More than a year after Scott Silverman stepped down as its executive director, Shop.org has found his replacement. Vicki Cantrell, a retail industry veteran who has held prominent positions at Tory Burch, Giorgio Armani and Gucci, was introduced to the Shop.org staff this morning as its new executive director and senior vice president-communities.
“Finding an executive with the right experience and vision to foster and grow our communities was a tall task – and Vicki fits the bill perfectly,” said Matthew Shay, National Retail Federation president and CEO in a press release. “Her executive-level experience with major retail brands as well as prior experience with many of NRF’s communities makes Vicki an incredible asset to round out the executive team at NRF.”
In addition to providing strategic direction and management for Shop.org, NRF’s digital retail division, Cantrell will be responsible for oversight of all NRF communities, including NRF’s CIO Council, the Association of Retail Technology Standards (ARTS) and Loss Prevention.
“I am thrilled to join NRF in this position during such a critical moment in retail, as consumers expect channels and business units to work together to create a seamless shopping experience,” Cantrell said in a press release.
Cantrell was most-recently the COO and CIO at luxury apparel brand Tory Burch. During her tenure, Cantrell was heavily involved with all ecommerce and digital activity, including leveraging social media to increase brand recognition and sales, launching a new mobile site and implementing tablet applications.
Cantrell served as CIO of Giorgio Armani Corp., where she delivered significant ROI and dramatically increased customer awareness and retention through a global, multi-phase CRM program. Earlier in her career, Cantrell held positions of growing responsibility with Gucci Group, Party City and JCPenney.
Silverman left Shop.org in August 2010 after an 11 year career with the organization to co-found ifeelgoods.com, a technology firm that provides a platform for merchants to sell virtual goods, such as Facebook credits, to attract gamers to their sites.
Silverman was elected to Shop.org’s Board of Directors in September.
Joan Broughton, NRF’s vice president of IT and Internet strategies, served as interim executive director between Silverman and Cantrell.