1. Shopper & Customer

How Macy’s is Engaging Customers Through its Own Your Style Platform

Written by Posted on Less than 0 min read

In episode 383 of Total Retail Talks, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan interviews Abigail James, senior vice president of marketing at Macy’s. During the wide-ranging conversation James discusses Macy’s 2022 holiday season strategy (1:03), the customer behavior trends the department store chain has observed over the past few months (3:30), and how those behaviors will influence its marketing efforts for 2023 (5:50).

Furthermore, James shares how Macy’s continues to drive store traffic post-holiday season (8:27), how its Own Your Style platform impacts the customer shopping experience, including how her team is creating consumer awareness and understanding of the platform (11:13). James details how Macy’s marketing team collaborated with other departments within the organization for the Own Your Style launch and execution (14:05), and the continual optimization process to evolve the platform (16:50). Lastly, she shares the marketing trends she’s closely watching and believes will have the biggest impact on the retail industry in 2023 (18:20).

Abigail D. James is a high-performing and innovative retail executive with over 20 years of proven leadership experience within merchandising, stores, planning and marketing at Macy’s. James is a storyteller and curator of emotionally charged omnichannel campaign messaging, digital, social media, creative development, vendor services, and sales. In her current position, James overseas Macy’s Customer Activation and is responsible for driving innovation, efficiency, and effectiveness in marketing. She leads several teams, including Content Offers, Strategy, Calendar Planning, and Tourism, and is at the helm of the Photo Studio and Marketing Operations which produce creative content both internally and externally with innovation, technology, and creative art. Responsible for both driving the business and driving the culture, James is a trailblazer in the organization that delivers exceptional results and creates new leaders.

James began her career at Macy’s in the Merchant Buying Development Program upon graduation from Cornell University in 1997. Recently, she has received numerous awards, including the Black Women of Influence 2019 Trailblazer Award, Macy’s Make Magic Marketing Awards for Leadership and Special Projects from 2012-2018, the 2010 Femme Award for Best Intimate Apparel business, the Macy’s Divisional Merchandise Manager, and various other distinguished accomplishments.

View Original Article
Member since
Total Retail is the go-to source for executives looking for the latest news and analysis on the retail industry. Through various forms of content and community-building events, Total Retail serves its mission to provide retail executives with the information they need to do their jobs more effectively. https://www.mytotalretail.com
Do you like TotalRetail's articles? Follow on social!

More from Joe Keenan

  1. Shopper & Customer

How Retailers Can Capitalize on the 5 Types of Shoppers

No two customers are the same, yet they share many of the same goals and behaviors. An insightful, 18-month-long study of critical purchasing patterns discovered that shoppers fall into five categories: the investigative consumer, the frivolous spender, the experience-driven buyer, the fluctuant shopper, and the conscious consumer. 1. Investigative Consumers Often referred to as the […]
3 min read
0
  1. Data & Insights

The True Cost of Loyalty: Why it’s Crucial for Retailers to Protect Loyalty Data

Loyalty is big business. In the U.S., research has shown that there are over 3.3 billion loyalty memberships. Programs span across almost all markets, from supermarkets and restaurants to beauty and hospitality. For organizations, a loyalty program that resonates with consumers can set them apart from competitors. Last year, for example, Starbucks told investors that […]
3 min read
0
  1. Department: Nonfood

6 Critical Lessons for IT Teams to Improve Internet Resilience

The internet is becoming ever more complex and challenging. An outage can happen to anyone at any time. For e-commerce companies, it means a standstill of business. Recent estimates put revenue loss of outages to Amazon.com at $220,318 per minute. You can’t fully prevent them, but your IT team can take measures to proactively reduce […]
3 min read
0
  1. Data & Insights

E-Commerce in 2024: 5 Tech Trends Defining the Digital Landscape

If 2023 marked brands’ initial steps into integrating generative artificial intelligence into their e-commerce strategies, 2024 is set to witness its explosive growth. There’s palpable anticipation as conversational commerce gears up — and not just for major industry players, but gradually becoming accessible to brands of all sizes. Consider conversational commerce and dynamic personalization. These […]
3 min read
0
  1. Shopper & Customer

Can You Deliver the ‘Phygital’ Experience Customers Want?

It’s true: American consumers love shopping online. But are they ready to abandon in-store shopping? Not anytime soon. Data from the popular traffic and navigation app Waze shows visits to retail locations are up significantly in 2023. What consumers really want is the best of both worlds. They want to blend digital and physical shopping […]
3 min read
0
  1. Operations & Supply Chain

Tackling Holiday Returns? The Secret to Success Unveiled

A whopping 69 percent of retailers treat returns as a cost of doing business, meaning they simply accept that they will incur $165 million in merchandise returns for every $1 billion in sales. This problem is further exacerbated during the holiday season when 17.9 percent of merchandise sold is returned. But what if one shift could […]
3 min read
0
  1. Partnerships & Alt Profit

Stop Using My Trademark, Part 1: The Cease and Desist Letter

If you’ve become aware of someone using your trademark, should you send them a cease and desist letter? In a developing trend towards litigation, trademark attorneys have recently been foregoing the use of cease and desist letters previously considered routine. Instead, as their opening move to enforce a client’s trademark rights, they often immediately file […]
3 min read
0
  1. Trends & External Forces

