Ford announced it will reduce its headcount in Europe by 4,000 jobs in response to waning EV demand and in an effort to increase its long-term competitiveness.
Ford has been struggling with its transition to electric vehicles, with demand waning in both the US and Europe. As a result, the company’s EV division has been losing billions. In response, the company says it will eliminate 4,000 jobs in Europe by the end of 2027.
The company is planning to further reduce its European workforce by 4,000 positions by the end of 2027, pending consultations with its European social partners. The planned job cuts will primarily impact operations in Germany but also the UK, with minimal reductions in other European markets.
In addition, due to the weak economic situation and lower-than-expected demand for electric cars, we are further adjusting the production program for the new Explorer and Capri. This will result in additional short-time working days at our Cologne plant in the first quarter of 2025.
“Ford has been in Europe for more than 100 years. We are proud of our new product portfolio for Europe and committed to building a thriving business in Europe for generations to come,” said Dave Johnston, Ford’s European vice president for Transformation and Partnerships. “It is critical to take difficult but decisive action to ensure Ford’s future competitiveness in Europe.”
Ford also called out the difficult regulatory environment in the Europe, with a sizable disconnect between what regulations require automakers to do, versus what consumers want—specifically their lack of enthusiasm for EVs.
Ford recently issued an urgent call to action for industry, policymakers, trade unions, and social partners in Europe to work together for a successful industry transformation. In a letter to the German government, John Lawler, vice chairman and chief financial officer of Ford Motor Company, reiterated Ford’s commitment to Europe and to the 2035 emission targets but stressed the need for a joint commitment by all stakeholders to improving market conditions and ensuring the industry’s future success.
“What we lack in Europe and Germany is an unmistakable, clear policy agenda to advance e-mobility, such as public investments in charging infrastructure, meaningful incentives to help consumers make the shift to electrified vehicles, improving cost competitiveness for manufacturers, and greater flexibility in meeting CO2 compliance targets,” Lawler said.
Ford’s decision illustrate the growing issue automakers are facing with their EV transitions. The company has already paused F-150 Lightning production as a result of low demand. Similarly, Volkswagen has scaled back its battery cell factory plans because of low demand.
Microsoft is continuing its work to ensure a CrowdStrike-like incident never occurs again, debuting the “Quick Machine Recovery” tool.
Security firm CrowdStrike pushed a faulty update to customers in July 2024, causing issues for millions of Windows computers and bringing the internet to its knees. The update was able to case the damage it did because CrowdStrike’s software runs at the kernel level, the lowest-level core of the operating system. As a result, when the faulty update was pushed out, many machines could not be fixed without physical access—not an issue for desktops and workstations, but a major issue for remote servers.
In the wake of the incident, Microsoft has been working to address underlying issues and ensure a similar incident never occurs again. A key element of these efforts is its Quick Machine Recovery tool, outlined in a blog post by David Weston, Vice President Enterprise and OS Security at Microsoft.
Empowering IT administrators with great tools during critical times is a top priority. Our first step is born out of the learnings from the July incident with the announcement of Quick Machine Recovery. This feature will enable IT administrators to execute targeted fixes from Windows Update on PCs, even when machines are unable to boot, without needing physical access to the PC. This remote recovery will unblock your employees from broad issues much faster than what has been possible in the past. Quick Machine Recovery will be available to the Windows Insider Program community in early 2025.
Microsoft Touts Windows 11 Security
Microsoft touts Windows 11 security, saying it provides better security than Windows 10, thanks to a number of features, “TPM 2.0 and virtualization-based security by default.”
Security is a pursuit, and not a destination. Today, I am announcing new features to help commercial customers with three longstanding challenges with Windows security — overprivileged users and applications; unverified apps and drivers; and insecure credentials and authentications. These capabilities have been top requests from customers around the world, including our internal Microsoft security team who we are working with to ensure real-world testing in preparation for scaling to our largest customers.
Weston goes on to outline a number of features that help to bolster Windows 11 security, including reduced administrator privileges.
Administrator protection, currently in preview, is a new solution where users have the security of standard user permissions by default, but can still easily make system changes, including app installation, on their PCs when needed. With administrator protection, if a system change requires administrator rights, like some app installations, the user is prompted to securely authorize the change using Windows Hello. Windows creates a temporary isolated admin token to get the job done. This temporary token is immediately destroyed once the task is complete, ensuring that admin privileges do not persist. Administrator protection helps ensure that users, and not malware, remain in control of system resources. It will also be disruptive to attackers as they no longer have automatic, direct access to the kernel or other critical system security without specific Windows Hello authorization.
