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Don’t waste another dime on bloated channel reporting and vanity metrics.
Don’t waste another dime on bloated channel reporting and vanity metrics.
Check out the latest hiring and departure news in ecommerce and consumer goods.
(Illustration by The Current)
Welcome to On the Move. In this hiring-focused weekly feature, The Current is rounding up recent arrivals and departures at brands and retailers across the ecommerce landscape.
This week, top apparel and DTC brands are set to see new leaders. Plus, Estée Lauder and L’Oréal USA make key digital appointments, and Hasbro elevates a chief people officer.
Check out this week’s roundup:
Kyle Leahy and Emily Weiss. (Photo via Glossier)
Glossier Founder Emily Weiss will be moving on from the day-to-day leadership role of CEO, taking a role overseeing the board as executive chairwoman, according to a blog post from the company.
Chief Commercial Officer Kyle Leahy, who is a former executive at Nike, Cole Haan and American Express, will assume the CEO role at the prominent DTC beauty brand.
Glossier Chief Marketing Officer Ali Weiss is also set to leave her position, Bloomberg reports.
Weiss founded Glossier in 2014, launching a beauty brand to sell cosmetics out of the success of her blog Into the Gloss. It became a trendsetter, while forging a path for a direct-to-consumer business model in the beauty industry. But after setting out to build a tech platform in recent years, the brand shifted strategy and laid off one-third of its corporate team, or more than 80 people, this year. For further reading, a recent Bustle profile charted the rise of Glossier under Weiss.
Meghan Davis is CEO of Thinx. (Courtesy photo)
Thinx will have a new CEO next month.
Meghan Davis, an executive at Johnson & Johnson, is set to succeed Maria Molland in the leadership role of the period underwear brand.
Davis brings more than 20 years of experience in health and beauty. She served as J&J’s country director for consumer health in Portugal, Northern Europe marketing director for the consumer division, and regional marketing manager for beauty in North America.
Molland is stepping down to spend more time with her young children. In a statement, she called the job “the best I’ve ever had.”
"This was not an easy decision but one that I know is right for me personally. It has been a privilege to serve the Thinx community of customers and work with an amazing group of talented people,” Molland said. She will remain with the company until June 30 to assist with the transition.
The leadership shift comes after Kimberly-Clark acquired a majority interest in Thinx in February.
Under Armour CEO Patrik Frisk. (Courtesy photo)
Patrik Frisk is set to step down as CEO of Under Armour on June 1, the company announced.
Frisk joined the Baltimore-based apparel brand in 2017 and rose to the CEO role in 2020, after founder Kevin Plank stepped down.
The company said it is conducting an “internal and external search process” for the next CEO.
Colin Browne, the company’s COO, will serve as interim CEO, Browne is credited with modernizing the company’s DTC strategy and supply chain organization. He has served as COO since 2020, overseeing supply chain, IT, go-to-market strategy, distribution and more.
Doug Howe (Photo via Kohl's).
Two C-level executives at Kohl’s departed the retailer, CNBC reported last week.
Chief Merchandising Officer Doug Howe and Chief Marketing Officer Greg Revelle are departing the company. The moves were made as the company is reportedly searching for a buyer.
In a securities filing, the company said it is conducting a search for a replacement, and added that, “We have a deep bench of marketing and merchandising talent that will ensure the continued execution of our strategies.”
Before the week was over, Designer Brands announced that Howe will be the new president of DSW Designer Shoe Warehouse, leading day-to-day operations. Prior to Kohl’s, Howe held leadership positions at Qurate Retail Group, Old Navy, Walmart and May Department Stores.
Heiko Schäfer. (Photo via Hugo Boss)
Swiss outdoor company Mammut Sports Group named Heiko Schäfer as CEO, effective September 1. Schäfer most recently served as COO of Hugo Boss, and previously held leadership positions at Tom Tailor Group and adidas. A news release announcing the move touted his “deep understanding of brand dynamics in a digital environment.”
“I am very happy to return to the world of sporting goods and to work for the iconic outdoor brand Mammut,” Schäfer said in a statement. “I will focus all my energy and passion on working with the team to unlock Mammut's full potential to make the brand even more attractive and accessible to mountaineering enthusiasts."
Damien Huang. (Courtesy photo)
Last week, On the Move reported on the news that Damien Huang departed the role of CEO at Eddie Bauer. This week brings an announcement about his next destination.
Huang is set to become the president of outdoor gear brand Cotopaxi. Along with experience at Eddie Bauer, Huang also previously held leadership roles at Patagonia and The North Face.
With the hire, Cotopaxi founder Davis Smith will remain in the CEO role.
"We are elated to name Damien to our team. He's an incredibly talented individual with an authentic passion for our mission to fight extreme poverty. His position as President is integral to the next stage of growth for Cotopaxi," Smith said in a statement.
This comes shortly after the news that the brand hired Marissa Magno as VP of people and inclusion.
(Photo via Jane.com)
Boutique marketplace Jane.com hired David John Smith as chief technology officer.
Jane.com is a marketplace were more than 2,000 small businesses sell fashion accessories, home decor, children's clothing and more. Smith will be charged with “transforming the business away from a three-day flash deal marketplace to an evergreen model where sellers can offer products indefinitely,” according to a news release.
Smith previously served as CTO of Fashionphile, a reseller of pre-owned luxury goods and recommerce partner to Neiman Marcus. He also served as VP of technology at Nordstrom, and led teams at TechStyle Fashion Group.
