Overstock.com Inc., No. 32 in the Internet Retailer 2018 Top 1000, has added three senior executives to its team.
The retailer named:
- Catherine Borda chief customer officer, a new position for the e-retailer. She will oversee Overstock’s consumer insights, brand strategy, Club O loyalty program and customer-facing technology and strategy. Before Overstock, Borda spent nearly six years with AT&T Inc. in various customer-facing roles, such as director of customer loyalty and most recently as assistant vice president for audience strategy and planning.
- Chris Donnelly chief of staff to Overstock’s president. Prior to joining Overstock, Donnelly was chief strategy officer and chief product office at sunglasses retailer Oakley Inc. and director of mergers and acquisitions for Nike Inc. (No. 27).
- Dave Nielsen chief sourcing and operations officer, responsible for overseeing merchandising, sourcing and supply chain teams. Nielsen previously spent six years with Overstock, rising to the position of co-president and leading the marketing, merchandising and supply chain operations, but he left in 2015 to become CEO of logistics technology company Global Access.
In addition to new senior leaders, Overstock also reported results from its largest non-holiday sales event called Overstock Customer Day, which took place Oct. 15 and was its first-ever Overstock-branded sales holiday. More than 1.5 million products on Overtstock.com were discounted or featured special deals during the 24-hour sale, which the retailer says was the most items in its website history for a sales event, including area rugs and Overstock’s private-label brands.
Overstock reported the following growth during its 24-hour sales event compared with the same day a year ago:
- 68% revenue increase
- 20% basket size jump
- Mattresses and area rugs were the No. 1 selling item, with nearly 80% growth in both categories
- 200% increase in daily Club O membership signups
“We wanted to do something big for our customers, and the result was the largest single-day home sales event we have ever held,” says J.P. Knab, chief marketing officer for Overstock.com. “Customer Day wasn’t just a big day of discounts, it was one of the biggest home-shopping events of the year, and we’re proud to be the brand bringing millions of dollars of savings to our customers.”
In other e-commerce news:
- Specialty retailer of nutritional products Vitamin Shoppe Industries Inc., No. 287, hired Stacey Renfro as its executive vice president, chief customer and digital experience officer, effective Nov. 5. Prior to joining Vitamin Shoppe, Renfro spent more than five years at home furnishings retailer Pier 1 Imports (No. 112), most recently holding the title of executive vice president of planning and allocation, as well as nine years in a number of roles at J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (No. 37), including digital vice president of digital commerce.
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Allen L. Dittrich, previously senior vice president of omnichannel customer experience and operations at apparel retailer Duluth Trading Co. (No. 194), has assumed a new role as chief operating officer at the retailer. Dittrich has been with Duluth since February 2015. “Al built teams of experts, who have successfully executed the site selection, construction, hiring and training of managers and staff for 42 retail stores within a three-year period. He has also overseen the successful implementation of key IT projects this year, as well as improving our operational infrastructure,” says CEO Stephanie Pugliese.
- Mobile marketplace OfferUp hired former Amazon.com Inc. (No. 1) executive Bill Carr as its chief operating officer. Previously, Carr was the founder and vice president of digital music and video at Amazon, spending more than 15 years at the e-commerce giant. His hiring follows Rodrigo Brumana, formerly head of finance and analytics at eBay Inc. Americas, who was hired as chief financial officer last month.
- Cloud communications platform Twilio acquired email communication platform SendGrid for about $2 billion. The combined companies will offer voice, messaging and now email communications for its customers. Twilio did not have email communication capabilities prior to this deal. “Email is a vital communications channel for companies around the world, and so it was important to us to include this capability in our platform,” says Jeff Lawson, Twilio’s co-founder and CEO. “We believe this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to bring together the two leading developer-focused communications platforms to create the unquestioned platform of choice for all companies looking to transform their customer engagement.”
