Levi Strauss hires Nordstrom vet as chief digital officer

Dive Brief:

As it pursues a direct-to-consumer strategy, Levi Strauss & Co. has hired Jason Gowans to be its new senior vice president and chief digital officer for LS&Co., according to a Thursday press release.
Before joining Levi Strauss, Gowans previously spent 10 years at Nordstrom, where he was the senior vice president of digital commerce and held other positions in its marketing, data science and digital operations.
Upon stepping into the role on Feb. 6, Gowans will manage the company’s engineering, data, artificial intelligence and digital product functions. He will report to the company’s president Michelle Gass and serve on Levi’s executive leadership team.

Dive Insight:

Gowans’ appointment is part of the company’s efforts to boost its digital business. With Gowans as chief digital officer, the company hopes to grow its direct-to-consumer revenue through better productivity, service, loyalty and e-commerce.

“Jason is a seasoned leader with a proven track record and expertise in creating digital experiences that delight consumers and I have no doubt that he will help us accelerate our strategies to digitally transform the company and be direct-to-consumer (DTC) first,” Chip Bergh, president and CEO at Levi Strauss, said in a statement. “Jason’s deep knowledge of data science, combined with his strong digital expertise, will help us digitally transform all parts of our business — from supply chain to marketing to e-commerce — and accelerate our growth.”

Before appointing Gowans as its new head of digital, Levi Strauss named former Kohl’s CEO Gass as president of LS&Co. in November, where she will manage the Levi’s brand and its international digital and commerce operations. Gass will succeed the company’s current CEO, Bergh, in the next 18 months.

Last summer during its Investor Day event, Levi’s executives outlined a lofty five-year goal: reaching up to $10 billion in revenue. The company said it wants to invest more in DTC, stores, e-commerce and other digital functions to reach that metric. Levi’s said at the time it was aiming to grow DTC to 55% of annual net revenue by 2027. In Q2 2022, the company saw its net revenue rise by 15%. The next quarter, the company’s net revenue only rose 1% compared to the year prior. In response, Levi’s discounted its merchandise and reduced its Q1 receipts by a fourth.