S6 | Bonus Episode 1 with Gareth Nutt, Fractional CTO

August 13, 2024

In the first of our FODcast ‘shorts’ with CEO, Tim Roedel, we’re excited to bring you a great discussion on the rising trend of fractional hiring with highly experienced Digital Leader, and Fractional CTO, Gareth Nutt.

In interview with Gareth, we explore the rise of fractional executive leadership in digital transformation projects, and in particular, how mid-market companies are leveraging fractional CTOs, COOs, and CFOs to affordably access top-tier expertise. 

We discuss the shift from monolithic to composable architectures, highlighting the challenges and benefits for businesses – and the skills and talent needed to effectively manage complex systems and successfully leverage new technologies, – without the expense of full-time senior roles. 

Written by:

Tim Roedel

CEO

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S6 | Episode 2 with Stuart Barker from Slalom

July 30, 2024

Episode 2 of Season 6 is here – and features an insightful conversation on all things ‘digital transformation’ with well-known Digital Leader, Stuart Barker – Technology Enablement & Advisory Practice Lead at international business and technology consultancy, Slalom.  

   

With over 25 years of experience in both retail and consulting roles, there are few people with better experience to share their unique perspectives on how industries can successfully navigate their digital journeys.  

  

In our chat, Stuart sheds light on how customer expectations have changed, and the importance of considering employee experiences in multi-channel environments. We talk about the need for a strategic approach in implementing technology and driving business changes, as well as the importance of understanding the WHY behind any transformation initiative.    

Don’t miss this episode filled with valuable insights, real-life anecdotes, and practical advice on how to ensure your digital transformation journey is set for success from the get-go.  

Written by:

James Hodges

Director of Client Engagement

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Industry News & Headlines | June 2024

July 19, 2024

Despite the positivity we saw in Q2, the start of Q3 was somewhat inconsistent when it came to new vacancies coming to market.

Although, whilst delivery, product, and leadership opportunities were a little on the light side, G-T-M and software engineering remains buoyant which is encouraging indeed.

We also know that the pipeline for new hires is robust, with roles anticipated at all levels. There remains a strong appetite for growing teams and launching new projects, even if these projects are expected to be smaller in scale.

Demand within retail is currently concentrated on PIM, OMS, and Data. This is partly due to previous underinvestment in these areas and partly due to significant technological innovations in recent years.

Outside of retail, we believe manufacturing, pharma, and automotive to be industries to watch.

It’s also worth noting that US jobs data showed an unexpected rise in May, indicating a strong recovery and potential growth in the job market. Similarly, UK jobs data suggests that the decline from the pre-COVID spike has bottomed out and stabilised, pointing to a more stable and resilient employment landscape – let’s hope this positive trend continues.

 

Market Spotlight + Top 5 eCommerce Stories This Month

  • Shopify launched its most advanced AI platform, featuring tools like instant personalised product descriptions, combined discounts, and real-time analytics. These updates aim to streamline operations, boost customer engagement, and support business growth READ MORE
  • Gymshark launched “We Do Gym,” a brand platform emphasising its dedication to gym culture. The initiative, set for the next 12 months, aims to distinguish Gymshark from athleisure and sportswear competitors READ MORE
  • Clarks is cutting 150 head office jobs after a £39.8m loss in 2023. The cuts impact their UK and US headquarters, driven by increased demand for lower-priced products and rising costs READ MORE
  • Tesco launches online marketplace, integrating 9,000 third-party products into the online operation. Items span DIY, garden, homeware, pet care, and toys, all fulfilled by suppliers READ MORE
  • Amazon has bolstered its grocery offer by introducing deliveries to all its customers in eligible cities across the UK and launching member pricing. Customers in more than 100 towns and cities nationwide can now receive groceries from its own Fresh stores, Morrisons, Co-op, and Iceland READ MORE

 

 

Each month we send out the latest industry news and headlines, plus sector insight such as this via our newsletter, The Pulse. This also includes the latest jobs and internal news… click HERE  to subscribe

Written by:

James Hodges

Director of Client Engagement

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S6 | Episode 1 with Nathan Lomax from Quickfire Digital

July 10, 2024

Welcome to Season 6 of The FODcast by Simply Commerce.

This season, we’re diving deep into three pivotal areas shaping the future of digital commerce: navigating digital transformation, building a successful eCommerce business, and the innovations driving the sector forward.

In our first episode, we chat with Nathan Lomax, co-founder of Quickfire Digital, European Digital Agency of the Year (2022) – and probably one of the most driven individuals we’ve had the pleasure of speaking to.

Certainly a household and well-respected name in the wider world of all things Shopify, Nathan shares the good, the bad, and the ugly of launching and scaling an eCommerce business, the impact on home life, and the challenges he has faced along the way.

Nathan’s journey from starting a website company after college to co-founding a leading digital agency is inspiring, and in our chat, he talks about the importance of streamlining business processes, making sacrifices, and finding a work-life balance, all while staying passionate and laser-focused on growth and success.

Whether you’re growing a business or launching a new venture, this episode is packed with invaluable insights and strategies to help you succeed.

