report to Macy’s president Hal Lawton.
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Ramsey will oversee product and revenue for macys.com and the Macy’s app. She will also will also lead on digital revenue, enterprise product management, the enterprise portfolio, digital merchandise management, site production and the user experience, the company said. She will also have responsibility for the product management teams that support both Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s.
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Ramsey has more than two decades of experience in e-commerce, most recently as vice president, GM of vertical businesses at eBay. In that role, she led merchandising, had P&L responsibility for a majority of eBay’s U.S. sales, and oversaw most product categories and support functions. Before joining eBay in 2015, Ramsey was at Walmart.com, where she most recently served as vice president of merchandising.
Dive Insight:
Macy’s president Hal Lawton, also an eBay alum, arrived at Macy’s in September and now he's gathering together a team focused on ramping up digital operations in particular.
"[Ramsey] is a strong fit for our business given her experience in product and digital leadership," he said in a statement. "Jill’s expertise in e-commerce and multichannel retail perfectly aligns to our goal to integrate technology through all aspects of the customer journey."
Earlier this year, Macy’s new CEO Jeff Gennette outlined some of his vision for merchandising changes, promising a more nimble off-price/full-price hybrid retailer with more inspiring merchandise. Ramsey will be tasked with bringing some of those visions to life.
Lawton, only a few months into his job, is also expected to drive change at Macy's — and analysts have high hopes for him. In a note emailed to Retail Dive regarding Lawton's appointment, Gordon Haskett analyst Chuck Grom told Retail Dive earlier this year he was impressed with Lawton’s record at both eBay and, earlier, at Home Depot. He called the hire "one of the most interesting outside additions to the entire department store space (let alone Macy’s) over the past decade."
Macy’s has struggled in recent quarters and is the midst of a massive brick-and-mortar restructuring that involves shuttering at least 100 stores. But the company has been on the forefront of e-commerce, experimenting with supply chain and last-mile delivery. The company clearly sees digital sales as important to its growth strategy to offset the loss of stores.