Similarly, Windows 11 does more to protect credentials than previous versions of the OS.
Windows Hello is the built-in MFA solution on Windows. It has been further hardened and extended to support passkeys. You no longer need to choose between a simple sign-in and a safe sign-in. Windows Hello is also being used to protect Recall and Personal Data Encryption.
In addition, Windows 11 will provide improved trusted apps and drivers, improved data protection, and better OS management and configuration.
Nearly 40 years after its launch, Windows continues to evolve to meet the challenges of the ever-changing digital landscape and delivering on expectations for reliability and security. Security is a team effort; by collaborating with OEM partners, app developers and others we deliver Windows from chip to cloud, secure by design and default.
Microsoft is clearly working to deliver on its promise to make security its foremost concern. The latest improvements to Windows 11 appear to be well-designed features that should go a long way toward protecting Windows users.
In an ever-competitive retail environment, ecommerce growth is often a double-edged sword. During the pandemic, brands rode a wave of unprecedented expansion, buoyed by a captive audience stuck at home and spending online. But post-pandemic, the scene has changed, leaving many ecommerce brands grappling with growth stagnation. As discussed by Ashleigh Shapiro, Senior Director of Growth at Code3, revitalizing growth in such a scenario requires a nuanced, data-driven strategy.
Shapiro shared insights from a compelling case study at the Amazon Ads Unboxed 2024 event in Austin, Texas, revealing how balancing demand generation with demand capture, leveraging Amazon’s Demand Side Platform (DSP), and breaking down internal silos can be the keys to sustainable success.
Listen to our conversation on how brands can drive e-commerce growth!
The Stalled Growth Story
The story of stalled growth is a familiar one to many brands. From 2018 through 2020, businesses experienced a significant surge in ecommerce activities, fueled by increased consumer adoption of platforms like Amazon. As Ashleigh Shapiro put it, “We saw the most adoption of ecommerce across the board, from consumers to marketers, during the pandemic.” The growth seemed almost unstoppable, with brand managers setting ever higher goals for revenue and market share.
However, by 2022, as life began to normalize, consumer behaviors evolved, and spending patterns began to change. “We noticed a consistent trend month-over-month throughout 2022 where growth started to decline, and demand tapered off,” Shapiro recalled. The challenge was real: how do you maintain growth when the tailwinds of lockdowns and increased online spending begin to fade? Shapiro and her team at Code3 took this challenge head-on, adopting a disciplined approach that hinged on what she calls “controlling the controllables.”
Controlling the Controllables
Shapiro’s approach began with a simple yet crucial idea: brands must focus on controlling what they can control—especially in a world still reeling from economic shifts and uncertainty. The macroeconomic factors were certainly impactful—inflation, election year, and shifts in consumer priorities—but as Shapiro noted, “There’s also a substantial number of things that are within our control.” These controllables included optimizing media mix, adapting to changing consumer demand, and deploying the right creative messaging.
One of the most important tools used by Shapiro’s team to recalibrate was the Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC). Shapiro mentioned that it was “widely renowned as a huge unlock for brand scale.” AMC, along with audience overlap reports, helped reveal that the decline in growth wasn’t due to a lack of market interest. Instead, it pointed to an over-reliance on demand capture at the expense of demand generation—a crucial distinction that guided the subsequent steps taken by the brand.
Balancing Demand Generation with Demand Capture
The core insight that emerged from Shapiro’s analysis was that the brand had become overly dependent on capturing existing demand, particularly during high-intensity periods like Amazon Prime Day or Black Friday. “When you lean heavily on demand capture, you miss out on expanding the total pool of potential customers,” Shapiro explained. The key was to shift focus back to demand generation—identifying new customers and engaging them earlier in their buying journey.
Using tools like forecasting, brand search reporting, and audience overlap analysis, the team mapped out gaps where the brand was missing potential customers. “We realized there was a substantial number of consumers actively seeking out our product category that we were simply not reaching,” said Shapiro. To bridge this gap, they deployed Amazon’s DSP, which provided end-to-end measurement capabilities and enabled a shift to a more holistic media mix. This included running streaming TV and online video campaigns directly through Amazon’s DSP, allowing the team to reach consumers across the funnel with better measurement and attribution.
