Shop Direct has announced its third data-focused senior appointment in under a month.
The UK’s second largest pureplay online retailer is bringing in McKinsey & Company junior partner Assi Gol to lead its customer intelligence teams.
Mr Gol, who will take up the position of customer intelligence director in September 2016, will be charged with strengthening and accelerating the development of Shop Direct’s data-fuelled approach to ecommerce.
He will oversee the data science and data strategy teams, whose aims are to uncover insights that will improve and further personalise the user experience across the company’s Very.co.uk, Littlewoods.com and VeryExclusive.co.uk retail brands.
“Our rich customer data is the core of our business. It’s not just helping us create one of the world’s most personalised shopping experiences; it helps our people make better commercial decisions,” said Alex Baldock, CEO at Shop Direct.
“Assi will help us take our data science and analytics to the next level, and give customers the unique experiences we know they love.”
During eight years at global management consulting firm McKinsey & Company in Israel and London, Mr Gol successfully used data to develop growth strategies and transform customer experiences for retailers and other consumer-facing global businesses.
He will report to the company’s incoming group strategy and customer director Sasha Berson, who will join the executive board from his role as Groupon’s EMEA chief marketing officer and vice president in September 2016.
Last month Gael Decoudu was appointed head of data science at Shop Direct.
Decoudu, who spoke at BusinessCloud’s Big Data conference at the International Festival for Business in Liverpool, will report to Mr Gol.
“Shop Direct has a clear and ambitious vision, and data and personalisation are central to that,” said
Mr Gol.
LIVE on #Periscope: Keynote speaker at #ifbbigdata2016 from @shopdirect – Gael Decoudu @weightmans @LivUni https://t.co/F74rKCv2Ve
— BusinessCloud.co.uk (@BCloudUK) June 30, 2016
“The company is pushing the boundaries when it comes to offering the most relevant customer experiences – and I can’t wait to start playing my part in helping us become a world class digital retailer.”
Assi takes up the position previously held by Dene Jones, who left Shop Direct earlier this year.