AmEx’s Danielle Crop joins Albertsons as chief data officer

Albertsons Cos. has hired Danielle Crop as senior vice president and chief data officer, a newly created position.

Boise, Idaho-based Albertsons said Thursday that Crop, most recently chief data officer at American Express, will oversee the development of a “world-class central data strategy,” focused on creating an engaging shopping experience across brick-and-mortar, online, mobile and social channels. Her work will leverage machine learning and advanced data science to boost performance across Albertsons’ businesses and markets, the company said.

Albertsons noted that the creation of the chief data officer role with the hiring of Crop (left) marks a “step change and acceleration” in its efforts to marshal troves of data — gleaned from its retail store, digital, manufacturing and distribution properties — for the enterprise. The nation’s second-largest supermarket operator has furthered its IT and data strategy via major partnerships with Microsoft and more recently Google, as well as key hires such as Chris Rupp, executive vice president and chief digital officer.

“Today, excellence in delighting customers can be quantified as knowing what they want before they do, and having the capability to deliver it when they want it, no matter how they shop. How we translate what we get from data into an enhanced customer experience will further differentiate us as a locally great and nationally strong retailer,” Rupp said in a statement. “Danielle’s work has been at the intersection of data and the customer experience for the majority of her career, and we are excited to have a leader of her caliber to guide Albertsons Cos.’ customer experience into the future.”

Related:Albertsons, Google eye easier grocery shopping in major partnership

Crop comes to Albertsons after 15 years at American Express, where she was “at the forefront” of the financial services company’s data science efforts, the grocery retailer said. Her background includes wide experience in analytics, data management, modeling and digital experimentation, plus scaled agile digital transformation and product management.

She served as AmEx’s chief data officer for over a year, leading multidisciplinary and globally dispersed teams responsible for the platforms that created, managed, governed, stored and shared the company’s data assets. Prior to that, she was senior vice president of enterprise digital application experience and platforms and held several vice president posts in application experience, including international. She joined AmEx as director of card acquisition fraud in 2006.

Related:Albertsons CEO Vivek Sankaran: Digital could become 20% of business

Overall, Albertsons operates 2,253 food and drug stores in 34 states and the District of Columbia under banners such as Albertsons, Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco, Shaw’s, Acme, Tom Thumb, Randalls, United Supermarkets, Pavilions, Star Market, Haggen and Carrs. The company also operates over 1,700 pharmacies, 400 fuel stations, 23 distribution centers and 20 food and beverage plants.