Visual Merchandising Case Studies

Angeline Namai is a WebSphere Commerce project lead at Smart Merchandiser and Zobrist Consulting Group. In this role, she is responsible for the architecture as well as project management of Smart Merchandiser, a visual ecommerce merchandise management solution that enables better-informed, real-time onlinemerchandising decisions.

She joined Zobrist eight years ago, focusing her entire career on ecommerce solutions. After four years as a developer, coding back-end solutions for ecommerce sites, Angeline took on an architect role. With dual responsibilities as an architect and project manager, she acts as the liaison between clients like The North Face and translates customer requirements into technical applications.

Angeline graduated from Grinnell College in Iowa with a double bachelor’s degree in computer science and French. She holds certifications in Java programming, Java web component development and WebSphere Commerce application development.

Mariann Godkin is an IBM WebSphere Commerce developer at Smart Merchandiser and Zobrist Consulting Group. In this role, she is responsible for product development and programming related to Smart Merchandiser, a visual ecommerce merchandise management solution that enables better-informed, real-time online merchandising decisions. She developed the beta version of Smart Merchandiser and supports all clients, including Lee, Wrangler and JanSport. Mariann also helped launch JanSport’s new website in 2013.

An expert in online retail and merchandising, she has worked with IBM WebSphere Commerce for a decade.Before joining Zobrist Consulting Group, she worked as a programmer analyst at the Interamerican Motor Corporation, where she was responsible for multiple software projects related to the company’s e-commerce, knowledge management and collaboration business strategy. Prior to that, she developed custom applications for public and private sector companies while at WebSciences and ABCS.

Originally from Belarus, Mariann received her bachelor’s degree in computer science from California State University – Northridge.

Gerry Taylor is the director of services at Smart Merchandiser and Zobrist Consulting Group. In this role he is the lead strategist, architect and developer responsible for user experience and Smart Merchandiser, a visual ecommerce merchandise management solution that enables better-informed, real-time online merchandising decisions.

Gerry joined Zobrist Consulting Group in 2012, following a 12-year career at Ritz Interactive, a specialty online retailer and e-commerce service provider. As the director of information technology, he led the strategy, design, deployment and growth of 11 e-commerce sites with peak revenue of $111 million.

Before joining Ritz Interactive, Gerry honed his developer and coding skills at Capita Technologies. He began his career at Smarthome as a search engine optimization (SEO) specialist.

Gerry is an IBM Certified Associate Developer and a member of the IBM WebSphere Commerce Customer Advisory Council and Business Partner Advisory Council. He earned his bachelor’s degree in information and computer science and master of business administration from the University of California, Irvine.

Teresa Zobrist is the founder and CEO of Smart Merchandiser, a visual ecommerce merchandise management solution that enables better-informed, real-time online merchandising decisions. She has extensive experience in helping businesses launch online stores to gain more customers, increase revenue and compete globally.

Teresa founded Zobrist Consulting Group, an IT services consulting firm, in 2001 with the goal of providing a healthy and collaborative working environment for a talented team of e-commerce consultants.

Prior to starting her own company, Teresa worked at IBM for 15 years as an IT consulting architect, building custom projects for large corporations such as State Farm and AARP. Additionally, she spent five years at CF Braun & Co., a large engineering firm. As a piping engineer, she built a 3D computer design program along with a team of experts.

After graduating from college, she worked as a programmer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. There, she worked on the Voyager mission as part of the command team. She left in 1980 after getting her master’s degree at the UCLA Anderson School of Management.

Born in Vietnam, Teresa moved to the United States at 18 to earn a bachelor’s degree in computer science at the University of Southern California.