Breaking Down Internal Silos
Another major hurdle in revamping the growth trajectory was the fragmentation between different teams. Shapiro highlighted how many brands have separate Amazon, branding, and digital teams, each managing different budgets and running campaigns in silos. “Consumers perceive your brand as one entity. They don’t differentiate between your Amazon efforts and your direct-to-consumer efforts,” she pointed out. To address this, Code3 worked on integrating efforts across different channels, ensuring that branding and demand-generation efforts were consistent throughout.
By bringing together disparate teams and creating a unified approach, the brand could finally leverage Amazon not just as a platform for demand capture but also as a brand-building tool. “Amazon can be so much more. When you unlock it through the DSP, you’re not just capturing demand—you’re creating it,” said Shapiro. The transition involved tough conversations and required proving the effectiveness of a more balanced budget to decision-makers, but the impact was clear.
Measuring Success: The Importance of a Full Funnel Approach
The results of these efforts spoke for themselves. The brand achieved double-digit growth in 2022, and this momentum continued into 2023. The success hinged on effectively measuring key performance indicators that mattered most: incremental reach and branded search rate. “Your ability to drive success is only as good as your ability to measure it,” Shapiro emphasized.
Branded search rate—the volume of branded searches as a proportion of total impressions—became a key metric in tracking brand health. Despite increasing top-of-funnel activities that typically result in a diluted branded search rate, the brand’s search rate increased by 108%. “This was a huge nod to us hitting the right audience with our awareness efforts,” said Shapiro.
The integration of multiple ad types also played a critical role in enhancing conversion rates. Shapiro illustrated how consumers exposed to a mix of sponsored ads, DSP ads, and streaming TV campaigns exhibited conversion rates significantly higher than those exposed to just one ad type. “When a consumer sees all three ad types, their conversion rate increases to 2.5%, compared to just 0.35% with sponsored ads alone,” she explained, underscoring the value of a multi-channel, multi-touchpoint strategy.
Thought Starters for Brands Facing Stalled Growth
For brands currently struggling with stagnation, Shapiro shared three thought starters:
Evaluate Your Budget Mix: Are you investing enough in demand generation, or are you overly focused on demand capture metrics like ROAS? A balanced approach can unlock long-term growth.
Fully Leverage Tools and Insights: Tools like AMC and audience overlap reports can provide deep insights into where opportunities lie and help refine targeting.
Create a Full-Funnel Strategy: While performance metrics like ROAS are important, so is ensuring that you are reaching potential consumers at all stages of the funnel. “The comfort of a strong ROAS can often hinder the need for a broader, top-of-funnel strategy,” noted Shapiro.
Embrace Change and Stay Ahead
The ecommerce world continues to evolve, with macroeconomic shifts, changing consumer behaviors, and a rapidly developing technology environment. Brands that successfully navigate these waters will be those that adapt to changes, leverage the tools available to understand their customers, and maintain a balanced approach to both capturing and generating demand.
“There’s no one-size-fits-all answer,” said Shapiro, “but by controlling the controllables, integrating internal teams, and thinking full-funnel, brands can not only overcome stagnation but set themselves on a path for scalable, sustainable growth.”
Mass customization in ecommerce is a concept that’s increasingly gaining traction, especially as retailers navigate the complexities of modern consumer demands for personalization alongside efficient scalability. At Shoptoberfest 2024, Grant Morrow, Director of Ecommerce at Orgill, shared a candid look into the challenges and successes of implementing mass customization in the context of Orgill’s journey—and why it’s far from just another buzzword.
Here’s the story of how a 177-year-old hardware company became an e-commerce superstar.
Catch our conversation on how mass customization in e-commerce can drive sales!
The Elusive Promise of Mass Customization
“When I talk to ecommerce platforms, they all say they can do mass customization,” said Morrow. “I don’t actually think anybody can do it very well. It’s very hard.” Despite its overuse as a buzzword, mass customization represents a critical strategy for ecommerce platforms to cater to diverse customer needs without compromising operational efficiency. The journey that Orgill, a $4 billion hardware distributor with a 177-year history, has undertaken to make mass customization a reality offers a window into how this concept can lead to substantial business growth if executed thoughtfully.
Orgill’s business model—supplying over 6,000 independent hardware stores, farm stores, and lumberyards across North America—is predicated on supporting small retailers who often compete against big-box giants like Home Depot and Lowe’s. Unlike these retail behemoths, Orgill’s customers are independent operators who rely on personalized support to meet the unique demands of their local markets. Morrow’s role as Director of Ecommerce is to help these small businesses succeed online, a task that involves bridging the gap between the latest technology and the specific, often niche needs of each independent retailer.
