WASHINGTON – Cristina Ceresoli, former vice president of marketing and public relations at Express, will be joining the National Retail Federation as senior vice president for retail strategy. At Express — a leading specialty retailer for men and women — Ceresoli managed the content marketing practice including consumer experience, data-driven insights and communication evolution.
“At a time of great challenge and opportunity in the retail industry, Cristina’s background, knowledge and expertise in retail — particularly in consumer behavior patterns that drive brand advocacy in an omnichannel world — will be invaluable to our organization and to our members,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said. “We are extremely excited to have Cristina joining the NRF team.”
As the SVP for retail strategy, Ceresoli will have a broad platform to speak on behalf of the industry and will help guide NRF’s product offering and event content strategy. With her deep experience in the industry she will serve as an internal advisor on retail industry operations and strategies as a member of the management team. She will also provide the tools and resources to support the industry’s digital expansion.
“I am truly looking forward to working on behalf of an industry that is dynamic and innovative and leads the experience revolution for the benefit of their employees, customers and the communities they serve,” Ceresoli said.
Ceresoli also served as vice president of e-commerce merchandising at Express, where she grew the business from single-digit penetration to its current 21 percent of sales. She also launched a new and exclusive apparel businesses for Express while leading early exploration of content and commerce optimization.
Prior to Express, Ceresoli held merchandising leadership positions at Abercrombie & Fitch, Victoria’s Secret and Aeropostale. She began her career as an early employee of E-Lab, a pioneer in turning firsthand customer insights into innovative products and experiences. She progressed that work at Sapient, a leader in digital business transformation, where she helped drive the internet experience practice, using evolving human behavior to inform innovative business and technology solutions.
Ceresoli earned her MBA at Columbia Business School, and served for many years as an adjunct professor at Parsons, The New School in the Strategic Design and Management Program.
Berglass and Associates assisted in the executive search.
About NRF
The National Retail Federation is the world’s largest retail trade association. Based in Washington, D.C., NRF represents discount and department stores, home goods and specialty stores, Main Street merchants, grocers, wholesalers, chain restaurants and internet retailers from the United States and more than 45 countries. Retail is the nation’s largest private-sector employer, supporting one in four U.S. jobs — 42 million working Americans. Contributing $2.6 trillion to annual GDP, retail is a daily barometer for the nation’s economy. NRF.com