Omnichannel expert joins Kurt Salmon practice

Robert Howard is the newest partner in the Retail and Consumer Products Group at management consulting firm Kurt Salmon.

Howard was characterized as an omnichannel expert in the press release announcing his appointment. He spent more than 20 years delivering online and in-store retail customer experience solutions and has consulted with some of the world's largest and best-known companies across the United States and Western Europe, according to Kurt Salmon. Howard has worked with Home Depot, McDonald's and FedEx Office, and is the author of 7 Steps to Customer Experience Domination and co-author of The Customer Experience Fiasco.

"The retail industry is undergoing a renaissance as a result of the opportunities presented by omnichannel," Howard said. "At Kurt Salmon, I look forward to helping retailers compete and grow by merging the in-store experience with the digital experience in order to engage the customer in new and exciting ways."

Howard joins Kurt Salmon from retail research firm Service Management Group, where in his role as senior vice president he managed the design and delivery of customer analysis and insights for nearly 100 retail clients. Prior to SMG, Howard founded ClearBrick LLC, a provider of digital customer experience solutions including omnichannel enterprise transformation. Previously, he also served as a principal with Deloitte Consulting, where he led the early development of what would become Deloitte's omnichannel practice, which managed multichannel and retail technology engagements and developed omnichannel-based solution frameworks.