Narvar’s Amit Sharma, chief executive officer of the post-purchase platform provider, named Anisa Kumar as the company’s first chief customer officer.
The creation of the new role follows a period of pandemic-induced robust growth in online shopping. The company said Kumar’s key priority “will be customer success, helping retailers capitalize on the post-purchase opportunity amidst this unprecedented e-commerce boom.” Kumar reports to Sharma and will “oversee Narvar’s customer success, services and support organizations.”
This is not the first time Sharma and Kumar have worked together. Both were running supply chain and logistics at walmart.com.
Kumar is a retail veteran with two decades of experience at Levi’s, Walmart, Target and Mervyn’s. Her roles were in operations, digital and general management functions. And most recently, Kumar ran the entire U.S. direct-to-consumer business and P&L for Levi’s, “including oversight of 200-plus stores (opening 19 doors in 2021), e-commerce, Levi’s app, omnichannel and consumer-facing innovation which collectively represent a large, high-growth and complex part of the company,” Narvar said in a statement.
Sharma told WWD the appointment of Kumar comes at a critical time in the retail industry. The CEO said as trillions of commerce dollars move online in the next few years, “there is a huge opportunity for retailers to improve their post-purchase experience. Now more than ever, delivering world-class, post-purchase experiences is critical to business growth and customer happiness.”
“I have known Anisa for years, both as a colleague and a friend, and she is one of the smartest and most successful leaders in retail,” Sharma added. “Her deep experience helping brands navigate the massive shift to digital commerce will be instrumental in driving our next phase of growth.”
Kumar customer shopping expectations “are causing a tectonic shift in commerce, and companies are increasing their investment in everything that happens at the point of or after a purchase. Narvar created this category, and remains the leader. I’m thrilled to join this amazing team and help brands and retailers find new ways to delight their customers, build loyalty and grow with better and more scalable post-purchase experiences.”
In a blog post titled, “Why I Traded in My Levi’s to Become Narvar’s First Chief Customer Officer,” Kumar starts off by saying that despite “the epic challenges we’ve faced these past couple of years, this is one of the most exciting times to be in retail. The pandemic and other global forces have disrupted the status quo, accelerating five years of e-commerce growth in a matter of months and forcing the industry to adapt at the same rate. But with this upheaval has come immense forward momentum as consumers have changed their behavior in this weird world, and there’s incredible opportunity to craft what the digital experience will look like.”
Kumar acknowledged that customer acquisition in this era is costly, and keeps rising. But there is tremendous opportunity to retain and acquire shoppers by optimizing the post-purchase experience, and returns, in particular, she said.
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