Seattle luxury retailer, Nordstrom, has appointed Amazon.com’s former general manager as the company’s chief technology officer to help shape their ‘technology agenda.’

The fashion retail store chain has hired Kumar Srinivasan, former general manager at Amazon Payments Merchant Solutions unit and also the co-founder and chief executive of software company Evocalize, to help lead the “next phase of innovation and growth” for the company’s technology division. Srinivasan is tasked with ‘identifying and developing opportunities that deliver a competitive advantage and bottom-line returns.’

“Srinivasan will focus on identifying opportunities to reduce complexity while optimising engineering and software productivity and effectiveness across four Nordstrom Technology teams that support the company’s Service and Experience, Loyalty and Marketing, Engineering and Supply Chain initiatives,” the company said in a news release.

Nordstrom said Srinivasan brings 18 years of technology and product management experience to their company.

“We’re bringing Kumar to Nordstrom at an important time as we are positioning our technology organisation to better support our long-term growth plans,” said Nordstrom, Inc.’s chief information officer, Dan Little.

“Kumar’s extensive experience in strategy, product development and delivering technology solutions that support a great user experience, as well as his passion for the customer, will be invaluable,” he added.

In February, Nordstrom reported fourth quarter net earnings were $180 million, a decrease from the $255 million in the same quarter last year. Its earnings before interest and taxes fell to $324 million compared to the $465 million in the prior corresponding period.

Access exclusive analysis, locked news and reports with Inside Retail Weekly. Subscribe today and get our premium print publication delivered to your door every week.