Cover Story: The Top Women in Cross-Channel Retailing

Christine Aguilera, 
president, 
SkyMall
Christine Aguilera is president of SkyMall, a multichannel retailer of unique and innovative products that reaches over 650 million airline passengers each year via its SkyMall in-flight catalog. Aguilera joined SkyMall in February 1997, and during her tenure has held a variety of positions, including general manager, vice president of business development; chief financial officer; and general counsel. Aguilera currently serves on the board of the Direct Marketing Educational Foundation, and has served on the board of directors of the Direct Marketing Association, where she was on the executive, compensation and nominating committees, as well as an officer of the board.
* Tip: Creating value for others, including customers, business partners and employees, is what counts. It's the single most important key to success in multichannel retailing and life.

Deborah Benton, chief operating officer, ShoeDazzle
Deborah Benton is COO at ShoeDazzle, an online styling service and social commerce site. Benton is responsible for developing and executing the operational strategy for the company, including all sourcing, inventory management, quality control, client services, merchandising and finance, and accounting. Prior to joining ShoeDazzle, Benton served as executive vice president of operations and inside sales at Teleflora, the leading U.S. florist wire service, where she managed a $100 million P&L and more than 125 employees across multiple departments.
* Tip: Focus on effective and integrated mobile uses. The importance of mobile reaches far beyond simply providing a convenient, additional retail channel; it will continue to become more integral and thus critical to customer loyalty.

Miki Racine Berardelli, chief marketing officer, 
Tory Burch
Miki Racine Berardelli is chief marketing officer of Tory Burch, a cross-channel retailer of women's apparel, shoes and accessories. Berardelli is responsible for global marketing, public relations, CRM and e-commerce. Prior to joining Tory Burch, Berardelli was senior vice president of marketing at Polo Ralph Lauren, where she spent nearly eight years developing and leading multi-
channel marketing strategy for the retail businesses. An early adopter in the digital retail industry, Berardelli is actively involved in Shop.org, a division of the National Retail Federation, where she's currently serving her second term on the board of directors.
* Tip: Through your brand lens, keep a steady focus on the customer. Serve as her/his ambassador within your organization and strive to exceed expectations at every opportunity and touchpoint. Embrace the ever-changing landscape. Explore, test, listen, share … and never stop learning.

Linh Calhoun, senior vice president/general manager, 
Pace E-Commerce
Linh Calhoun is senior vice president and gen-
eral manager of Pace E-Commerce, overseeing all the operational, marketing and merchandising for Exclusively Weddings, a catalog and online retailer of wedding invitations, favors, wedding party gifts and accessories. Calhoun is also responsible for executing new online business opportunities and partnerships for Pace. Prior to joining Pace, Calhoun held various roles in both marketing and merchandising within privately held organizations such as Staples, Ross-Simons and L.L.Bean.
* Tip: Don't underestimate the relationship and interdependencies between your marketing channels — e.g., catalogs driving brand keywords. And be sure to develop a contact strategy based on delivering timely and relevant communication.

Jennifer Carr-Smith, chief operating officer, giggle
Jennifer Carr-Smith is COO at giggle, a cross-channel retailer of baby products, gifts and informational resources for new parents. Carr-Smith is responsible for giggle's distribution, supply chain, customer service, creative and sale operations. Previously, Carr-Smith served as COO of Gilt Groupe, as well as vice president at RalphLauren.com, where she headed up finance and operations for the brand's e-commerce division. Prior to that, Carr-Smith was a senior director at drugstore.com.
* Tip: Seamless service delivery across channels — don't let your internal process show externally to your customers. Even if you have to start with a completely manual process, make the customer service experience excellent. Once that's in place, streamline at every point.