Pensa Hires Kroger Veteran, Mark Abernathy, as Retail Market LeadPensa Hires Kroger Veteran, Mark Abernathy, as Retail Market Lead

Pensa Systems, an innovator in retail shelf intelligence, has announced the appointment of retail industry executive Mark Abernathy as head of market development for the retail sector. Abernathy will lead Pensa’s go-to-market efforts to meet retailers’ growing demand for Pensa’s automated real-world shelf visibility data. 

“Profitability has never been more challenging for retailers; the added expense of e-commerce fulfillment coupled with the rising cost of transportation and wages is a significant headwind,” says Abernathy. “I’m excited to join Pensa, where I can marry my decades of experience improving operations in real-world retail environments, with Pensa’s powerful, automated shelf intelligence solution that helps retailers improve sales, reduce labor and monetize their data.” 

Previously, as head of e-commerce operations at Kroger, Abernathy created and led a profitable $6 billion dollar business across 2000+ locations in 19 regional divisions and expanded operations to support new lines of business including Home Delivery, Ship-to-Home and Click&Collect. Earlier in his career, he spent 13 years at Harris Teeter in a variety of store operations roles. He brings expertise in helping retailers accelerate growth, improve customer satisfaction and manage disruptions. 

“Pensa’s system is uniquely effective at detecting stockouts and bringing the shelf online in the new omni-channel world, and that’s driving up interest and demand for our syndicated shelf data,” says Richard Schwartz, president and chief executive officer, Pensa. “Mark intimately understands how to help retailers drive growth while simultaneously navigating market disruptions. We are thrilled to have him aboard as head of retail.”