Jamie Nordstrom

All of us that are either in or cover the retail industry for a living have undoubtedly heard the sentiment, "You must adapt your business to meet the needs of today's changing consumers." While I agree with this statement for the most part — consumers today have access to more information on your products and more avenues to buy those products than ever before — the last two words I take issue with: changing consumers. Are we really?

Upscale department store chain Nordstrom opened its doors 111 years ago with one goal: improve the customer experience in any way possible. A lot has changed for the company in the last 111 years, but that singular focus has remained. Jamie Nordstrom, president of Nordstrom Direct, detailed how the company is putting this philosophy into practice in his keynote address at the Shop.org Annual Summit in Denver yesterday.