Dive Brief:
- Bookseller Barnes & Noble named Carlo Pochintesta CIO, according to a company announcement Monday. Pochintesta will report to CFO Allen Lindstrom.
- Former CIO William Wood became chief digital officer in July. During his time as CIO, he reported to then-CEO Ronald Boire.
- Pochintesta was formerly CIO of retailers Rag & Bone Holdings and Steve Madden, and held other information technology titles at Gucci Group and Ann Taylor, according to LinkedIn.
Dive Insight:
When Jeff Bezos started selling books on Amazon more than two decades ago, brick and mortar booksellers didn't have too much to worry about. Now, the digitally-native retailer has become the first place for shoppers to order books at a discounted price … or visit an Amazon Books store, in an ironic turn of events.
But Barnes & Noble has experienced a tumultuous last few years that included the departure of two CEOs. Demos Parneros was ousted in July for allegedly violating company policy. Parneros is suing the company, claiming his termination came after a failed acquisition with an unnamed bookseller. The retailer has yet to name a new CEO.
"Barnes & Noble has been experiencing declining sales trends primarily due to lower store traffic," according to the company's latest SEC filing. Along with other initiatives to offset further decline, the company is looking to leverage customer data and analytics accumulated through its membership program.
The shuffle of Barnes & Noble's technology leaders occurred when then CDO Fred Argir announced his retirement and Wood was promoted to the CDO role internally. While working as CIO and CDO, the two men were expected to oversee Barnes & Noble's e-commerce and Nook business, which had a $6.6 million decline in sales in Q3 2019.