Links to listen/view the episode are below >>>

Written by:

James Hodges

Director of Client Engagement

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S5 | Episode 8 with Kelly Goetsch from Commercetools

July 10, 2024

With nearly 8 years at commercetools, Kelly transitioned from Chief Product Officer a couple of years ago to his current strategic role – the first of its kind for the cloud-based headless commerce platform.

With an illustrious career including pivotal roles at ATG and Oracle, where he spearheaded ground-breaking initiatives, including Walmart’s global tech implementation,

Kelly is undoubtedly a well-known visionary and thought leader within the sector. As one of the original co-founders of the MACH Alliance, Kelly is at the forefront of advocating for composable architectures and was therefore an ideal guest to conclude the last 16 episodes around the composable conversation.

In our chat, Kelly shared invaluable insights on the evolution of composable, highlighting its mainstream adoption and dispelling common myths. His perspective on the changing landscape of buyers, the role of innovation, and the importance of the human aspect and cultural fit of vendors are covered in detail – as well as a candid discussion on the reasons why transformations fail.

If you’re embarking on a composable journey, or still in the consideration stage, this episode will provide a wealth of information on the positives and pitfalls.

Links to listen/view the episode are below >>>

Written by:

James Hodges

Director of Client Engagement

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Industry News & Headlines | May 2024

June 19, 2024

Positivity is in the air as May looks to have picked up where April left off – plenty of new vacancies coming through the door as companies accelerate their hiring, particularly within software engineering and sales/partnerships.

Partnership hires seem to be a real growth area for digital commerce-focused vendors and agencies over the past couple of years, and having heard some of the success stories from forming true partnerships between organisations, I can certainly see why.

As new roles go live, it has to be said that we are still experiencing extremely high application numbers for most vacancies.

Whilst the general feeling is that this is a somewhat time-consuming way of recruiting, there are still some good applicants for most roles, you just need to have the bandwidth to sift through the hundreds of CVs (or indeed, engage with a specialist recruiter if you’re not already to take on the heavy lifting in that regard!).

Looking at the market more generally, we had reports just a few weeks ago that the UK had officially come out of recession, with the fasted growth in almost two years.

Whilst we aren’t automatically out of the trenches quite yet, we expect this to have a positive impact on both new work streams being signed off and on the hiring of both permanent and contractor resources.

This was confirmed in a recent survey conducted by the Simply Commerce team, which revealed that 53% of digital commerce leaders believe their companies will be hiring this year.

 

Market Spotlight + Top 5 eCommerce Stories This Month

  •  M&S continues its turnaround with a +58% leap in profit in the first quarter of this year to £672.5 million. Overall sales at the high street giant were up +19.3% to £13billion, with a +5.3% increase in turnover at Clothing & Home READ MORE
  • Temu‘s owner PDD Holdings has posted soaring profits and revenue for the first quarter of this year. The company saw total revenues increase +131% to £9.3bn. Operating profit surged +275% year on year to £2.8bn READ MORE
  • boohoo reported group sales declined 17% YoY to £1.4bn in the year to 29 February, driven by ‘difficult market conditions’. The fashion retailer’s pre-tax losses widened to £159.9m in the period from £90.7m last year, with gross profit falling 16% to £756m READ MORE
  • Amazon announced plans to build a £500m robotic warehouse in Northampton, projected to be fully operational by 2026. The facility, featuring three floors of robotics technology for stowing and picking customer orders, will initially create 1,400 jobs, ranging from engineers to HR, finance and IT staff READ MORE
  • TikTok shop is due to go live in Continental Europe this Summer and has already started inviting merchants to beta-test READ MORE

 

Each month we send out the latest industry news and headlines, plus sector insight such as this via our newsletter, The Pulse. This also includes the latest jobs and internal news… click HERE  to subscribe

 

Written by:

James Hodges

Director of Client Engagement

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Industry News & Headlines | April 2024

May 19, 2024

The month of April seems to have been a catalyst for many. We’ve seen and heard new workstreams being signed off, new hires being approved, previously paused projects picked back up, and lots of contacts in the network securing new positions.

I have my suspicions that the start of a new financial year may have impacted this upward trend and played a big part in new hiring budgets being approved.

Simply Commerce noticed a notable uptick in new vacancies throughout the month. In fact, April has been one of our strongest months for new vacancies. We have also noticed:

🔴 30% of new vacancies are contract

🔴 30% of new vacancies sit within delivery or middle management

🔴 70% of new vacancies within engineering and testing.

Whilst new vacancies were high, April still had its challenges. We are seeing lengthy interview processes with extra due diligence happening. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it’s important to make the right hire, however, with the market slowly turning, particularly within engineering, we are already seeing companies that can move through the process quickly win the race to some great candidates.

Finally, SC attended the Retail Technology Show and what an event that was, the atmosphere was buzzing, the footfall was huge and the general takeaways are that there is still so much that can be done within this space. Personalisation & Content, Search and Product Information seem to be the 3 key areas of investment – along with Gen-AI of course.

