Nordstrom furthers technology focus with new hire

Image from Nordstrom See Anew video

Department store chain Nordstrom has hired Kumar Srinivasan to join the retailer as chief technology officer to further its innovations in customer service.

Mr. Srinivasan was recruited by Nordstrom for his development practices, cloud expertise and experience in curating innovative customer-facing initiatives through the use of technology. Omnichannel retailing is all the more important to today’s consumer, and hiring to fulfill that interest will keep department stores competitive and modern.

Planning for growth
In his new role Mr. Srinivasan will lead next phase innovations and growth that focuses on identifying and developing opportunities that will allow Nordstrom a competitive advantage and bottom-line returns.

Mr. Srinivasan comes to Nordstrom from Evocalize, where he was CEO and co-founder. Prior to Evocalize, Mr. Srinivasan worked as the chief product and technology office for Bazaarvoice and as vice president, general manager of Amazon, where he led the online retailer’s Payments Merchant Solutions.

With 18 years of technology and product management experience, Mr. Srinivasan will work to identify opportunities for Nordstrom that reduce complexity while optimizing engineering, software productivity and effectiveness for the retailer.

As CTO, he will lead all four Nordstrom Technology teams that support the department store chain’s Service & Experience, Loyalty & Marketing, Engineering and Supply Chain initiatives.

Nordstrom is currently working on its New York introduction  

“We’re bringing Kumar to Nordstrom at an important time as we are positioning our technology organization to better support our long-term growth plans,” said Dan Little, chief information officer at Nordstrom, Inc., in a brand statement.

“Kumar’s extensive experience in strategy, product development and delivering technology solutions that support a great user experience, as well as his passion for the customer, will be invaluable.”

Mr. Srinivasan’s hire at Nordstrom reflects the luxury retail industry’s move toward omnichannel experience, but strategy challenges remain.

According to a recent report by L2, the number of department stores displaying a real-time inventory has quadrupled since 2013.

The increase exemplifies the heavy investment that department stores are making in omnichannel to compete with Amazon, Net-A-Porter and other pure players. Although retailers are making advances on various fronts, a number of obstacles in both technology and implementation are impeding true omnichannel experiences (see story).

from
http://www.luxurydaily.com/nordstrom-furthers-technology-focus-with-new-hire/