Aldo head of omnichannel Gregoire Baret: More than 70% of in-store shoppers browse the website first

When Gregoire Baret joined Aldo Group in 2015, “omnichannel” wasn’t the industry-wide buzzword it is today. But even now, there’s some mystery around his unique, trendy-sounding position of senior director of omnichannel experience design. “Omnichannel experience design is about the consumer journey,” said Baret. “It’s about improving the shopping experience through communication, services, tools -- anything that’s going to help someone discover the right and relevant products.” In addition to the in-store and e-commerce experiences, the focus of his role -- which was new when he joined the company -- encompasses customer touchpoints from pre-purchase to post-purchase, including customer service. “I was brought in to be a kind of neutral agent that would connect people across [Aldo] departments, but also to be a voice for the consumer,” said Baret.