 

Market Spotlight + Top 5 eCommerce Stories This Month

  • JD Sports expanded its flagship store in Westfield Stratford City, adding 4,000 sq ft and enhancing its digital features including immersive shopping experiences READ MORE
  • TikTok Shop UK expanded into preowned luxury fashion, joining existing offerings such as flowers and wellness, partnering with Luxe Collective Fashion, Sellier Knightsbridge, Sign of the Times, and Break. Archive READ MORE
  • ASOS.com continues to struggle as it recorded an 18% decline in sales in the 26 weeks to 3 March, with adjusted group revenue falling to £1.5bn. Loss before tax improved slightly to £270m, from a £290m loss last year READ MORE
  • Frasers Group acquired Dutch sports retailer Twin Sport, as part of its international expansion strategy. Twin Sport, with 17 stores in the Netherlands, yielded nearly £64m revenue in 2023. Frasers is also securing 10 former Sprinter retail locations READ MORE
  • Vinted revenue increased 61% up to €596 million from 22 to 23, more importantly, however, finally reaching profitability for the first time READ MORE

 

Each month we send out the latest industry news and headlines, plus sector insight such as this via our newsletter, The Pulse. This also includes the latest jobs and internal news… click HERE  to subscribe

 

Written by:

James Hodges

Director of Client Engagement

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Industry News & Headlines | March 2024

April 19, 2024

March was a strange month with more ups and downs than a rollercoaster, however, we finished on a positive note and this has certainly continued into the first week of April. 

Lots of positive data came out over the last month too:

🔸The IoD Directors’ Economic Confidence Index, which measures business leader optimism in prospects for the UK economy, rose to -12 in March 2024, having dropped back to -25 in February showing the mood of CEOs in the UK economy is rapidly improving.

🔸The Financial Times announced that UK public inflation expectations fell to the lowest in 2 years, a real positive sign and normally a good lead indicator of economic growth.

With such promising indicators, it’s clear that despite the ebbs and flows of activity in Q1. we’re on a trajectory of growth and stability as we move forward into April and beyond – and not before time.

 

Market Spotlight + Top 5 eCommerce Stories This Month

  • H&M experienced a significant boost in operating profit in Q1, nearly tripling to £155 million, resulting in a margin increase of 3.9%. READ MORE
  • PDD Holdings, owner of Temu, announced impressive sales figures of £27bn for last year, (nearly double that of 2022) with full-year operating profit soaring by 93% to £6.3bn READ MORE
  • Depop has announced an update to its fee structure, will see the elimination of its 10% selling fees for all UK users READ MORE
  • Several high street retailers including Sainsburys, Tesco, Greggs, and McDonalds were urged to address legacy issues within their operating systems after they suffered from major IT issues just days apart READ MORE
  • The turnover of the B2B market is projected to reach €1.7 trillion by 2025 READ MORE

 

Each month we send out the latest industry news and headlines, plus sector insight such as this via our newsletter, The Pulse. This also includes the latest jobs and internal news… click HERE  to subscribe

 

Written by:

James Hodges

Director of Client Engagement

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S5 | Episode 7 with Mikko Mantilla from IONA

April 18, 2024

In this penultimate episode of Season 5, we were delighted to welcome seasoned digital leader, Mikko Mantila , Co-Founder and CEO of IONA – an award-winning agency who specialises in next-generation eCommerce.

Founded in 2019,  IONA has gone on to experience rapid growth, with studios now in Helsinki, London, and Davao City in The Philippines. And, with a client base that continues to expand across the Nordics and the UK, Mikko has most recently experienced success with notable involvement in the MACH Alliance’s C-suite advisory board.

The episode delves into IONA’s background, pioneering the adoption of headless technology, as well as a focus on the evolution of composable strategies over their first 5 years in business.

In our chat, Mikko reflects on the ‘hype’ surrounding the concept and the necessity for businesses to consider its implications carefully, emphasising the importance of organisational readiness, cultural alignment, and clear communication of expected benefits and ROI.

The conversation deep dives into the complexities and realities of embracing composability in today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, offering valuable insights and guidance for businesses navigating this transformative journey.

LINKS TO LISTEN TO THE EPISODE ARE BELOW

Written by:

James Hodges

Director of Client Engagement

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S5 | Episode 6 with Rex Bigger from Cabiri

April 16, 2024

Seasoned professional Rex Bigger joined the composable conversation for Episode SIX of The FOD.

With over 25 years working in the tech and IT sector following a first-class degree in Astrophysics from UCL, Rex has a vast amount of experience with a varied career that has seen him work as a Senior Java Developer for the likes of MTV and Disney, before moving into Consultancy roles with e2x Limited where he led projects for high-profile clients including LEGO and Ikea.

Rex then co-founded specialist headless commerce consultancy, Cabiri in 2017 where he is currently CEO.

In our chat for the FOD, Rex spotlights the early days of composable (before the term itself even existed) and why the agency chose to join the MACH Alliance in late 2023.

He also considers future developments within IT more generally, and whether its cyclical nature means a new generation of monoliths could be where we end up as businesses embrace composable, but with a desire for a homogenous interface – it’s another fascinating discussion and viewpoint.

Whether you choose to listen to the podcast, or watch – you’ll find the episode in a number of places to suit you – links below >>>

Written by:

James Hodges

Director of Client Engagement

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