HP Chooses Former Best Buy Exec To 'Enhance' Direct Purchasing Online

HP, Palo Alto, Calif., said Sam Taylor has been appointed as senior vice president of HP online sales, which encompasses the company's worldwide portfolio of systems, imaging and printing products, and services.

Taylor, 45, starts today. He spent the last two years as senior vice president of online stores and marketing at Best Buy.

At HP, Taylor will lead Web, catalog and telephone sales businesses and is charged with delivering an "enhanced and more personal customer experience" to people that want to buy on the Web directly from HP. Taylor will report to Vyomesh Joshi, executive vide president of HP's imaging and printing group.

"Sam brings expertise and understanding across all areas of direct sales to his new role, which is critical to growing our direct business and providing customers with a world-class buying experience," Joshi said in a statement.

Taylor has more than 12 years of experience in retail, e-commerce, direct marketing and international business. Prior to Best Buy, he spent more than four years with Lands' End, leading its online and international businesses, and another four years at Disney, including a position as the European regional director of The Disney Catalog and The Disney Store Online.