A Homegrown Start: Lessons in Complexity
When Morrow joined Orgill about a decade ago, the company had an in-house ecommerce platform that was, in his words, “full of holes and looked awful.” The initial reaction to shut down the platform and replace it with a mass-market solution seemed like the obvious fix. Orgill switched to Volusion, a templated platform that promised mass customization capabilities, and initially seemed to be a fit for Orgill’s needs. However, it soon became clear that simply providing templated websites wasn’t enough to meet the diverse requirements of Orgill’s clients.
“We found out pretty fast that it wasn’t that easy,” Morrow admitted. Retailers began requesting more integrations—connections to their point-of-sale systems, enhanced product data, and other custom needs that a standardized solution simply couldn’t provide. “We had hundreds of sites launched, but every one of them needed something different,” said Morrow. The rigid, one-size-fits-all approach wasn’t flexible enough for the small independent retailers Orgill served.
The Importance of Listening to Customers
Faced with mounting challenges, Orgill went back to basics. Morrow emphasized the value of listening to customers to understand their actual needs rather than simply imposing solutions. “The first lesson I’ll leave you with today is: don’t assume you know what’s best. Go and talk to your customers,” Morrow urged. In Orgill’s case, customer feedback revealed two main pain points: the need for better product data and challenges with integrating point-of-sale systems.
Product data was particularly crucial. “These guys have people sitting there, keying their lives away in spreadsheets,” Morrow explained. Orgill’s solution was to build an extensive product information management (PIM) system, which they affectionately called the “industry pin.” By subsidizing this heavily for their dealers, Orgill ensured that even small, independent stores could compete with much larger retailers by having a rich, searchable database of the products they sold—including items not purchased directly from Orgill.
Customization Through Collaboration: The Rise of Composable Commerce
The next step was finding an ecommerce platform capable of accommodating mass customization in a practical, scalable way. Orgill ultimately partnered with Unilog, a B2B platform that was tailored to handle the specialized needs of independent retailers. However, Morrow noted that heavily customized enterprise projects like this can become a “rat’s nest of requirements” that evolve continuously and often involve costly upgrades.
“Only build what you must,” advised Morrow, sharing Orgill’s hard-learned lesson. The key to success lay not in building a proprietary ecommerce system from scratch but in using flexible solutions that allowed for integration and scalability without reinventing the wheel.
Most recently, Orgill adopted a composable commerce strategy, partnering with Elastic Path to create a modular system that allowed them to develop and deploy features more rapidly. Composable commerce, as a concept, allows for the independent deployment of services and features, which means faster updates and more adaptability—crucial for meeting the needs of 6,000 diverse retailers. “The number one problem in our industry is: how fast can you move?” Morrow noted. “Composable commerce lets us do that.”
Balancing Mass Customization with Scalability
For Morrow, one of the key insights in Orgill’s journey was the importance of balancing customization with scalability. “Even with mass customization, you have to find a balance,” he said. The concept of mass customization can often lead to the desire to accommodate every individual request, but this isn’t feasible from an operational standpoint. “You can’t do it all. It’s impossible. You have to find out what are the right features to put out to your customer.”
Morrow emphasized that the ultimate goal is scalability—mass customization must still be scalable to be effective. For Orgill, this has meant deploying modular solutions that can be adapted based on the needs of the retailer while maintaining a core set of functionalities that are consistent across the board.
The Future of Mass Customization in Ecommerce
As Orgill continues its ecommerce evolution, its journey illustrates both the challenges and opportunities inherent in mass customization. The key takeaway is that mass customization is not about delivering an endless array of individualized options but rather about building flexible systems that can cater to a range of needs while maintaining efficiency.
“Scalability is what we’re really after at the end of the day,” Morrow concluded. “Mass customization is about configuring everything so that you can deploy it at scale. A lot of people lose sight of that and think it’s just about making every single site unique, but without scalability, it’s not mass—it’s just customization.”
With composable commerce and a focus on modular solutions, Orgill is positioning itself as a leader in the mass customization space—demonstrating that even traditional industries can leverage cutting-edge ecommerce strategies to achieve substantial growth. As more companies look towards mass customization to meet consumer demands, Orgill’s journey serves as a compelling case study in both the pitfalls and the potential of this complex but promising approach.
