What: Jeff Gennette on the future of stores, the point of omnichannel and what is takes to be a great leader.

Why it is important: For him, stores will never be irrelevant, however retailers need to find the method to bring the brick & mortar business to a “healthy” level.

Macy’s CEO Jeff Gennette has given a lengthy interview to Time.com in which he details his views on the future of work in department stores, the shift in consumption and the role stores will play in the future.

For him, omnichannel is of course here to stay, however stores remain a significant part of the picture: online will allow to deliver a tailor-made experience, while stores will be providing services impossible to have online (size fitting), or experiences (which explains for instance the implementation of 400 Toys “R” Us). E-commerce (35% of Macy’s business, or USD 8,6 bn in 2021) is going to continue growing, but never to the point of making stores irrelevant: he expects the share of e-commerce to top 40% by 2027.

When it comes to leadership, he advocates leaders to bring their “authentic self”, which in turn will allow their teams to do so and achieve a higher performance.

Macy’s CEO’s interview on authenticity and the future of stores