The retail industry is moving fast — and its innovative leaders are paving the road to retail’s future with inspiring technology.
RIS’ sixth annual look at the top women in retail technology salutes the female technologists, redefining an industry that impacts millions of consumers and showcases how society adapts new technologies into their everyday lives. The women honored here are deploying game-changing solutions, leading exceptional teams, and reimagining retail.
Read about their latest retail technology projects, which prompted glowing nominations from their peers and partners. Plus, learn their greatest accomplishments, future goals, and tech deployments — what they think will impact retail’s future, how they stay connected but also unplug, and more!
Memorable Mentor
Mary Beth Trypus, Chief Revenue Officer for Vera Bradley and Brown’s current leader, is a wonderful mentor, Brown says. “She continually challenges me to think differently and stay focused on the challenge we are trying to solve for.”
Connecting to Employees
Vera Bradley has an associate Facebook page to stay connected. “We share community events, recognition, and customer fun! It has been a great way for our field teams and corporate teams to get to know each other.”
Favorite Way to Unwind
When not working, Brown enjoys playing coed softball. “I am currently on two different teams and looking forward to the nice summer weather. My husband and I also have a goal of visiting every Major League Baseball stadium in the U.S.”
Biggest Accomplishment
Aried has spent 32 years with L Brands, serving in leadership roles supporting the business, including store operations and cross-channel systems, supply chain, and enterprise functions. Her nominator notes her “depth of knowledge and understanding of the frontline retail experience is unmatched in her field.” As of late, the Bath & Body Works store operations and technology teams are focusing on enhancing the in-store experience in 1,700 stores. “We are completing a rollout of a new workforce management solution where store associates can easily manage their work schedule while providing integration into our point-of-sale and back-end human capital management systems,” says Aried. The rollout also allows for store managers to be able to now schedule their teams with a modern solution. “Additionally, later this summer we are excited to complete the rollout of an intuitive communication tool that will support a more streamlined method for store operations teams to communicate and interact with our field associates.”
Long-Term Goals
“As a lover of shopping and technology geek, I continue to seek out opportunities to make the customer experience more seamless and personalized,” says Aried. “The digital environment and customer expectations keep evolving … my goal is to ensure they evolve together with technology having a slight edge.” Additionally, this Top Women in Retail Tech says she would like to see more diversity in technology, including more women in leadership, and to continue to support future technology leaders’ need to understand the end-to-end business so technology can further enable the business priorities.
Greatest Tech Impact
Aried observes customers want a seamless buying experience, whether that be in a store, at home, or in a 3D world. “Retail technology that creates this unified experience will be the winner, but it won’t be just one technology that delivers a seamless experience but rather a combination of using many tools and data on a platform that is nimble and extensive where the priority is the customer experience. The future is to curate and orchestrate technology and data to enhance your business objectives.”
Executive Vice President, Chief Information Officer
Bath & Body Works (L Brands)
32 years with L Brands;
1.5 in current role
Nada
Connecting to Employees
Aried tells RIS staying connected is so much harder today as the company is remote and hybrid. “I have found that attending a virtual meeting a few minutes ahead of schedule is a great way to catch up on small talk. Organizing meetings in the office with a purpose and allowing for slack time in your in-office work schedule to connect informally works well.”
Favorite Way to Unwind
Walking and talking is one of Aried’s favorite things to do. “In the office a ‘walking touch base’ is always a welcome change, or the opportunity to just take a quick walk outside provides me with a welcome recharge in my day.”
Lifesaving Retail App
The Houzz app. “It’s the perfect blend of design ideas, photos, and shopping. It’s the app that I go to when I want to get inspired or when I need to find just the right item for my house!”
Quick Fact
Aried led the implementation of a $50 million radio frequency identification (RFID) inventory tracking project for Victoria’s Secret.
RIS congratulates all the women who made this year’s list. Read on to learn why these exemplary leaders deserve recognition for their tireless efforts to help shape the retail industry!
