Creating and driving organizational transformation can feel like driving on the opposite side of the road in a foreign land — daunting. Now consider driving a dirt track? Unimaginable, right?
That’s retail transformation in a nutshell for you. Navigating the retail space requires adaptability and insight, much like maneuvering through unfamiliar terrain. This is where seasoned leaders like Shelley Huff excel in steering businesses toward innovation and sustainable growth.
Shelley Huff is a Fortune 10 Executive Leader, veteran retail executive, and board director. She is currently founder and CEO of Huff Advisory, LLC. Shelley was previously CEO at Serta Simmons Bedding, CEO of Hayneedle.com, and VP at Walmart, leading retail businesses and transforming the way consumers shopped.
Want a sneak into the future of retail, omnichannel marketing, and leadership talent trends? Dive in.
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What's your favorite beverage?
Black coffee — a straightforward, strong cup of black coffee does it for me.
What was your first job?
My first job was as a hostess at a bakery breakfast restaurant when I was 16. This experience gave me a deep respect for those making a living in service roles. Understanding how important these jobs are prepared me for my next position at 18 in retail at the mall, where I was eager to immerse myself in a different aspect of frontline work.
Through these roles, I learned the value of teamwork and the significance of every job in the organizational structure.
What's your favorite software in your current tech stack?
Personalized customer engagement tools are one of my favorites. As an advisor, I'm excited about two tools: Firework, which enhances product pages by integrating videos with just one line of JavaScript. And Aimerce, which leverages cookies to improve targeted marketing through email. Both are making significant strides in personalized consumer engagement.
What problems at work make you want to throw your laptop out the window?
As an advisor, I really enjoy working with diverse companies and leaders, so frustrations often come from dealing with factors beyond our control. I’m not usually fazed by problems we can solve internally; it’s the external pressures, like the current economic challenges and reduced consumer spending, that can be frustrating. Navigating and attempting to turn around a business in a depressed market can certainly be challenging.
Kamaljeet Kalsi: Your work sings that you’re a turnaround expert. What are your key levers and motivators for a successful turnaround strategy? Can you share any strategies and examples?
Shelley Huff: Having spent two decades in retail and manufacturing, I’ve learned that a successful turnaround requires a clear strategy, resource alignment, and consistent communication across the organization.
You start with a focused and simple strategy, identifying the business’s unique value proposition. Aligning resources effectively sometimes means reshuffling existing talent or bringing in new skills, especially in digital and AI capabilities. Communication is key to ensuring everyone, from board members to frontline associates, knows the plan and how you’ll measure success.
Key levers for a successful turnaround include staying customer-centric, enforcing operational discipline, and emphasizing data-driven decision-making. Good examples include improving supply chain issues, as we did at Serta Simmons, and maintaining stringent cost controls, a practice ingrained in me at Walmart.
Lastly, fostering cultural alignment and trust within teams allows for better innovation and engagement. A turnaround example I admire is Abercrombie & Fitch; they’ve exemplified how agility and customer engagement can redefine a brand.
Having explored the foundational strategies for a successful turnaround, can you share how you, as a CEO, align with different leaders while shaping a vision for a successful turnaround? What are the unique nuances, especially when dealing with a heritage product — one that’s, say, 100 years old?
It starts with setting the strategy and openly sharing the company's value proposition and unique offerings. When stakeholders are informed, they usually reach a shared conclusion. In a turnaround, it's vital to involve different stakeholders, both with long and short histories in the business.
The board plays a crucial role, asking critical questions: how much time do we have for these changes? What needs to be done? What's the financial investment? Having these conversations early, aligning on vision and experiences, lays a solid foundation for driving the turnaround or growth plan. Challenges emerge if this alignment doesn't happen up front.
In your previous role, you optimized operations to impact revenue through eight-figure savings. Can you talk about how you aligned and drove this organizational change?
This is an exciting question because, in my 20 years as a leader, one of my key drivers of success has been developing long-term strategies that sustain growth and savings over time.
“One of the biggest honors of my career still is looking at strategies that I've implemented 5 or 10 years ago and see that they're still driving growth or savings within those organizations.”
Shelley Huff
Fortune 10 Executive Leader, Founder and CEO, Huff Advisory, LLC
And I think if you can implement strategies that stand the test of time, that's what we're all after, right?
