I wrote a couple weeks ago about a very serious issue with Sears.com's privacy policy. It seemed that Sears Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: SHLD) had a major issue with their online offering. Sears has finally taken the issue seriously and disabled the bug in their how-to-figure-out-how-much-your-next-door-neighbor-paid-for-his-plasma-TV search function on the Sears website.

This morning, WSJ.com reports (subscription required) that an ex-Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) executive is being appointed head of Sears' newly formed online division, one of five such divisions the retailer is forming as part of a turnaround. The article says that James Barr, a 12-year Microsoft executive and general manager of MSN Shopping and Marketplaces, will take over the online unit effective Feb. 2 as a senior vice president of Sears Holdings.

Barr joins former Walmart.com executive, Neil Day, the newly-named Chief Technology Officer for the Sears.com group.

These changes are being made by Chairman Eddie Lampert as he tries to boost sales and stave off further profit losses.

It appears one of my personal favorites, LandsEnd's, LandsEnd.com, will not be part of this unit, which will include Kmart.com and Sears.com.

Zack Miller is the Managing Editor of IsraelNewsletter.com and a former equity analyst for a leading multinational hedge fund. Author holds no positions in stocks mentioned above.

Sears getting sear-ious about online? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 27 Jan 2008 11:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.