Walmart is increasingly challenging Amazon’s dominance in eCommerce, leveraging its expansive physical presence and digital adaptability to attract consumers who seek flexibility and value. As the October retail sales data rolls in, analysts are seeing a trend that bodes well for Walmart’s strategy.
The Census Bureau’s report showed that retail sales rose 0.4% in October, surpassing the 0.3% expectation, with significant year-over-year growth in eCommerce sales. Walmart, it appears, is uniquely poised to capitalize on this growth.
Listen to our chat on Walmart’s strategy to beat Amazon at its own e-commerce game!
Jharonne Martis, Director of Consumer Research at LSEG, highlighted that the most striking aspect of the October data was the 7% year-over-year increase in eCommerce sales. While Amazon continues to benefit significantly from its Prime Deal Days, it is not the only retailer capitalizing on the surge in online spending. “Other retailers piggyback off that promotion and offer their own deals,” Martis explained. “It’s telling us that consumers are still gravitating toward those online deals.” She added that price sensitivity remains a major factor, with consumers only spending on discretionary items when they see substantial discounts.
According to Martis, Walmart is giving Amazon “a lot of competition” by allowing customers to shop on their own terms. “They’re giving the consumer the ability to shop the way they want to, whether it be ordering it on your mobile and picking it up at the store on your way home, or just having it delivered right there from the store to your house. Walmart is definitely giving Amazon a lot of competition,” she told Yahoo Finance.
Omnichannel Excellence
Walmart’s ability to cater to consumer preferences—whether in-store pickup, fast home delivery, or browsing via mobile—has created an ecosystem that not only rivals Amazon’s logistical efficiency but also offers something Amazon lacks: a hybrid shopping experience. This omnichannel approach has resonated with a wide range of consumers. During the pandemic, Walmart gained a large number of new shoppers who were seeking convenience, including many upper-middle-class and affluent consumers trading down. These gains have since solidified into a loyal customer base, contributing to Walmart’s competitive advantage.
“Walmart gained so many shoppers during the pandemic, and then on top of that, they gained even more shoppers over the past two years who were looking to trade down,” Martis noted. “That translates into loyalty, with consumers coming to Walmart as a one-stop shop. As a result, they are likely to do very well over the next two quarters.”
This strategic adaptability is visible in Walmart’s expansion of its grocery and apparel offerings, both in-store and online. By transforming physical stores into fulfillment centers, Walmart has been able to manage delivery times effectively, giving them an edge in an increasingly convenience-driven market. Analysts predict that this capability will prove especially advantageous during the busy holiday shopping season.
Holiday Season Outlook: Value Reigns Supreme
With the holiday season approaching, Martis stressed that Walmart’s value proposition will be critical. “The consumer is very value-oriented, which is why Walmart has become the one-stop shop,” she said. As inflation continues to affect purchasing power, shoppers are turning to retailers that offer competitive pricing and flexibility—two areas where Walmart excels.
The October retail sales data indicates strong consumer resilience, which analysts believe will continue into the holiday season. Yet, this resilience is contingent on the availability of good deals. Martis highlighted that many retailers, including Walmart, are being cautious with discounts. “Retailers are not giving consumers the discounts they want,” Martis said. “Unless you’re getting that magic 40% off, shoppers are holding back.” She added that while Amazon and Walmart have been stingy with discounts, Walmart’s broader inventory, including grocery and essential goods, allows it to maintain foot traffic and cart size even when promotions are conservative.
Tariffs and Challenges
The potential impact of tariffs is another factor that looms over the retail sector. Martis noted that around 20% of retailers have mentioned tariffs in their earnings calls, highlighting concerns about rising costs. However, Walmart’s considerable buying power and diversified supply chain give it more flexibility to navigate these challenges compared to smaller competitors.
“Walmart is very powerful. They can either choose to change suppliers to avoid impacting their gross margins or absorb costs to stay competitive,” Martis explained. She added that Walmart and other major retailers have diversified their supplier networks in response to the disruptions of the pandemic, making them more resilient to geopolitical shifts.
The Battle for the Consumer
As the eCommerce battle between Amazon and Walmart heats up, it has become a battle not just of logistics and pricing, but of value and convenience. Walmart is capitalizing on its unique assets—a vast network of physical stores, a loyal customer base, and a focus on consumer choice—to level the playing field with Amazon.