Some Retailers See Setbacks From Silicon Valley Bank Collapse

Some retail organizations are seeing significant setbacks as a result of the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). Toy e-commerce startup Camp, for example, sent an email to customers on March 10 that said it was slashing prices and would use the sales to help fund its continued operations after much of its money was tied up in […]
2 min read
0
  1. Technology & Innovation

Reimagining E-Commerce

Growing and capturing an online audience for your e-commerce business is more difficult than ever. Competition is fierce and consumers have seemingly unlimited choice. To build a clientele that comes back time and time again, e-commerce sites need to stand out. Visual experiences that delight customers can help do this and take shopping beyond the […]
3 min read
0
  1. Media & Marketing

Composable Commerce: Bringing the Future of Digital to Life

The retail industry has seen many shifts over the last decade, but the pandemic drove retail digitalization initiatives to unprecedented levels. Digital commerce has evolved from managing a single channel to an elaborate landscape with multiple touchpoints. Coupled with consumer demand for modern digital experiences, businesses can no longer rely on outdated legacy platforms. Out […]
3 min read
0
  1. Data & Insights

3 Steps to Optimize Your Data-Driven Marketing and Personalization

Marketers see the value of data-driven marketing. The first steps towards data-driven marketing are easily made, but the journey towards complete data maturity is way tougher. There are certainly some speed bumps on the road to data-driven marketing success. It is worth it though. A recent study from McKinsey showed that fast-growing companies drive up […]
4 min read
0
  1. Shopper & Customer

3 Ways to Attract and Retain ‘Zillennial’ Customers

“Zillennials” are the oldest members of Gen Z, who were born during that demographic’s first five or six years, approximately 1997 to 2002. While still considered digital natives, zillennials can remember a time before tablets or smartphones and were not pervasively online during their elementary school years, unlike the majority of their generation. This age […]
4 min read
0
  1. Shopper & Customer

Shopping Extensions Are Here to Stay — Learn to Measure and Test Their Impact

Consumers love bargains. At the time of this writing, 12 of the 13 top Chrome extensions in the Shopping category offer some flavor of automated coupon codes, price comparisons or cashback. For consumers, these browser-based tools are a way to find the best bargains at a time of global belt-tightening. For online stores, they’re a […]
< 1 min read
0
  1. Department: Consumer Durables

Nike Sues lululemon, Claiming Infringement on Shoe Design

Nike is accusing the yoga lifestyle and apparel brand lululemon of infringing upon some of its shoe designs, according to a lawsuit filed Monday in New York’s U.S. District Court. Canada-based lululemon launched its first footwear collection in March 2022, with women’s shoes available first and men’s shoes debuting in 2023, according to a press […]
< 1 min read
0
  1. Channel: Mass

Five Below to Target High Earners With 400 More Five Beyond Stores

Five Below plans to expand its higher-priced Five Beyond concept by converting 400 more store locations, reports PYMNTS. The specialty discount store is looking to appeal to a new demographic of customers with its Five Beyond concept, which sells items priced above $5 but “still below the rest,” according to the company website. The new store prototype is […]
< 1 min read
0
  1. Shopper & Customer

Digital Transformation: The Key to Success for Retail in a Recession

The U.S. economy is on the brink of a recession. Despite a strong labor market, negative GDP growth rates have led some to predict a 96 percent likelihood of a recession within the next year. Regardless of this outlook, Americans are still willing to shop — spending 17 percent more last Black Friday weekend than in 2021. […]
3 min read
0
  1. Shopper & Customer

Hershey Being Sued for Alleged ‘False Advertising’ on Reese’s Candy

A woman in Florida is suing the candy giant Hershey, alleging that the Pennsylvania-based company misled consumers with the packaging on a Halloween-themed Reese’s candy. The lawsuit, filed by Cynthia Kelly on Dec. 28, claims that Hershey engaged in “false and deceptive advertising” when it advertised an image of a chocolate peanut butter pumpkin with […]
< 1 min read
0
  1. Shopper & Customer

Creative That Performs Should Be Your Brand’s Goal

The great French writer Alexandre Dumas famously said, “There are two distinct sorts of ideas: those that proceed from the head and those that emanate from the heart.” Although he wasn’t speaking about the yin-and-yang between creativity and return on investment measurement in advertising, he could have been. The creativity behind a brand’s marketing is […]
2 min read
0
  1. Trends & External Forces

Tapping Into Gen Z’s ‘Gig Economy’ Labor Pool

As the overall quit rate continues to rise and the labor market further tightens, retailers across the country find it extremely difficult to hire enough well-trained workers to deliver a good customer experience. But while many generations are shrinking in the workforce, Gen Z is a rapidly growing generation eager to work and ready to […]
< 1 min read
0
  1. Uncategorized

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Matchbacks (and More)

Not all direct marketers are familiar with matchbacks and why they’re important. I thought it might be helpful to explain the matchback process and why it’s a critical tool for evaluating results and developing mail plans. Matchbacks are the process of having your order file “matched back” against your recent mail files in order to […]
< 1 min read
0
Next