Aried
Biggest Accomplishment
Brown — who holds over 25 years of retail experience at organizations including VF Corporation, Gap Inc., and The Walt Disney World Company — is described by her nominator as “a true innovator who redefines what it means to provide an exemplary customer experience,” evident through a series of successful technology implementations under her leadership. Heading into 2020, Vera Bradley used a task management system that didn’t help the company perform as efficiently as it desired. One of Brown’s biggest deployments as of late was being an integral part of the team that decided to implement several Reflexis workforce management tools, including Real-Time Task Manager, which would be the main source of communication between the Vera Bradley home office team and the field. “The pandemic hit just before the rollout date, forcing a change in strategy,” says Brown. “I led the team through this pivot, which enabled Vera Bradley’s stores to reopen effectively under the new system. Cross-functional teams throughout the organization can now assign tasks and check on progress.”
New Technology
Currently, Brown and teammates are working on a solution that allows customers to check item prices using their cell phones. Vera Bradley has also teamed with Zebra Technologies to install physical devices for in-store price scanning. “The long-term goal is to offer customers multiple ways to determine a price, while allowing Vera Bradley to adjust its pricing strategy efficiently.”
Greatest Tech Impact
Live commerce and video selling are becoming more important, Brown tells RIS. “Customers may not want to visit a store physically, but still have a personal interaction to make their purchase. Vera Bradley has best in class customer experience scores in stores and we want to look at what the future can be through an omnichannel lens. We want to blur the lines between the physical and digital customer experience.” This project is in the early stages and she says they are looking forward to learning many things along the way.
Vice President of Stores
Vera Bradley
6 years with the company;
1 in current role
Brown
PRESENTED BY
By: Jamie Grill-Goodman
Kelly
Quick Fact
As vice president of stores, Brown leads over 140 “Full Line” and “Factory” Vera Bradley stores along with oversight of the store operations team.
Biggest Accomplishment
Elmore joined Dollar General (DG) in 2018 to take a newly created role where she oversees all internal and external application development for DG. She continues to play a significant role in the retailer’s development of digital and technological initiatives to further enhance value, convenience, and access for customers, her nominator tells RIS. In 2020 during the pandemic, the team accelerated the rollout of DG Pickup from approximately 30 to 17,000 stores, allowing customers to buy-online-pickup-in-store, and expanded contactless payment methods. DG also offers tools through the DG App to further stretch customers’ budgets including the cart calculator, which allows customers to scan items as they go, providing a running total of what’s in their basket while also surfacing deals, providing more opportunities to save money. These technology enhancements and DG’s continuous digital innovation efforts help drive customer loyalty, says Elmore.
New Technology
Overall, DG’s strategy consists of building a digital ecosystem specifically tailored to provide customers with a more convenient, frictionless, and personalized shopping experience. “As with everything we do, the customer is at the center of our digital initiative, and DG continues to deploy and leverage technology to further enhance convenience and access for our customers,” says Elmore. “Those efforts remain centered around building engagement across our digital properties and includes our mobile app. Our engagement continues to grow across our digital properties, and we are pleased with the customer response to that experience.”
Greatest Tech Impact
“Technology plays an important role at Dollar General, but it all starts with people,” says Elmore. “Throughout the organization, DG provides opportunities for employees to grow and develop their careers, and the IT team is no exception.” DG seeks to attract new team members to support various teams including Project Management, Product Owners, End User Support, multiple Engineering levels, and Solution Architects across Security, Infrastructure and Applications.
Vice President, Chief Technology Officer
Dollar General
4 years with the company
Julie
Elmore
Women in Retail
“Early in my career, I recall seeing fewer high-ranking women in technology and business in general,” says Elmore. “Today, there are so many great and inspiring female leaders, both at DG and in the technology industry. It gives future female leaders additional role models and mentors.”
Connecting to Employees
Elmore’s team hosts a weekly TGIF Open Chat to connect. “Additionally, DG hosts community events to provide opportunities for employees to live our mission of ‘Serving Others’ that allow our team to bond over our joint desire to serve our communities.”
Favorite Way to Unwind
“There is nothing better than sunshine. I find some fresh air, a quick walk, a loop around the park with my dog can recharge me and open my mind.”
Biggest Accomplishment
Surkunalingam leads 7-Eleven’s technology strategy including IT Compliance, Agile Center of Excellence, Robotic Process Automation(RPA), Data Engineering, and R&D. She joined the company in 2007 as IT Financial Services Manager and has served as Internal Audit IT Manager, Director of Corporate Project Management Office, and Senior Director of Corporate Strategy and Investor Relations. Before joining 7-Eleven, Surkunalingam spent 12 years in IT consulting and healthcare administration. “Since moving into my current role at 7-Eleven, my team has implemented several applications and processes focused on managing ‘The Business of IT’ to improve financial agility, governance, and our ability to leverage technology assets,” she tells RIS. These new systems and processes help IT leaders better manage technology portfolio investments through data insights and reporting, improving the cost-for-performance of their services, and ultimately helping IT become a better business partner.
