L’Oréal Canada has hired Jared MacKay in the newly created position of chief retail officer. Mackay spent 15 years at Aldo Group, where he was most recently director of store experience.
The cosmetics giant created the CRO position in response to changes in the retail landscape and to improve its omni-channel experience.
“Our focus will be on creating experiences for our consumer where they can really experience the brand at its fullest,” said MacKay.
“There’s the human piece that you can’t get through online, that you can definitely get in store…. [But we] also provide the customer with digital experiences, which our customer is definitely demanding right now.”
First and foremost, MacKay will be responsible for developing a retail strategy for L’Oréal and creating synergies for its brands. “L’Oréal being new to branded retail, we have an opportunity to really start to implement best practices that all of the brands can benefit from,” he said.
He’s also tasked with establishing a seamless omni-channel experience linked to ecommerce and CRM, and ensuring a “unique and distinctive” in-store customer service and brand experience.
L’Oréal Canada currently has 21 Kiehl’s boutiques, and will have 23 by the end of the year. It’s also opening new NYX (which currently has three stores) and Urban Decay stores in the fall. The retail expansion “goes back to giving our customers the full experience of the brand,” said MacKay.
For example, “NYX is a powerhouse right now, especially with millennials,” said MacKay. “It’s very much a digital brand, so being able to bring digital into the physical space where our consumer can not only experience our product, but also have fun learning how to apply the latest makeup trends and interact with artists, I think it’s a huge win and something that we’re very excited about.”