Changes like cutting marketing spend or layoffs might boost short-term profit but don't ensure lasting success. Significant savings come from investing in better processes. For instance, I've implemented in-house digital marketing capabilities, enhanced product development, and improved supply chain integration.
This requires three things: stakeholder alignment to ensure everyone understands the vision, measurable progress, including setting milestones and accountability metrics, and a change management mindset.
Change is challenging but can be transformative. Remember, alignment and support from leadership are essential — without it, even great initiatives can fail to launch.
To expand on this, how do you make organizational change digestible and find allies to create momentum or pivot?
When considering how to make change manageable, I reflect on my early leadership roles at Walmart. Driving change requires effective storytelling and advocacy. It's crucial to relate everything back to the customer and align with the organization's larger strategy.
I ask myself:
Initiatives need socialization, especially in large companies. I’d start with my boss for guidance, involve my peer group for a cohesive vision, and seek mentors across disciplines to gain broader insights. Change takes time. And requires stakeholder engagement built over time.
Building a reputation for delivering consistent results makes gaining support for new initiatives easier. Having spent 14 years at a company, I appreciate the mix of stability that comes from credibility and fresh perspectives from changing roles. However, in each new organization, rebuilding credibility is an ongoing effort.
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What were the key transitions you experienced moving from retail at Walmart to manufacturing at SSB, and how did your leadership style evolve?
Spending 14 years in merchandising at Walmart gave me invaluable experience touring factories and managing end-to-end retail supply chains. This also made my transition to manufacturing at SSB a natural step.
My leadership style is defined by a love for building and an insatiable interest in learning. In manufacturing, I deepened my understanding of creating good work environments — consistent hours, comfortable conditions, and reliable scheduling — which reduces costly turnover.
Retail and manufacturing share many commonalities — to excel as a retailer, understanding manufacturing and supply chains at scale is essential.
I coach young e-commerce merchants on scaling their operations to understand manufacturing and retail.
“Success hinges on three obsessions: customer focus, operational excellence, and people management, which are essential in leadership and retail growth.”
Shelley Huff
Fortune 10 Executive Leader, Founder and CEO, Huff Advisory, LLC
Today, many brands are going direct-to-consumer, effectively becoming retailers themselves. Throughout my transition, I’ve built on my learnings, applying different aspects of my leadership style as necessary, rather than unlearning past lessons.
Any consumer behavior observations from 2024’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday that will trickle into 2025 retail trends?
There were three notable trends that are likely here to stay.
First, the “buy now, pay later” options increased by 10%, driven by credit card debt concerns and Gen Z's preference for these tools.
Second, unified commerce and omnichannel integration saw online retailing rise by over 8%, indicating a shift towards seamless shopping experiences that blend online and in-store tools.
Third, value-oriented purchases remain strong, with major retailers like Walmart and Costco seeing significant gains, illustrating consumers' continued search for value.
Additionally, social and video commerce is an area I’m excited about, as platforms like TikTok and Instagram Live are transforming how consumers engage with and learn about products — I'd call this the breakthrough year for shoppable video.
Do you see any challenges or potential solutions around the social commerce trend, specifically about measuring conversions?
One challenge in social commerce is determining the effectiveness of marketing investments, as traditional attribution models like last-click are outdated. Instead, leveraging a comprehensive marketing model offers better insights, albeit requiring more time. It's essential to focus on engagement metrics as well as direct revenue attribution.
As a CEO, I'd consider global shopping trends and engagement levels to assess marketing strategies. Over time, evaluate whether revenue, brand affinity, and sentiment are growing.
“A mix of metrics beyond last-click attribution is crucial to truly understand the impact of your marketing efforts in social commerce.”
Shelley Huff
Fortune 10 Executive Leader, Founder and CEO, Huff Advisory, LLC
What do you think omnichannel strategies will look like in the next 3 years?
It's exciting to see that tech startups are starting to focus on unified commerce. A key trend is the integration of unified data platforms. Expect the Walmarts, Amazons, and Targets of the world to effectively stitch together consumer data across different retail platforms to significantly enhance customer experience.
“It's becoming even more evident when retailers have not stitched their customer data together.”
