Starr Damro
Senior Manager
Milwaukee,WI
Summary
Dedicated senior manager with an extensive 20-year track record in the retail industry. A passionate leader known for effectively managing, motivating, and nurturing teams to achieve exceptional results. Proven expertise in driving customer conversion through business insights and data-driven analytics, ensuring informed decision-making.
Overview
18
18
years of professional experience
4
4
years of post-secondary education
Work History
Senior Manager, Digital Item Optimization
Kohls Corp
Menomonee Falls , WI
2022.11 - Current
- Strategic Leadership and Digital Sales Oversight: Oversee strategic and operational direction for the Digital Item Optimization team, driving success in a high-impact role overseeing annual digital sales of $1B+. Lead end-to-end initiatives, process implementation, and team execution for the development and maintenance of 450,000+ product detail pages across Kohls.com. Owns the development of strategic initiatives impacting all business categories to optimize product pages on Kohls.com and drive key Digital KPI's.
- Team Leadership and Process Implementation: Lead and develop a team of 20, two Managers and 18 team members, fostering a collaborative environment rooted in a shared vision, teamwork, and exceptional performance. Assume accountability for shaping and executing the Item Optimization strategy across all product categories, ensuring the delivery of a best in class product detail page presentations.
- Creation of Productivity-Focused Team:Lead the creation of a new team with the central objective of enhancing efficiency and productivity. Defined and created a robust set of guiding values and principles that serve as the foundation for team operations. Executed a multifaceted strategy encompassing role clarification, transition to a centralized process and workflow tool, standardization of team training, and harnessing technology through automation and system enhancements to achieve optimal results.
- Customer-Centric Sales Elevation:Strategically enhance digital sales, customer engagement, and loyalty by curating enriched Product Details Pages (PDPs). Leverage customer metrics, search data, UX studies, and user-generated content to tailor decisions according to customer preferences. Guided by the pillars of Ease, Inspiration, Education, and Connection, amplify product page Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) through optimized search functionality, intuitive layout design, captivating social storytelling, trust-building measures, and the delivery of precise product information.
- Strategic Partnership for Sales Growth: Cultivate collaborative relationships with cross-functional teams, including Merchant Organization, Marketing, and Digital Merchandising, to facilitate proactive identification of key corporate strategies and products. Achieved a significant 30% reduction in production delays through enhanced communication and collaboration efforts.
- Operational Excellence and Cost-Efficiency:Successfully drove team alignment and execution of the 'Operational Excellence' initiative, orchestrating a 30% reduction in headcount through natural attrition, while concurrently elevating individual productivity by 10%. This accomplishment translated to notable cost savings and enhanced operational efficiency.
Senior Manager, Digital Item Production
Kohls Corp
Menomonee Falls , WI
2020.05 - 2022.11
- Guided a 14-member team during the COVID era, pioneering remote collaboration and nurturing cohesion in a virtual setup. Cultivated cross-functional partnerships for process efficiencies and shared achievements. Achieved deadlines with a workload increase of over 20%, demonstrating adaptability.
- Managed the company's top revenue-generating business, achieving annual digital sales surpassing $1 billion. Directed end-to-end operations, strategic initiatives, and seamless process implementations for 45,000+ product detail pages.
- Led associates with effective leadership, fostering teamwork and recognizing excellence. Under my management, 50% of the team experienced promotions or new roles at Kohl's.
- Defined and established digital product presentation standards, enhancing new product guidelines. Successfully optimized Product Detail Pages (PDPs) and vital Digital KPIs through innovative approaches, including centralizing workload, new SEO strategies, educational content, and workflow efficiencies.
- Sustained cross-functional partnerships to achieve year-over-year double-digit sales growth in diverse digital categories, including Men's, Women's, Juniors, Jewelry, Accessories, and Footwear.
Manager, Digital Merchandising - Women’s Apparel
Kohls Corp
Menomonee Falls , WI
2015.03 - 2017.12
- Led a team of 4 direct reports, driving customer engagement, sales, and conversion for a third of Kohls.com. Utilized innovative strategies such as cross-selling, up-selling, site search enhancements, and targeted content. Contributed to a $4B website's performance.
- Worked closely with merchant and marketing teams to craft seasonal strategies, promotional events, brand launches, and assortment sales opportunities. Collaborated to develop the 2017 holiday jewelry seasonal strategy, achieving a 30% sales increase YoY ($36.2M).
- Create and develop merchandising strategies to drive sales through kohs.com through analytics and competitive research. Identify product opportunities utilizing customer behavior reporting.
- Ideate and execute site experiences such as departmental marketing and promotions, seasonal shops, gifting experiences, outfitting solutions and branded pages.
- Manage vendor marketing and monetization to implement onsite strategies to produce incremental sales for Kohls.com
Digital Merchandising Coordinator
Kohls Corp
Menomonee Falls , WI
2012.12 - 2015.03
- Offered strategic guidance for navigation, internal search optimization, department pages, and brand/category experiences across all device channels, enhancing user engagement and experience.
- Collaborated extensively across functions to define and implement top-tier digital merchandising practices. Resulted in heightened site sales potential, improved site conversion rates, and elevated customer satisfaction.
- Analyzed performance and merchandising tactics for key product categories on kohls.com, leveraging data to enhance strategies and drive more effective outcomes.
Digital Assistant Buyer
Kohls Corp
Menomonee Falls , WI
2008.12 - 2012.12
- Developed product assortment and merchandising strategies to drive company profitability by maximizing sales, margin and inventory turn. Analyzed business trends and assisted with seasonal presentation to upper management.
- Maintained communication and managed relationships with various partners in e-commerce, the vendor community, and the brick and mortar teams. Ensured strategic initiatives aligned with global strategies and were successfully executed.
Communication Specialist
Target
Minneapolis , MN
2007.08 - 2008.12
- Developed communication between headquarters and stores for all Softlines strategies including transitions, marketing, merchandising, advertising and product launches.
- Acted as a communication consultant by recommending and utilizing appropriate vehicles to deliver clear, easy-to-execute communication to stores and field leadership teams.
Senior Business Analyst
Target
Minneapolis , MN
2005.06 - 2007.08
- Collaborated closely with buyers to curate compelling product assortments across all store locations, ensuring distinctive brand positioning and customer appeal.
- Tracked and analyzed business trends to formulate targeted strategies for optimizing inventory allocation across stores. These efforts significantly boosted sales and margin performance in high-volume stores.
Education
BBA - Finance And Marketing
University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee
Milwaukee, WI 1999.09 - 2003.12
Skills
Strategic Leadership
Timeline
Senior Manager, Digital Item Optimization
Kohls Corp
2022.11 - Current
Senior Manager, Digital Item Production
Kohls Corp
2020.05 - 2022.11
Manager, Digital Merchandising - Women’s Apparel
Kohls Corp
2015.03 - 2017.12
Digital Merchandising Coordinator
Kohls Corp
2012.12 - 2015.03
Digital Assistant Buyer
Kohls Corp
2008.12 - 2012.12
Communication Specialist
Target
2007.08 - 2008.12
Senior Business Analyst
Target
2005.06 - 2007.08
BBA - Finance And Marketing
University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee
1999.09 - 2003.12
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