BJ’s Wholesale Club has appointed Naveen Seshadri to the newly created position of VP of Digital Commerce and Experience.
Seshadri will focus on the continued expansion of BJ’s omnichannel capabilities, overseeing the company’s digital customer experience strategy, e-Commerce merchandising, digital marketing, and digital insights and analytics.
Seshadri joins BJ’s from Lonely Planet where he was Chief Operating Officer, responsible for leading strategy and digital transformation. Prior to Lonely Planet, he held senior management positions at Sears Holdings, running product strategy and analytics initiatives.
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In Seshadri, BJ’s is hiring an executive accustomed to bringing his own ideas into practice. He holds two U.S. patents — a continuous automated worker feedback system and a learning management system.
The warehouse club’s digital commerce push will be a major strategic step as it continues to vie for dominance in a club market that includes Costco and Walmart-backed Sam’s Club. With Sam’s Club closing 63 U.S. stores and turning 12 of them into e-Commerce fulfillment centers, and Costco launching its online grocery shopping and delivery service in late 2017, mastering the digital sphere will be essential in this category.
“We continue to believe that value retailing is going to be a big part of the American economy for a long time to come,” said Christopher Baldwin, CEO of BJ’s Wholesale Clubin an interview with Retail TouchPoints during the NRF Foundation Gala. “We’re using technology to make the trip more convenient, whether it’s the ability to do an express scan or the ability to share coupons on your phone.”
In October, the company introduced a new mobile app with an Add-to-Card feature that allows users to digitally select and save coupons directly to their membership cards, with discounts automatically applied during the checkout process.
