Move over, CTOs, CCOs may become the newest kids on the block
Chief technology officer was one of the most recent new corporate titles to gain a foothold in the executive ranks of retail firms. Now there’s an even newer job description brewing that may start rolling out at retailers as soon as next year, driven in part by business intelligence gained via the online channel. Major branded manufacturers including Sara Lee and Nabisco now employ a chief customer officer, says Shop.org chairman Elaine Rubin, to, in effect, give the customer a seat at the table of high-level company decisions affecting consumers. Within months, she speculates, some major retailers could follow.
Rubin says the customer-centric attitude required for successful retailing in the online environment-–and off-–represents a change for some multi-channel retailers who traditionally have been more company-centered. “For many years, retailers ran their business based on their merchandise, their supply chain and back-end operations without truly engaging the customer in all of their decisions," she says.
While not at the chief officer level, Rubin says merchants such as Eddie Bauer already have consumer advocates within the company, though they do not direct their efforts solely at one channel. “The big brands’ lifeblood is knowing what that customer wants and giving it to them,” she says. “I see that starting to happen in retail, and the online part of the business is driving some of it. Never before could the retailer truly understand, communicate and relate to the customer without the tools of the direct channel.”
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