Grünwald, Bavaria, Germany
Experienced multinational Omni-Channel Retail Executive with proven track record of success Over 23 years in the electronic retail industry • Multinational & Multicultural work experience • Successful creation, execution of initiatives and strategies to generate organic growth in digital omni-channel retail environment • Strategic short & long-term vision and planning • Proven leadership in very dynamic 24/7 live shopping & digital commerce environments • Capability to develop and implement structure, procedures and processes with a methodological approach in complex analogue/digital Omni-Channel Retail environment • Focused, energetic, entrepreneurial and results oriented style • Value Chain and people first approach to generate long-term and well-founded growth Areas of Expertise: *** Omnichannel Sales Strategies - TV/Digital *** Category, Assortment and Brand Management in a holistic approach *** Management of Merchandise Planning & Strategies, Allocation and Replenishment *** Vendor & Supplier Management *** Customer Growth/Engagement - Mix Optimization/Digital & Social *** P&L Management *** Strategic Planning *** Sales Maximization - Pricing & Promotion Strategies *** Campaign & Event Planning *** Inventory Management/Optimization - PLC Strategies *** Business Analytics/Intelligence/ROI incl. KPI Identification & Creation *** Streamlining Complex Forecasting & Planning Processes *** Seasonal & Annual Planning *** Turnaround Culture & Change Management for Positive Organization Transformation *** International Start-up
Responsible for Strategic Multichannel Sales Planning and Customer Planning, Channel Management & Operative Sales Planning, Sales Producing, Studio Operations and Sales Talents. Reporting directly to CEO.
Gerson Lehrman Group (GLG) helps leading companies and investment firms learn more about current business issues by arranging interactions with members of the GLG Councils, a network of academics, scientists, industry practitioners, and other professionals worldwide. Client interactions with GLG Council Members include telephone consultations, in-person meetings, reports, and educational presentations. Council Consultant Retail Results-based consultancy committed to advising, training, developing, and facilitating executives, groups and team leaders in the retail industry.
Overseeing and managing Merchandising & Product Development, Omni-Channel, Planning & Sales, Channel Management & BI, Marketing, Creation and On Air Talent. Since February 2019 Chief Merchandising & Sales Officer
Responsible for all E-Commerce/Web, TV Planning, Programming and Analytic Activities. Reporting directly to CEO and General Manager (EVP) International Business Development.
Responsible for all TV Planning, Programming, Campaign & Events as well as Analytic Activities. Reporting directly to CEO and EVP International Business Development. Transition phase from the USA to Italy with direct impact on sales growth of 25% YOY in first year. Structure and process were redesigned with positive effect on all major KPI’s. Improved Business Intelligence capabilities to maximize categories and campaigns with seasonal planning. Adjusted merchandise mix to balance new customers, high sales velocity, gross margins and net sales as well as price points, frequency and basket size. * Increased motivation and coaching of staff were key to success for induction year. * Redesign of areas and responsibilities with focus in Business, Organization, Process and Infrastructure. * Implemented best industry practices with adjusting to Italian retail landscape. * Creation of new promotional tools to increase frequency and basket size. * Increased active customer base by 30% with leveraging ARPU of Repeat and Core and acceleration of New Customer generation by 16%.
Leading all divisions including Watches, Jewelry, Beauty/Health, Ready to Wear, Home and Consumer Electronics including Support Planning with a total staff of up to 30 employees and an annual sales volume of $560M. * Management and responsibility of sales, margin, new customer assortment/acquisition, inventory, forecasts and replenishment. * Steering all companywide promotions, campaigns, events and sales accelerator. * Responsible for category mix and pricing structure. * Maximizing Auto Delivery / Shipment sales accounting for 5% of annual turnover. * Introducing and maximizing Up Selling / Cross Selling activities to increase basked size and annual ARPU by 15%, outperforming all other strategies. * Reporting directly to the President and CEO. * Responsible for departmental budget.
Responsible for the Jewelry, Beauty/Health and Ready to Wear department with an annual sales volume of $205M. * Drove all promotional and sales maximization efforts. * Created key sales initiatives to turn company around and generating positive EBITDA. * Created and implemented a new sub department “Support Planning” including all processes to streamline the workflow and gain more efficiency. * Managed a total of 17 employees.
Transition phase to the USA managing the Jewelry and Beauty/Health department with 12 employees generating $174M. Rebuilt up the Jewelry department by liquidating more than 60% of the Jewelry inventory (problem merchandise) within 3 months only. Built up a strong promotional calendar and replenishment business which secured high margin and a stable, good quality inventory flow. Restructured both divisions from the airtime mix and allocation perspective. * Both departments showed a significant increase in sales, margin sales and productivity compared to prior year. * Jewelry productivity grew by 23% and margin sales by 26%. Beauty/Health grew by 60% in net sales, 53% in margin sales and 22% in productivity (all sales metrics by far exceeding company average). * Developed and introduced a complete new team with 12 employees including selection and training. * Company-wide training of sales reporting and analysis tool I developed.
Managed the entire Home/Hardgoods department with 10 employees accounting for more than 50% of the revenues with high focus on e-commerce share. Annual sales of €365M while managing an average inventory volume of €125M and being responsible for 50% of the airtime/business mix at QVC Germany. Sales growth acceleration of the Home department outperforming company average thru detailed sub category and lifecycle planning. Planning and executing the Xmas strategies for 2007 and 2008 incl. merchandise mix/assortment, all events, anchor gift programming and multichannel approach. Sales (+23%) and productivity (+29%) grew significantly compared to 2007. Sales maximization and assortment strategy of the biggest on Air promotions (Kitchen Event, Living Ambiente Event). Total sales in 2008 have been worth €22.4M resulting in an increase of €4.6M (25.8%) compared to prior year (€17.8M). Being responsible for the complete maximization of the promotional business for 2008 realizing a growth of €20M (+11.9%) up to €183M by creating and executing a complete new strategy and assortment mix.
Managed the Beauty/Health, Lifestyle and Apparel department with a team of 6 employees generating over €190M in sales annually. Restructured the Beauty department to secure future growth and margin sales by strategically reassigning the airtime. Implementaion of new rotation of vertical and horizontal Fashion & Lifestyle events which allowed maximizing sales and assuring correct inventory levels. From 2006 till 2007 the Apparel sales grew by more than 40% while maintaining stable inventory levels. Built the Beauty and Lifestyle department to the main sales and growth driver of QVC. Being responsible for the 1Q maximization in 2007 which had been a 1 year long countdown strategy to QVC’s 10th Anniversary in Germany and generated an incremental €38M in revenues.
Developed, managed and maximized product, brand & category life cycles including inventory responsibility. Prepared and presented sales & airtime strategies. Developed and held coaching seminars (Q-College) for best in class inductions of new hires. 2004/2005 - Jewelry department. Highly accelerated growth of 58% in productivity and 45% in sales compared to prior year. 2003/2004 - Apparel department. Drove the category Casual Wear and anchor programming AM & PM Style as well as the biggest brand Denim Co. whereby sales increased from €1.4M to €7.4M and productivity had been lifted up by 89%. 2001/2002 - Beauty, Nutrition & Fitness. In 2002 sales for Beauty increased by 52%.