JCPenney names chief customer officer

The digital chief at JCPenney is taking on new responsibilities.

The department store retailer has appointed Katie Mullen as chief customer officer. Previously serving as JCPenney’s chief digital officer, Mullen will continue to oversee e-commerce strategy and omnichannel development, with an added emphasis on customer marketing, engagement, analytics and more.

Mullen joined Penney in January 2022. Prior to that, she spent nearly three years at Neiman Marcus Group, most recently serving as chief digital officer. In the role, she led the company’s $1 billion online business.

Before Neiman Marcus, Mullen was with the Boston Consulting Group for nine years.

In a release, Penney said that Mullen, in her new role, will lead the company’s efforts to deliver an end-to-end integrated shopping experience that is relevant for today’s customers.  A key focus will be driving innovation in digital, data and analytics to transform how customers experience JCPenney.  

In her most recent role at Penney as chief digital officer, Mullen played a key role in supporting the company’s transformation journey, focused on the digital enablement of the organization, the company said.

“Creating space for Katie to link our digital technology, customer insights and personalization capabilities and to bring it to life through an integrated, end-to-end customer experience is a natural evolution of her role and will help take us to the next level,” said Marc Rosen, CEO, JCPenney.

Rosen noted that a core part of Penney’s transformation strategy and shift back to the basics has been “a relentless focus on our customer’s needs.”

“There are encouraging signs that we’re on the right track,” he said. “We’ve seen an uptick in customers returning to shop with us – an increase in customer frequency for the first time in five years – and they’re spending more,”

“I’m looking forward to continuing to improve how JCPenney reaches and serves America’s diverse working families,” said Mullen. “In our efforts to restore relevance with customers, we’ve sought to better meet their style, product and shopping preferences while also making our stores more reflective of the communities around us.”

With more than 50,000 associates worldwide, JCPenney has more than 650 stores in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, and an e-commerce site.