New Technology
“To shape the next three years of our technology journey, I’m leading a refresh of our IT strategy and governance model,” says Surkunalingam. “This work will drive our future technology roadmap and become a catalyst to move IT even faster using innovative practices, architectural predictability, and purposeful governance.”
Greatest Tech Impact
Surkunalingam notes that 7-Eleven’s business is all about convenience and supporting customers through relentless innovation. “We are focused on digital technology that enhances convenience and provides immediate customer benefits. It’s not enough just to be fast or first — our customers want solutions that are customized for their needs and busy, on-the-go lifestyles.”
VP of IT Strategy and Governance
7-Eleven
17 years with the company;
1.5 in current role
Siva
Surkunalingam
Women in Retail
“I’ve seen a shift in which the retail industry is now purposefully hiring more women,” says Surkunalingam. She notes that these women are now not only advancing their careers, but also creating a better work/life balance for themselves and their families. “The industry has grown to be more supportive of this and I’m grateful for this shift, as well as a champion of it. I am seeing this trend in retail technology
as well.”
Memorable Mentor
Surkunalingam has had the privilege of having several mentors throughout her career. “We all serve as mentors for each other and listen to one another, provide advice, and talk through concepts and ideas. I’ve been able to learn about myself and grow as both a person and a leader through their support and encouragement.”
Favorite Way to Unwind
Spending time with her family at home. “I recharge by being with my family — we love simple things like going to the park together, watching movies, cooking, and spending time with one another.”
Little-Known Fact
“Even though I’m a bit of an introvert, I love planning events, throwing dinner parties, and orchestrating fun, elaborate birthday celebrations for my sons.”
Quick Fact
Elmore previously worked as vice president, optimization, fulfillment and logistic systems, for Macy’s. She also served in several other technology positions at Macy’s over a 16-year period.
Biggest Accomplishment
As the VP of Customer and Digital Technology at Meijer, Williams is responsible for digital strategy and innovation for Meijer’s e-Commerce and Mobile Platforms, Loyalty and Personalization, all Customer and Team Member store technology, as well as Meijer’s Data and Analytics platforms. Prior to joining Meijer in 2019, she worked at Walmart for 20 years in multiple technology leadership and strategy roles. “The Meijer technology teams have done some amazing things for our customers and community since I have been here,” Williams tells RIS. “Rolling out in-store picking during the summer of 2020 – we went from zero to 100% in 5 months!” Ensuring that Meijer customers and community could feel safe and provide for their families is another thing she’s proud of. “Our Pharmacy technology really stepped up for our community when rolling out COVID-19 vaccines. Providing a platform for scheduling and administration that can be done at all stores, as well as huge clinics like the one we partnered with FEMA on at Ford Field – This was an amazing effort that allowed Meijer to serve the community and provide almost three million COVID-19 vaccines.”
New Technology
“We have a lot of new technology that we are working on,” exclaims Williams. “Over the past few years, we have focused on customer experience and now we are focusing on team member experience.” The retailer is working on enabling team members with tools that provide data at their fingertips so they can engage with customers to provide a personal experience in stores, she explains.
Greatest Tech Impact
Williams thinks technology that enables unique experiential experiences in store will be key to retail in the future. “I believe that customers over time will be looking for special experiences. E-commerce for Grocery simplifies day-to-day tasks that families must do — so they will be looking for unique personalized experiences.”
Vice President Customer and Digital Technology
Meijer Inc
3 years with the company;
3 years in current role
Kristen
Williams
Memorable Mentor
Williams has had many mentors over her career,
many of whom would give her real and candid feedback about how she was perceived and what adjustments she needed to make. “The most powerful thing they did for me was help me see my potential when I didn’t believe in myself,” notes Williams.
Favorite Way to Unwind
“I love to sit on my porch! I enjoy sitting in my swing and enjoying the birds, flowers, and sound of my windchimes while I read. It is a very happy place.”
Little-Known Fact
Williams, her husband, and their son, love all things sports, and traveling and exploring the world together.