Retailers across Australia are managing rising costs of doing business at the same time as consumers tighten their spending in response to sustained cost of living pressure. The result is a market in which margin, customer relevance and operational discipline all matter at once, and in which the pool of executives who have led through both strong conditions and genuine downturns is shallow. Boards and Chief Executives are looking for proven retail leaders with a clear cost focus and an equally clear customer focus, and competition for that small group of people is intense. Appointing the right senior executive leadership, whether a Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operating Officer or Chief Customer Officer, in this environment is one of the most consequential decisions a retail organisation will make, and it is the work Omera Partners does every day.

Carlos De Oglou leads this practice.  When he briefs for a senior retail appointment, the first task is to understand what already works within the organisation and why. That means looking closely at what has succeeded in the role, what has not, and the specific conditions that made the difference. It also means being honest about where the business needs to go, because the competencies that will carry a retailer through the next five years are rarely identical to the ones that served it in the past. Omera Partners works with clients to define those competencies precisely, and to secure agreement across the leadership group before the search begins.

Clients want certainty when they appoint a senior retail leader. Boards and Chief Executives are looking for a proven and clearly evidenced track record rather than potential alone, and they place real value on leaders who are either already known to them or introduced through a trusted source. Omera Partners provides that assurance through deep and current knowledge of the retail executive market across Australia, built over decades of appointments. Where an executive is unfamiliar, Omera Partners is able to qualify them quickly and reliably through an established network of senior retail relationships spanning medium to large private and listed businesses.

Market perspective

The retailers that will succeed over the next one to two years are the ones that simplify. Consumer spending will remain tight, but people are still spending, and the businesses that win will be clear about their product, disciplined about their brand and realistic about who their customer actually is. Whether the category is fashion, furniture, homewares or everyday commodity items, the customer wants to be inspired, and where inspiration is absent the customer wants value. Neither is possible without a leadership team that understands the modern retail customer as well as it understands the numbers.

Three shifts are worth watching closely. The first is the pressure to streamline operations and to question whether too much cost and complexity have been built into the business over time. The second is the continued rise of digital, ecommerce, customer acquisition and loyalty as the arena in which retail competition is increasingly won and lost. The third is a genuine shortage of proven retail executives, which is pushing boards to weigh the risk and the reward of backing fresh talent in senior roles without an extensive track record behind them. Omera Partners advises retail boards and Chief Executives across Australia on exactly these questions.

 Questions boards and Chief Executives should ask before appointing a retail leader

1.      Are we genuinely winning against our competitors, and if not, are we honest about whether the gap is product, price or promotion?

2.      What would the right leader do in this role that we cannot see being done well now?

3.      Have we tried this direction before, and if it did not work then, are we confident the reason was the approach rather than the timing?

4.      What realistic time frame are we allowing for this leader to deliver change and incrementally better results, and are our expectations aligned across the board on that?

5.      Are we clear on whether we need a proven operator or the right person to back for the future, and have we agreed on that as a leadership group before we begin the search?

 Working with Omera Partners

Omera Partners appoints senior retail leaders for boards and Chief Executives across Australia, drawing on decades of appointments and a deep network across the retail sector. If your organisation is preparing for a senior retail leadership appointment, or simply wants a considered view of the market before you begin, we would welcome a conversation.