PPR Group, the parent company of Redcats USA, No. 31 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide, has created a new e-commerce development business unit to be headed up by one of its top Internet executives.

PPR, which in 2009 generated web sales of about $2.9 billion (2 billion euro), launched its Development E-Business Group to develop interactivity and identify new e-commerce opportunities for its diverse portfolio of Internet brands, including Fnac.fr Conforama.fr, Puma.com, Gucci.com, BottegaVeneta.fr, YvesSaintLaurent.com, Balenciaga.com, Boucheron.com, SergioRossi.com, AlexanderMcQueen.com and StellaMcCartney.com.

“Our group has been a pioneer of e-commerce in the distribution and a pioneer in Internet sales in luxury, and the creation of this directorate reflects our ambition to accelerate growth in online sales, which should represent 10% of total business to Gucci Group and Puma in the coming years,” says PPR CEO François-Henri Pinault.

 To oversee the new group, PPR has named Fabien Sfez as director. Most recently Sfez served as CEO of Fnac France, a French multichannel retailer of consumer electronics and related gear. Sfez will continue as a member of PPR’s executive committee and report to Pinault.

PPR continues to revamp its e-commerce business to concentrate on its luxury and apparel brands. In November, PPR and Redcats acquired Castaluna.com, a web-only retailer of plus-size fashion.