“It’s more of a battle between the retailer and the consumer right now,” Martis observed. “The consumer is value-oriented and looking for all those deals, but the retailer is still being cautious.” With Walmart well-positioned to continue its momentum, the competition between the retail giants will be worth watching as we head into the holiday season.
The eCommerce landscape is evolving, and Walmart’s approach to blending digital and physical retail experiences is proving to be a formidable challenge to Amazon’s online-only model. As consumers continue to seek both value and flexibility, Walmart is betting that its omnichannel strategy will give it the edge. “Walmart is definitely giving Amazon a lot of competition,” Martis reiterated—and with every holiday sale, discount, and pickup order, Walmart continues to close the gap.
Spirit Airlines announced it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in an effort to reorganize its debt and continue operations.
Spirit is one of the leading budget budget airlines, but has faced a number of challenges, from massive travel slump during the pandemic to a failed merger with Jet Blue. As a result, the company has worked out an agreement with its debtors to reorganize under Chapter 11.
Spirit Airlines, Inc. today announced that it has entered into a restructuring support agreement (the “RSA”) supported by a supermajority of Spirit’s loyalty and convertible bondholders on the terms of a comprehensive balance sheet restructuring. The restructuring is expected to reduce Spirit’s debt, provide increased financial flexibility, position Spirit for long-term success and accelerate investments providing Guests with enhanced travel experiences and greater value.
In connection with the RSA, Spirit has received backstopped commitments for a $350 million equity investment from existing bondholders and will complete a deleveraging transaction to equitize $795 million of funded debt. To implement the RSA, the Company has commenced a prearranged chapter 11 process in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York (the “Court”). Existing bondholders are also providing $300 million in debtor-in-possession (“DIP”) financing, which, together with Spirit’s available cash reserves and cash provided by operations, is expected to further support the Company through the chapter 11 process.
The company assures customers and employees that day-to-day operations will remain unaffected, with customers still able “to book and fly without interruption.” Spirit says the bankruptcy “will not impact Team Member wages or benefits,” and that “vendors aircraft lessors and holders of secure aircraft indebtedness will continue to be paid in the ordinary course.”
“I am pleased we have reached an agreement with a supermajority of both our loyalty and convertible bondholders on a comprehensive recapitalization of the Company, which is a strong vote of confidence in Spirit and our long-term plan,” said Ted Christie, Spirit’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “This set of transactions will materially strengthen our balance sheet and position Spirit for the future while we continue executing on our strategic initiatives to transform our Guest experience, providing new enhanced travel options, greater value and increased flexibility. I’m extremely proud of the Spirit team’s hard work and dedication, which is key to our sustained progress in advancing our business and delivering for our Guests.”
The company says it expected to be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange, but that “common stock will continue to trade in the over-the-counter marketplace” during the bankruptcy process.
As eCommerce reshapes the retail world, Harley-Davidson—a brand steeped in tradition and heritage—is exploring new ways to innovate and connect with customers. Kim Jackson, the Director of eCommerce at Harley-Davidson, recently joined the Happy At Work podcast to discuss the brand’s eCommerce strategy and how authenticity plays a crucial role in building trust with customers and within her own team.
The Happy at Work podcast explores the intersection of organizational culture, positive psychology, and employee branding to create thriving workplaces.
Dive into our conversation on Harley-Davidson’s eCommerce Evolution!
A Career Built on a Passion for Retail
Jackson’s journey to becoming the Director of eCommerce at Harley-Davidson is one marked by extensive experience in retail, from merchandise buying at Talbots to leading eCommerce efforts at Puma, Alex and Ani, and J. Jill. “I’ve always been obsessed with watching people shop and understanding what they do,” Jackson explained. This curiosity has driven her across multiple leadership roles, giving her a breadth of experience that she now brings to Harley-Davidson. Today, she is leading the company’s new initiative—HD Collections, an apparel concept that aims to reach beyond Harley’s traditional motorcycle enthusiasts.
Her time at brands like Puma and J. Jill helped Jackson understand the nuances of blending online and offline retail experiences. “When I moved to Puma, eCommerce was just starting to bud, and it was an incredible opportunity to explore how to engage consumers through new online channels,” she noted. At J. Jill, Jackson transitioned from creating assortments to focusing entirely on selling them online, which opened her eyes to the power of data and digital storytelling. “It was a whole new data set for me, a different way of looking at how we tell stories to our customers,” she added.
