Home Retail Group appoints chief technology officer

Home Retail Group has appointed a chief technology officer to oversee the firm’s technology teams across its brands. The parent company of Argos and Homebase has given the position to George Goley, who was previously the CIO for Sears Holdings.

Following his appointment, Goley described the UK as "one of the most dynamic retail environments in the world".

“I am excited to be joining the teams that are transforming Argos and Homebase with technologies that will delight customers, colleagues and shareholders alike,” he said.

At Sears, Goley was responsible for leading several engineering teams, working on developing the firm’s digital infrastructure from legacy architecture to improve customer-facing services.

He also has experience in online-only business having previously worked for Amazon.com as president of technology. This involved working on the firm's data warehouse and product catalogue systems as a team lead.

Home Retail Group chief executive John Walden praised Goley following his appointment.

“George is an impressive technology executive with a track record for building strong engineering teams and developing world-class, innovative, highly scalable software systems for digital businesses,” he said.

“He will be a key partner for both myself and our teams as we transform Argos and Homebase to be leaders in the modern, technology-led digital world.”

Home Retail Group recently announced a 15% growth in its yearly operating profit following the success of several digital initiatives throughout its brands.

After the success of Argos’s “digital hub” – as well as its digital concept store, which opened in Old Street in 2014 – Homebase launched its “three-year transformation plan” aimed at digitising its online, in-store and mobile channels.

To further its digital reach, Argos also recently launched the first of its digital-only stores located in larger Sainsbury’s outlets. The stores, which are designed to cater for consumers' growing need for product transparency and convenience, allow customers to pre-order items for pick-up on the same day.

Source : Computer Weekly
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