Five Questions with Joy Arfi, CMO of Printemps

Work & Co

Physical and digital experiences are increasingly intertwined, and most stores are racing to add technology into the mix. Printemps has taken a more deliberate, minimal approach. How do you think about technology’s role in the customer journey, and has your perspective shifted with recent advancements?

Joy Arfi

I think the question is less “How much technology should we have?” and more “Where does technology genuinely make the experience better?”

We were very intentional about not allowing technology to become the experience. The store itself is the experience. It is designed to make you slow down, explore, discover something unexpected and interact with people. That was one of the reasons we deliberately limited visible technology in the space. Our wayfinding screens, for example, are there to help customers navigate and discover rather than compete with the architecture and design. The physical environment remains the hero.

But that doesn’t mean we are low-tech. Quite the opposite. A lot of technology is working behind the scenes  from our digital infrastructure and Shopify POS to RFID and the digital ecosystem connecting the physical and online experience. Our website was also designed more as a digital extension of the Printemps universe than simply as a traditional retail site.

What has changed for me with recent advancements is that I see technology becoming increasingly valuable when it is invisible. AI, data and personalization can make the experience much more relevant without necessarily putting another screen in front of the customer.

The opportunity is to use technology to help us understand the customer better, help our teams serve them better and remove friction while preserving the emotional, human and unexpected aspects of discovery that make Printemps special.

Work & Co

There has always been a certain mystique around French fashion and French art de vivre. How have you brought that to bear in the design and storytelling of your digital products?

Joy Arfi

For me, French art de vivre is less about putting a French flag on something and much more about a point of view.

We didn’t want the digital experience to feel like a translation of Printemps Paris. We wanted it to feel like Printemps New York with a French sensibility.

That comes through in the way we curate and tell stories. We are not simply presenting products; we are presenting a selection, a perspective and a way of discovering things. The physical store was conceived as a Parisian apartment with a New York energy, and that same principle informs our digital storytelling. Laura Gonzalez’s design is a great example of this dialogue: she drew on Printemps’ heritage while explicitly treating New York as something with its own energy and freedom.

Digitally, that means giving as much importance to editorial storytelling, imagery, culture, brands, experiences, food, beauty and discovery as we do to the transaction.

I also think French retail has historically been very good at creating desire through curation. The role of the digital experience is to extend that feeling to make someone think, “I didn’t know I was looking for this, but now I want to discover it.”

Work & Co

Discovery is no longer purely human. As AI agents increasingly influence what people find and consider, how is Printemps thinking about winning trust with machine audiences alongside human ones?

Joy Arfi

I think this is one of the most interesting changes happening in digital right now.

We used to optimize primarily for people and search engines. Increasingly, we have to think about a third audience: AI systems that interpret information and make recommendations on behalf of people.

For Printemps, I think trust starts with the quality and consistency of our information.

We need to make sure that our product data, brand information, availability, descriptions, imagery and editorial content are accurate, structured and rich enough for AI systems to understand what Printemps is and why a particular product belongs in our assortment.

But to me the human brand still matters enormously. AI may introduce someone to Printemps, but we want the experience they ultimately encounter to reinforce the recommendation: the curation, the expertise, the physical store, our people and our point of view.

And there is an important distinction between being discoverable by AI and being trusted by AI. We want to build the kind of authoritative, consistent content and customer experience that gives an AI system a reason to recommend us and gives the customer a reason to trust that recommendation.

Work & Co

What has been your biggest learning about translating the brand’s French roots into an expression that’s locally relevant?

Joy Arfi

My biggest learning is that local relevance doesn’t mean diluting the French identity. It means giving that identity a New York expression.

From the beginning, the store was conceived as a dialogue between Paris and New York. The building itself is incredibly New York:  One Wall Street, its Art Deco heritage, the Red Room… while the design, curation and hospitality bring a very strong French sensibility.

What we’ve learned is that New Yorkers don’t necessarily want us to recreate Paris for them. They want to discover something they can’t get everywhere else in New York.

That has influenced the way we think about everything from brands and product curation to events, food, beauty and content.

And there is also something very New York about the Printemps model itself. New York is a city of discovery. People are constantly looking for the next restaurant, designer, exhibition, neighborhood or brand. So our role is not simply to say, “Here is French luxury.” It is to say, “Here is our point of view on what is interesting right now.”

Work & Co

Despite its legacy Printemps also enjoys having some challenger brand status when it comes to traditional department stores. What opportunities does this open up for you to use digital to chart a unique path?

Joy Arfi

Being a challenger gives us something incredibly valuable: we don’t have to inherit the digital conventions of the American department store. We can build differently.

For me, that creates three big opportunities.

First, discovery. We can use digital to make Printemps feel like a destination even before someone walks through the door — through editorial content, social, events, brands and storytelling.

Second, personalization. We are building our customer data capabilities from the ground up, including our CRM, clienteling, etc. That gives us the opportunity to understand customers across both e-commerce and physical retail rather than treating those as separate worlds.

And third, experimentation. We can test quickly due to our agile organization.

So being the challenger isn’t a disadvantage. It means we have permission to write a new playbook.

Work & Co

Unique retail experiences create emotional connections that drive loyalty, shaping how a customer feels about a brand long after purchase. What are some of the ways you’re thinking about and creating these experiences at Printemps?  

Joy Arfi

For us, the experience starts with the idea that Printemps is not simply somewhere you go to buy something.

The physical environment was designed to encourage exploration almost like moving through someone’s apartment. You have fashion and beauty, but also art, architecture, food, drinks, wellness and events. There are spaces like the Red Room, Beauty Corridor, Salon Vert, Maison Passerelle, the Apothecary and the Boudoir, each creating a different mood and reason to explore.

And I think that’s important because emotional connection is built through memory, not just transactions.

Maybe you came for a dress but discovered a fragrance. Maybe you came for lunch and ended up discovering a designer. Maybe you attended an event and came back with friends.

Work & Co

Prestige beauty sales drove strong growth for the industry in the first half of 2026. Printemps offers a range of high-end fragrance, makeup, and a curated selection of cult French pharmacy skincare products. Has digital helped you personalize the path to purchase to better meet individuals’ beauty needs?   

Joy Arfi

I would actually say that, for us, personalization in beauty is not primarily digital, it starts with understanding our customers and what they are looking for.

Our buying team constantly analyzes the numbers to understand what is selling and what is attracting customers. Around 60% of our beauty assortment is exclusive to Printemps, and that is a real differentiator: customers come to us to discover products they can’t find elsewhere.

Our French pharmacy concept is a great example. We recreated that very French pharmacy feeling in a contemporary way, and it has created a lot of traction because it offers something unique to New York.

We also rely heavily on our Sales Advisors and Department Managers, who provide qualitative feedback on what customers are asking for, discovering and expecting.

So for us, it’s really data + buying expertise + frontline customer insight. Digital will increasingly help us connect and personalize that information, but the foundation is knowing our customer and having the right, differentiated assortment.