Catalogue shop Argos has appointed former Amazon executive Bertrand Bodson to the newly created position of digital director.
Bodson will oversee development of the web and mobile businesses as parent Home Retail invests £300 million over three years to revitalise the chain. He will report to Argos managing director John Walden and joins the Argos executive board.
Argos saw a 2.1 per cent sales improvement during the 52 weeks to March 2 after it began to fight back against internet rivals and after it benefited from the demise of Comet. Less than half of purchases at Argos come from stores alone with about a third of shoppers using the click and collect system.
Bodson was executive vice president for global digital at EMI and also spent four years at Amazon where he developed its DVD rental business, later merged into Lovefilm. After working at Amazon he founded social networking site Bragster.com in 2006 with former investment banker Wim Vernaeve.
Bragster, where users dare one another to perform tasks, raised $3.5 million (£2.3 million) Series A investment in February 2008 from Intel Capital and private investor David Frankle to fund growth. It was sold in 2010 to Guinness World Records and has now been integrated into the site.
'It’s a great time to join Argos and I am excited by the spirit of the people and the sense of urgency to make the digital vision a reality. With combined strengths in the local store network and digital channels already, I believe Argos is well positioned for the future,' said Bodson.
No comments:
Post a Comment