The Importance of Culture and Authenticity
Jackson’s experiences have made her a strong advocate for finding the right company culture—one where authenticity is valued. “For me, authenticity is key. Anytime I’ve tried to adjust how I lead or how I work with others to fit into a culture that wasn’t aligned with who I am, it has been a fail,” Jackson explained candidly. Finding a company culture that aligns with personal values is a cornerstone of Jackson’s professional success and is advice she regularly imparts to younger professionals.
Jackson described how important it is for companies to create an environment where team members feel empowered to make decisions. “If a person isn’t making a move because they are afraid their manager won’t like it, that’s when creativity is squashed,” she said. Her management philosophy is based on empowerment: “If there’s not a distinct risk to the business, I go with my team’s ideas 99.9% of the time because now they’re invested in the outcome.” This belief in empowering team members, allowing them to take risks, and supporting them even when things don’t go as planned is central to how Jackson builds trust within her team.
Navigating Harley-Davidson’s eCommerce Evolution
Harley-Davidson, a company that is synonymous with freedom, adventure, and the open road, has always had an incredibly loyal customer base. As Jackson pointed out, it is one of the most tattooed logos in the world. “Even if you don’t ride, there is something about the spirit of Harley-Davidson that resonates,” Jackson noted. This brand loyalty is a huge asset as the company expands its focus beyond motorcycles to include high-quality apparel that appeals to a broader audience.
Jackson is currently leading the charge on HD Collections, a new eCommerce initiative that launches in March. “This is all about extending Harley-Davidson’s brand affinity beyond just motorcycles,” she said. The project consists of three distinct apparel lines:
High Fashion: Launched during Fashion Week, this collection takes the high-quality leather Harley is known for and reimagines it as lifestyle fashion.
Originals: This line modernizes traditional Harley logos and styles, using contemporary fabrics and designs to appeal to today’s consumers.
Authorized Vintage: Featuring curated pre-loved products, Authorized Vintage offers a nostalgic nod to Harley’s storied past, combining authenticity with exclusivity.
“It’s a high-touch, high-storytelling initiative, and it’s designed to include more people who may not own a bike but really love the spirit of what Harley-Davidson has to offer,” Jackson explained. The initiative includes collaborations with influencers and designers to further expand the brand’s reach.
Building Trust and Empowering Teams
Jackson emphasized the role that culture and support play in achieving success. She shared an anecdote from her early days at Harley-Davidson that underscored the collaborative nature of the company’s culture. “I was barely two weeks in when I had to present the HD Collections line to the CEO,” Jackson recalled. “I didn’t even know the people I was working with very well, but my chief digital officer assured me: ‘This presentation will be built for you. People will walk you through their parts, and we got you.’ That level of support made me feel like I was part of the team from day one.”
The company’s remote-first policy has also helped level the playing field, according to Jackson. “We’re all on the same playing field now, and that sense of equality has fostered a new level of collaboration and transparency,” she said. With the decision to go 100% remote, Harley-Davidson has not only embraced the future of work but is reimagining its physical spaces in Milwaukee to give back to the community, creating new opportunities for engagement.
Embracing Agility Over Perfection
One of the key cultural tenets Jackson and her team embrace is the notion of “done is better than perfect.” In a retail environment that is constantly changing, agility is critical. “We move fast, and getting something done is more important than getting it perfect the first time,” Jackson said. This mindset has allowed Harley-Davidson’s eCommerce team to remain nimble and responsive to new challenges, whether it’s launching new collections or addressing customer needs.
Advice for the Next Generation
As a mentor to young professionals, Jackson is passionate about sharing the lessons she has learned along the way. Her key piece of advice is to understand that career growth is rarely linear and that resilience is key. “I’ve been laid off, I’ve been let go, I’ve made mistakes,” Jackson said. “But I learned from every one of those experiences. You have to look at yourself in the mirror every day and like what you see. When you mess up, that’s your chance to fix it.” She also encourages people to be proactive in their learning and development. “You are responsible for your own growth,” she said, emphasizing the importance of seeking out opportunities and not waiting for them to come to you.
Jackson’s journey—from an assistant buyer to the Director of eCommerce at one of the most iconic brands in the world—serves as an inspiring reminder of the importance of staying true to yourself, continuously seeking opportunities, and fostering a culture of collaboration and trust. As Harley-Davidson continues to expand into the digital space, it is clear that the company’s focus on authenticity and empowerment will remain central to its strategy, both in how it serves its customers and in how it supports its employees.