Shelley Huff
Fortune 10 Executive Leader, Founder and CEO, Huff Advisory, LLC
And I'll give you one example: I made a purchase from a home improvement retailer this holiday. It never arrived at my house, and I had to get a return for that item. However, the customer service associate was not empowered to give me my money back because the item was delivered from a store. So I actually had to drive to the store and have the customer service associate at the store look up my order and call a manager over to process my return.
Additionally, the rise of shoppable video, alongside AR and VR, will further embed into daily shopping experiences.
Finally, community building is becoming vital. Brands like Glossier, Lululemon, Tecovas, and Yeti are successfully leveraging and will continue to leverage community voices and ambassador programs to drive engagement and success.
What other tech do you see as essential for omnichannel strategies and retailers?
For omnichannel strategies, clean and accessible data is crucial. AI relies heavily on well-structured data; AI is not a catch-all solution without it. Understanding your marketing stack and building a solid measurement model around it is vital. Also, consider how technology facilitates product sales and consumer purchasing ease.
Many brands, originally on platforms like Shopify, must now plan migrations to utilize its new features. Some custom tech stacks lack agility, making updates and navigation challenging. Therefore, retailers need clean data management, robust marketing evaluation, and technology that simplifies the purchasing process for consumers.
For retail brands wanting to explore social commerce, what are some effective ways to monitor P&L and scale fast?
For retail brands venturing into social commerce, creating impactful viral content is king. Focus on quality over quantity, like Zara's agile marketing process that identifies what resonates with consumers, leading to more viral content even if it’s fewer in number.
Agile testing is important, as is partnering with micro-influencers, which has helped brands like GymShark, Lululemon, and Revolve build engagement.
Lastly, scalable fulfillment is crucial — consider how quickly and efficiently you can deliver products.
We’re also seeing advancements in supply chain technology and delivery across the world, with brands like Quince, Temu, and Shein tying in exceptional supply chains with social commerce capability.
Business leaders often experience a chicken and egg situation while choosing between business innovation and prioritizing technology advancements. What strategies do you recommend for leaders stuck in such situations?
Addressing the balance between business innovation and technology requires a tailored approach, as each company is unique.
First, assess how innovation or technology enhances the customer experience, adds value, streamlines processes, or reduces costs. Define the core problem you aim to solve and identify whether a new process or tech solution is the answer. Remember, merely implementing technology without operational change seldom yields results.
For example, at Serta Simmons Bedding, using Blue Yonder AI for demand planning was effective only because we adapted our processes and cross-functional collaborations. Implementing tech without these adjustments would have failed.
Begin with pilot projects, refine the approach, and then scale up. Organizations like Walmart exemplify this by balancing short-term solutions with large-scale innovations such as automated fulfillment centers.
What are some marketing talent trends that will disrupt the industry or the way business leaders function?
Emerging marketing talent trends focus on several key areas.
Firstly, a deep curiosity and fluency in AI and automation are crucial. Understanding AI and engagement metrics in relation to brand interaction is becoming essential. Familiarity with MarTech stacks and market trends is vital for strategic advantage.
Secondly, the demand for content creators, especially those skilled in short-form video, is rising. This content type dominates platforms, and talent with proven success in this area can significantly enhance your organization.
Thirdly, proficiency in data analytics and visualization is fundamental. So is purpose-driven storytelling. Brands like E.L.F. excel in this space, showing how effective storytelling can deeply connect consumers to your brand. This is an ideal time for brands to engage consumers through compelling narratives.
Lastly, what marketing leadership traits will come to the fore in the future?
I love this question because the leadership traits relevant to any role, whether CMO, COO, or CEO, are crucial for the future.
Firstly, visionary thinking is essential; this means curiosity about trends and consumer engagement to identify what truly matters.
Second is the ability to collaborate and build cross-functional teams, which requires financial insight to discuss business impacts across different areas. Collaboration enhances outcomes by integrating diverse skills and perspectives.
Thirdly, tech savviness is crucial for leveraging emerging tools and also teaching others how to use them. This is especially true for tools that offer cost-saving advantages.
Fourth is agility. Adapting to market changes quickly is vital, especially given the recent market volatility.
Lastly, empathy is key. Enabling authentic connections with both teams and customers is a critical trait for future leadership.
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Edited by Supanna Das
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