Dallas-based Neiman Marcus Group is reorienting its buying approach under a new operating model with the aim of becoming more “customer-centric.”

The company said that merchants will be more focused on customer data and insights, and that it has formed a marketing strategy and customer analytics team.

“In this new operating model, we are going to pivot to buying for the right audience—the customers who are loyal to us or have potential to have a high customer lifetime value,” CEO Geoffroy van Raemdonck said in an interview with Women’s Wear Daily.

“Historically, we bought the product that we thought was the most attractive in the market,” van Raemdonck told WWD. “Historically, merchants have looked at what brands are growing and that gives you one answer. Now they’re really looking at the most attractive customers and what they are buying. So it’s really applying this customer-centricity.”

New roles and executive changes

Neiman Marcus also announced that it has created new senior management roles and consolidated some responsibilities to eliminate silos that can affect the execution of plans, WWD reported, noting these changes:

Stefanie Tsen Ward has been appointed chief integrated retail officer, a new role. She will lead the digital, stores, and remote selling teams with the intent of encouraging multichannel shopping. Previously, she was chief retail officer for the Neiman Marcus brand. She’ll now report to Ryan Ross, NMG’s head of customer insights and president of the Neiman Marcus brand.

Ann Marie Janke is Neiman Marcus’ new chief technology and information officer, incorporating two roles that had previously been separate. Janke had been the company’s CIO. She’ll be focused on advancing tech products, WWD reported, including Neiman’s proprietary Connect clienteling tool.

Andrew Floyd has been named to the new role of VP of marketing strategy and customer analytics. Previously VP of acquisition and growth, Floyd will report to Ross.

Amanda Martin was promoted to chief supply chain officer, the company told WWD.

Corporate office layoffs

Neiman Marcus Group has also initiated another round of layoffs at its corporate offices, WWD reported. No layoffs will occur at its stores.

The report said that fewer than 1% of the total workforce is affected, or fewer than 100 people.

This comes after Neiman Marcus Group announced in February that it was laying off hundreds of workers, who represented less than 5% of its total workforce, which at the time was around 10,000 workers.

That reduction included about 100 workers at Neiman’s corporate offices and a few hundred workers at stores and other areas of the business.

According to a Dallas Morning News report, the layoffs don’t violate an agreement with the city of Dallas about Neiman Marcus’ recent move to Cityplace. That agreement requires 35% of the retailer’s corporate staff to live in Dallas.

“It is always our intent to minimize the impact to existing associate jobs, and we take these types of decisions very seriously,” van Raemdonck told the DMN. “We are committed to supporting all those who were impacted through this transition.”

Get on the list.
Dallas Innovates, every day.

Sign up to keep your eye on what’s new and next in Dallas-Fort Worth, every day.