Gibu Thomas. (Courtesy photo)
Elevating a leading ecommerce role, The Estée Lauder Companies announced Gibu Thomas was promoted to EVP of ELC Online.
"Gibu’s promotion to Executive Vice President recognizes his exceptional leadership of ELC Online since joining in November 2020, including driving successful initiatives across ecommerce, technology infrastructure, digital media, mobile and omnichannel,” said Fabrizio Freda, CEO of The Estée Lauder Companies, in a statement. “Gibu is a highly talented and respected digital expert. He continues to leverage his deep expertise and forward-thinking strategy to drive and elevate our Online business globally, while bringing his dynamic, entrepreneurial leadership style to the talented and dedicated Online team.”
Gibu joined the beauty and personal care company in 2020 after a five-year stint leading ecommerce at PepsiCo. He also previously served as SVP of mobile and digital at Walmart.
Debbie Rose Woloshin. (Photo via LinkedIn)
Personal shopping and styling service Stitch Fix said Debbie Rose Woloshin joined the company as chief marketing officer this week.
Woloshin was previously chief marketing officer at Marc Jacobs, led marketing at Frye Company and Ann, Inc., and spent more than 17 years at the Jones Group.
Najuma Atkinson. (Courtesy photo)
Toy brand Hasbro said Najuma Atkinson was appointed to the role of chief people officer. She will lead the company’s HR organization, culture strategy and diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
Atkinson succeeds Dolph Johnson, the global chief human resources officer who is retiring after more than two decades at Hasbro.
Before joining Hasbro in October 2021, Atkinson served in leadership roles across human resources, customer experience and strategy at Dell Technologies.
Han Wen. (Courtesy photo)
Han Wen is taking the role of chief digital and marketing officer at L’Oréal USA.
The role includes oversight of consumer insights & intelligence, digital go-to-market-strategies, marketing innovation, media planning and buying, and creating a center of excellence in content and digital services.
Wen previously served as CDMO of the company’s Professional Products Division, leading digital transformation since 2017. She also held leading digital roles at L’Oréal Paris, Clarins Group and LVMH.
“Han brings deep experience and expertise to this strategic role at a time when digital is at the forefront of our business. Her outstanding track record and extensive knowledge of how we can best engage with our consumers and accompany them in both offline and online environments will be critical to our success,” said David Greenberg, L’Oréal USA CEO, in a statement.
She succeeds Marc Toulemonde, who held the position since 2020.
Microservices architecture allows the company to give retailers ownership over omnichannel software.
With the growth of digital commerce, providing consumer choice is at the center of all of a retailer’s operations.
In recent years, that became especially evident in the area of fulfillment.
Ecommerce made the process of moving an order into place for delivery a crucial function, as the ability to source products close to demand quickly was an imperative.
“Retailers are looking to own more of their fulfillment destiny because consumer expectations have increased,” Chap Achen, VP of product strategy and operations at Nextuple, told The Current on the floor of the NRF Big Show 2023. “Fulfillment is now a competitive weapon.”
As digital operations increasingly blend with the physical store, a host of new fulfillment options are coming online. They can have an item delivered from the store on the same day, or they pick it up. Even a wider offering such as in-store pickup has a host of different choices inside of it. Consumers can pick up an item at a counter, or a locker. They can stop by anytime, or schedule a pickup on Saturday.
While this optionality helps retailers meet customers where they are, it also adds complexity to the systems that run them, and requires operational adjustments to put them in place.
It means the software that powers fulfillment operations must also meet retailers where they are, Achen said. Many retailers have specific setups and processes. They may have a store located in a mall with a nearby distribution center, or a series of small storefronts. At the same time, retailers need to have flexibility with the software that they use so they can provide options to consumers.
For Nextuple, the vehicle to provide this is microservices, which describes a software architecture in which the parts of an application work independently, but are also built to work together. The company harnesses microservices to offer an ownership-centered approach to deploying its software through a product called Nextuple Fulfillment Studio.
“Today, there are only two ways to buy software: [software as a service] or custom building,” Achen said. “You can do it yourself or with a partner. We are a third option. We will help you accelerate your time to market because we've already developed 80% of your requirements, and then we'll give you that as source code.”
The software is composable. Retailers own the source code, and they can iterate. Along the way, they have the ability to swap out components of the software for pieces that enable them to better respond to the needs of customers, if they choose.
It shows how composable commerce is spreading throughout retail operations. A first wave of development applied the approach to the “front-end” of commerce, such as operating an ecommerce store and marketing. With fulfillment software such as Nextuple coming online, there are signs it is being applied to backend operations, as well.
In all, Nextuple offers 14 microservices as part of the Studio, including engines for same-day delivery, storage, inventory management and sourcing.
At the NRF Big Show, Nextuple announced that it is live with five national omnichannel retailers. Together, they have $50 billion in annual revenue and 7000 store locations.
The company is aiming to serve a group of retailers that are widely known, but still looking to hone operations for omnichannel retail. When it comes to fulfillment technology, the retail landscape has distinct tiers.
The largest players have built their own fulfillment tech to power logistics networks that reach across the country.
Name brand retailers with a national presence also want to offer competitive fulfillment, but haven’t made the move to acquire platforms or developed their own software in-house. Typically, they would seek out a software provider that offers a set platform on a subscription model. But the particular needs of commerce require software that powers physical operations with digital tools. That requires a different type of solution, Nextuple believes.
“We want to level the playing field,” Achen said. “We're helping the mid-tier [retailer] compete with Target, Amazon and Walmart.”