E-commerce

Top 50 Q&A: Amanda Green, 2XU

Welcome to our weekly Q&A with Internet Retailing’s 2019 Top 50 People in E-Commerce. You can find this year’s Top 50 report here, and see our previous Q&As here.

This week, Internet Retailing interviews Amanda Green, global head of digital commerce at 2XU. Amanda ranked 50th on our list this year.

Short on time? Here are the three key takeaways from the interview:

• E-commerce budgets (and teams) are often lean so you need to run the business as if it were your own.
• Hiring the right people, with expertise and the right personality will balance your team.
• Each country has different online purchasing behaviours, which should be taken into account.

Internet Retailing: What does an average day look like for you? What are the daily concerns?

Amanda Green: The average day would start with a visit with the team to a local Café to grab an almond cap or an early morning call with the global teams. I am pretty lucky here that I don’t suffer from meeting or email overload, and have well-structured and knowledgeable e-commerce teams both locally and globally.

Each country has different targets, campaigns and needs so juggling these and making sure we are doing the best we can to support and achieve our goals is my main priority. The rest of my time is spent focusing on the strategy and road-map for global digital commerce which right now at 2XU is pretty exciting as there are some great opportunities to get after.

IR: You’ve worked in e-commerce in several large global brands, such as Nike, L’Oreal and now 2XU. What are some of the key learnings you’ve taken from these roles?

AG: Don’t be afraid to dig in and get your hands dirty, be scrappy when you need to. E-commerce budgets (and teams) are often lean so you need to run the business as if it were your own. Invest and outsource when the business case warrants it, but otherwise be prepared to do it yourself if it is necessary to achieve results.

Be a jack of all (e-commerce) trades. To deliver the best result and know where and when to focus, you need to have a practical understanding of each of the areas.

Team synergy is critical to achieving results and each team member will contribute something different. Hire the right expertise with the right personality that will balance your team. An unbalanced team can spend more time clashing with each other than focusing on the job that needs to be done and delivering their best (together).

Be a leader. To your team, to the company and for yourself. Bring your best to work and encourage and develop those you work with so they can achieve their best too. You are developing the next generation of leaders in your company with your leadership example.

IR: Your experience across the industry must give you quite an insight into where its heading – what are the trends and advancements you’re expecting to take off in the next few years?

AG: Voice search is the obvious answer, but the impact of this is going to depend on the products you are selling. High end luxury products are as unlikely to be affected in the short term by voice search utilisation as the fast moving consumer products will be.

Marketplaces, and not just the big obvious ones, are becoming necessity to your digital commerce portfolio. While not a new concept, the marketplace is a great alternative (or partner to) a direct to consumer website which can allow a business to have more control over margins and user experience than a traditional wholesale model might.

There are some great new concepts being launched like The Market in NZ, which are really exciting and will change consumer expectations.

Knowing the customer has always been a topic of discussion, but companies will really start focusing on creating a truly meaningful one to one connection between their brand and the customer.

Technology and systems are now available to support this, but the wide adaption and use of data analysts and the insights they generate will see this really take off.

Payment methods. The change in the past few years has been amazing in terms of the payment methods available to the Australian consumer, I think we are going to see many more options before it finally settles down to a more standard offering where there is less focus on credit cards.

Environmental impact and sustainability is in focus more than ever before which is fantastic so lets hope the momentum continues.

The fact that a lot of the push is coming from consumers who are asking for [The Iconic’s] Considered options makes me feel it will. There is a long way for the industry to go in terms of adopting sustainable methods and truly being environmentally conscious.

IR: Being 2XU’s global head of digital commerce, do you see differences in how different markets perceive and utilise e-commerce? If so, what are some examples?

AG: The differences in each country are an important consideration as you look to expand globally. The most noticeable difference is in China and Southeast Asia where they have a large number of consumers with access to e-commerce, but the use of mobile devices needs to be considered along with how they utilise them.

The selling proposition from how you initially attract the customer, to then engage and convert will be different, focusing more on the social media component than it would in other countries.

The items that are primarily purchased online in each country differ. Japan tends to purchase more books and stationery, Spain and France purchase travel, and Brazil likes their consumer electronics.

When considering entering these markets, their purchasing tendencies need to be taken into account and the market assessed properly to determine the likelihood of your product offering being successful.

Payment methods are also different by market. Credit cards are the standard globally, but in China or Western Europe you will find digital payment systems like Alipay or those utilising a direct debit are preferred along with cash on delivery for Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

IR: Is there anything else you wanted to add? Anything you’re particularly excited for, or passionate about?

AG: I am excited to see the e-commerce industry in Australia, and globally, start to gain momentum and achieve the retail shift ambition that has always been talked about.

I changed my career over 15 years ago to enter eCommerce with the vision that it was the next era of shopping and it is great to see it coming to fruition. That said, I can’t wait to see where it goes next, and I am going to be there in the thick of it.