Dive Brief:
- Lowe’s promoted Jennifer Wilson to senior vice president and chief marketing officer, the retailer announced Tuesday.
- Wilson is tasked with managing the home improvement retailer’s brand and product marketing, loyalty and personalization efforts, the Lowe’s retail media network and other promotional initiatives. She will continue to report to Bill Boltz, Lowe’s executive vice president of merchandising, the company said in a statement.
- Wilson began her tenure at Lowe’s in 2006. She most recently served as the retailer’s senior vice president of enterprise brand and marketing, per the press release.
Dive Insight:
In her new position, Wilson will remain in charge of the company’s integrated marketing and merchandising strategies.
“Jen’s extensive marketing, merchandising and home improvement experience positions her well for this expanded role,” Marvin Ellison, Lowe’s chairman and CEO, said in a statement. “She’s consistently moving Lowe’s forward, as recently demonstrated by the successful launch of our MyLowe’s Rewards loyalty program and Lowe’s retail media network. Jen brings a data-driven approach and is helping us develop a deeper understanding of the customer.”
The MyLowe’s Rewards program debuted in January and features perks like free standard shipping, member-only gifts and early sales notifications, among other benefits. “The positioning of the entire program ... was really all around designing toward a millennial homeowner at the center,” Wilson told sister publication Marketing Dive this spring.
Wilson’s promotion follows Lowe’s previous executive promotion earlier this year. In January, the retailer appointed Margi Vagell to be its executive vice president of supply chain, a role she assumed after previously holding other senior leadership positions at the company.
As Lowe’s reshapes its leadership team, the home improvement retailer and its major competitor have seen an impact from a soft housing market. In its Q1 earnings report, Lowe’s reported a 4.4% dip in net sales from last year to $22.3 billion, while comparable sales fell 4% due to a pullback in DIY big-ticket discretionary spending. Similarly, The Home Depot reported a 2.3% decrease year over year in first-quarter net sales to $37.3 billion, while comp sales fell 2.8%.
The two retailers did not change their outlook about their performance through the end of 2024. While The Home Depot maintained its full-year guidance predicting a 1% bump in sales, Lowe’s also kept its full-year guidance, anticipating that the company will generate between $84 billion to $85 billion in sales.
