36 DC VELOCITY JULY 2017
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Joanne Marciano, senior vice president
of operations at apparel retailer Vineyard
Vines, is known for her customer-first
approach to creating a seamless omni-channel experience. Wherever the customer wants to shop the Vineyard Vines
brand, she makes sure the right product is
there, at the right time, at the right location, and in the right quantity to create
the best consumer experience.
Marciano’s career spans more than 25
years and includes retail merchandising, merchandise
planning and allocation, and operational leadership
experience. Prior to Vineyard Vines, she spent several
years in inventory management and buying leadership
roles for Cole Haan, Williams-Sonoma, Old Navy (Gap
Inc.), and Talbots.
In the past three years at Vineyard Vines, Marciano has
drawn on that expertise in leading the warehouse, logis-
tics, inventory management, IT, and facilities teams, with
an emphasis on creating a collaborative environment.
Q You have extensive merchandising and inventory management experience. What would you say are
the biggest challenges you face as you move from omni-
channel to a unified commerce platform?
A The retail industry continues to change very rap- idly, and the retail operational function wasn’t
built to be omnichannel. Our biggest challenge is how
do we, in a cost-effective way through productivity and
speed, become nimble in the ever-changing retail world
where the customer wants immediate gratification and
a personalized experience? In other words, how do we
establish a unified platform from an operational perspective so that the brand is received by that customer in
a consistent way? We are attempting to unify and rebuild
our infrastructure to support our goal of providing a
superior customer experience wherever that customer
might be, either online or in the store.
Q Looking ahead, what excites you about the future of retail?
A I’m excited our 3PL (third-party logistics) partners and supply chain technology are creating ways to
work faster so we can provide the speed. From a retail
standpoint, the customer demands are changing, and I
thrive on change. If we are stagnant too long, I’m not
thriving. What are stores today? Are they just selling
avenues for a brand? I would say no. Our store, we
believe, is a place where people want to buy from us, not
for us to sell to them. I’m excited to see how we evolve
the brick-and-mortar piece while everyone is reaching
to online. We are looking for ways to
stay ahead of our competition online by
creating a story-telling interactive website
that welcomes customers to our brand.
We want to offer the same brand message
and experience on our website as we do in
our stores.
Q How do you ensure the customer experience is consistent across all
consumer touch points?
A It’s important to understand the business and cus- tomer needs and apply [those insights] to our strategies from an operational, infrastructure, and technology
perspective. An example would be when we send product
to our stores in multiple boxes because our warehouse
is having an issue. Instead of thinking “They got their
product, great,” we examine how they received 1,000
pieces in 800 boxes. It’s not OK to just ship a box; that’s
not good customer service. We need to factor in the labor
to open the boxes, the workload, the payroll costs of that
labor, and the experience of the sales associate who had
to pick through every single box to get a stack of T-shirts
on the table.
Q Teamwork is essential to your company’s success. How do you foster a collaborative environment
among your teams?
A First, I communicate with all our teams so they can understand what they are seeing in the business
today, what the major issues are, and how this changes
our long-range strategy. It’s important to hire talented
individuals that thrive on change and have the skill set
to navigate the waters of change. I strive to empower
each individual so they make the right decisions, while
motivating them and creating a fun environment. We are
all in this together. It’s a team effort to create a unified
commerce operation. You can’t just say “I shipped them
the product and they got it.” It’s how did it get there and
how did they receive it? It brings it all back to who that
customer is and putting the customer’s needs first.
Q What is your proudest professional achievement, and why?
A At the end of the day, I’m always proud to see the individuals on the team grow throughout their
career. I still mentor many today that have left my team
and gone on to bigger and better things in other com-
panies. They still reach out to me wanting advice, and I
do the same with my mentors. The biggest achievement
is seeing people succeed along with the business and the
brand.
Joanne Marciano
