L'Oréal creates first chief retail officer role in Americas region

13-Jun-2016 - Last updated on 14-Jun-2016 at 19:12 GMT

Related tags Retailing Business Canada

The multinational beauty company announced a CRO role for its Montreal-based L'Oréal Canada subsidiary this month. The new executive will lead retail strategy and customer experience for the company’s branded boutiques and shops.

Jared MacKay has the CRO responsibility, a position developed in response to the “growing importance in branded retail business and [L'Oréal’s] ongoing quest to continuously improve the consumer experience in a complex omni-channel world,” explains the company’s media release about MacKay’s appointment.

Business strategy

The chief retail officer position is a strategic move for L'Oréal. The number of L'Oréal boutiques and brands actively operating in the retail space is on the rise.

Branded retail is a growth channel for L'Oréal, and it’s a channel that’s doing particularly well in Canada. “Based on the experience of some of the company's 35 brands, such as Kiehl's successful boutiques, the rapidly expanding NYX retail operations, and the opening of Urban Decay's retail activities, it has become essential for L'Oréal Canada to manage retail operations as a strategic business driver and to implement best-in-class processes, systems and synergies across all of its divisions,” affirms the company.

360 retail

MacKay most previously worked with the footwear company ALDO as director of store experience and omni-channel marketing. He has held a string of titles with that company since 2001, according to his profile on LinkedIn.

L'Oréal summarizes his experience like this: “For the past 15 years, Mr. MacKay has developed and expanded his communication and retail expertise in fields that span from store management to brand management, merchandising strategy and creative development both nationally and internationally for the Canadian -based global fashion footwear retailer, ALDO. More recently, he has successfully led projects which are at the heart of retail's best strategies: store experience and omni-channel marketing.”

As CRO for L'Oréal Canada, he is also now a member of the L'Oréal Canada Executive Committee. But, his main duties will center on establishing a holistic retail strategy, negotiating real-estate partnerships, retail solutions, back-office procedures, and omni-channel commerce experiences.

And according to the media release, “Mr. MacKay will also be responsible for improving L'Oréal Canada's organisational knowledge, as well as ensuring a unique and distinctive in-store customer service and brand experience.”