Myer nabs Coles online boss as new chief digital officer

Myer has lured the general manager for Coles' online business to join the department store chain as its new chief digital and data officer.

The appointment of Mark Cripsey follows the promotion of Myer's first-ever chief information officer, Richard Umbers, to the chief executive role earlier this year.

Umbers' ascendancy to the top role of the retailer left the CIO role vacant. In July, the company started advertising for a new chief digital and data officer position that would swallow up the vacant CIO role. 

In his new position, Cripsey will take over responsibility for IT, supply chain, online retail and the customer data analytics work that underpins the Myer One loyalty program.

He will start his new job before the end of the year, Myer said.

"We're excited to welcome an executive of Mark's calibre to the leadership team," Umbers said.

"Mark's experience in technology-driven retail transformation, and his direct experience in e-commerce and multi-channel logistics will be important in helping to successfully deliver our strategy."

Cripsey has previously worked in IT at British supermarket chain Tesco, and prior to that spent seven years at Accenture. He joined Coles in early 2013.

Myer is expected to reveal a new business strategy - with data analytics at the centre - before the end of the year.

"We must be more consistent in putting the customer at the centre of all of our thinking. An in-depth analysis of Myer's current and future target customer is giving us a very clear picture of where we need to focus our efforts," Umbers said earlier this year.