John Lewis has appointed former marketer Dom McBrien as its new chief digital and omnichannel officer, at what is described as a “pivotal time” in the retailer’s “transformation journey”.
Tasked with helping the business realise its “significant omnichannel ambitions”, McBrien will sit on the management board and report into managing director Peter Ruis.
He joins John Lewis from his role as global president of DTC sales at sport nutrition business Glanbia Performance Nutrition, where he also serves as CEO of Dutch omnichannel sport nutrition retailer Body&Fit.
The John Lewis MD praised McBrien’s “invaluable” experience in digital transformation, claiming the appointment will “strengthen” the retailer’s digital leadership.
“I am thrilled to be joining John Lewis at such a pivotal time in its transformation journey,” said McBrien.
“The opportunity to contribute to a brand with such a rich heritage and a clear ambition to be the UK’s most trusted omnichannel retailer is truly exciting. I’m looking forward to getting started.”
He joins the business on 1 October, the same day as incoming chief customer officer Anna Braithwaite. Formerly clothing and home marketing director at Marks & Spencer, Braithwaite will lead on brand and marketing across all channels and replaces Charlotte Lock, who departed in January.
John Lewis names M&S’s Anna Braithwaite as chief customer officer
Former marketer McBrien kicked off his career as head of CRM at children’s charity Barnardo’s, where he was responsible for analytics, donor acquisition and supporter lifetime value. He joined Sky as premium channels marketing manager three years later, focused on building the direct sales and marketing programme, before taking on the role of head of CRM at television service HomeChoice TV.
Next, McBrien joined the marketing leadership team at Xbox EMEA as head of online marketing, leading on the online launch of multiplayer product Xbox Live. He was then appointed director of ecommerce at Arcadia, with P&L responsibility for ecommerce, CRM and analytics for brands like Topshop and Miss Selfridge. Senior multi-channel roles followed at New Look, Marks & Spencer and The White Company.
The impending arrival of two senior hires comes at an interesting time for the business. As part of its £800m “commitment to the John Lewis brand”, earlier this week the retailer added 100 new menswear and womenswear brands to its stores.
These include premium brands such as By Malene Birger, Japanese label Snowpeak and an exclusive collection of 25 handbags and accessories by Mulberry. These latest additions join the 49 new brands introduced earlier this year for the spring/summer season. Currently, the retailer stocks around 650 brands.
John Lewis reinforces ‘authority’ in home market with new campaign and publication
Earlier this month, John Lewis also kickstarted its “multi-million-pound investment” in beauty with the roll out of its first “immersive, multi-sensory” beauty hall in Liverpool.
The idea being to unite service and “social shopping journeys”, the revamped store features 132 premium brands and is anchored on a new partnership with Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty. There are five additional beauty hall transformations planned this year.
John Lewis is betting big on beauty after achieving 40% sales growth in the category over the past five years, which the retailer claims has attracted new shoppers both online and in store, driving customer frequency.
The business also decided to beef up its focus on homewares in April, pledging “bold investments” in its Home own brand. This push included the launch of bi-annual magazine Foundation, the inaugural issue of which was posted to more than 250,000 customers.
The magazine launch was supported by the release of ‘One thing can make the room’, John Lewis’s biggest home marketing campaign since 2021. At the time, the retailer also added 30 new brands to its homeware offer, including West Elm and a collaboration with British design house Sanderson.
