Jul 9, 2025

Opinion Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto Retailers across categories are navigating shifting consumer expectations, digital fragmentation and broader market volatility — all while under pressure to deliver measurable business results. While many transformation efforts stall under the weight of over-planning or fail to scale beyond pilots, I share a practical blueprint rooted in real-world execution. At Kendra Scott, our longstanding focus on purpose, community and customer-first values has given us a strong foundation. Yet, like many lifestyle brands, we faced the challenge of translating that ethos into a modern, high-performing digital experience. In response, we launched a strategic 3-year transformation initiative to reverse prior digital underperformance. Within two years, we achieved 50% growth in digital revenue, despite slower retail demand. Before this, I led the North America ecommerce strategy for a major jewelry brand, launching the digital business and scaling it into a multihundred-million-dollar operation with sustained double-digit CAGR. That experience deeply shaped my approach to scalable transformation, which came to life fully in this recent work. Our modular structure makes the framework applicable to businesses of any size — small, mid-sized or enterprise-level — adapting easily to varying digital maturity. Laying the foundation When I joined Kendra Scott in January 2023, I spearheaded a company-wide initiative focused on repositioning digital as a growth engine. We formed a cross-functional task force to conduct an in-depth audit using internal data and external benchmarking (see Bain’s Digital transformation: What matters most in your sector? ). Our goal: assess the online experience from a customer, product and commercial lens. We soon had a very clear understanding of our strengths and opportunities. Within 100 days, we rolled out a 3-year strategic roadmap. Our transformation playbook The strategy is anchored in one clear vision, supported by three strategic pillars and four foundational enablers. Vision 3 strategic pillars 1. Simplify & own the mobile experience We reimagined our mobile approach to become a true mobile-first digital retailer, which was critical as more than 80% of traffic and two-thirds of sales are on mobile. Mobile pods (select example): Payments modernization and streamlined checkout Conversational and social commerce Estimated contribution: the remaining share of uplift The strategic pillars were brought to life through agile pods organized under mobile, personalization and experiential commerce. Each pod had an owner, cross-functional talent and clear KPIs aligned to traffic, CVR, AOV or customer satisfaction goals. These pods enabled quick wins, agile iteration and business-case-based prioritization. Foundations & key enablers High-performing teams In addition to the existing verticals, digital product management, UX and web merch and optimization, I created a new function, “analytics and personalization,” to accelerate performance. We hired the top talent to increase the effectiveness of our investments with sophisticated tools. We fostered high-performing teams through empowerment, clarity and agile enablement. Our employee engagement significantly improved with our net promoter score (NPS) increasing by over 40 points year over year. AI + data + CRM We cleaned the data, mapped the full customer journey and identified key friction points that were impacting customer conversion and experience. We treated AI as an enabler, not the goal and introduced Predictive AI, Gen AI and semi-agentic AI tools to address different business opportunities to accelerate performance across pods (see McKinsey on scaling generative AI in retail ). Profit-first mindset We shifted from a sales-first to a profit-first approach and reduced operational inefficiencies in the business, including cancellations and returns. We revamped our merchandising playbook to double down on our strengths and improved our execution during full price days to improve margin. Every initiative was backed by business case modeling to ensure ROI. Customer-centric We view customers as our boss. We introduced customer research through external agencies and internal tools to leverage them for UX optimizations. We connected customer listening tools with session replays to pinpoint customer friction in the user journey. We also used ad hoc surveys to receive qualitative customer insights ( MIT Sloan on customer-centricity in the digital age ). Our digital transformation framework 2022–2024: Reversal and 50% growth 2025: Recognized with SVP role to scale transformation impact In the face of shifting consumer sentiment in 2025, our foundation enabled us to remain agile — refocusing investments on high-performing customer-centric initiatives, pausing lower-impact efforts and reallocating resources to protect profitability. We also fast-tracked select 2026 priorities to meet emerging customer needs. Lessons for retail leaders Treat digital like a P&L, not a project. Transformation isn’t just about tech, it’s about customer, team and commercial outcomes. Culture eats playbooks. Your team’s belief in the mission, paired with leadership support, is the ultimate unlock. It’s all about discipline We built a transformation model that redefined Kendra Scott’s digital trajectory. It proved scalable, measurable and customer-led. This playbook can serve other leaders by navigating digital disruption. In an industry chasing the next big thing, the biggest win might just be disciplined execution of the right strategy. This article is published as part of the Foundry Expert Contributor Network.