Nike CEO Purges John Donahoe Lieutenants

eCommerceRetail
Written By Rick Watson

Nike CEO Elliott Hill who if somehow you forgot took over for former eBay CEO John Donahoe, has decided that a sneaker company doesn’t need a Chief Technology Officer. Role eliminated. This is a big statement. Chief Commercial Officer gone also. That’s quite a streamlining.

Chief Supply Chain Officer Venky Alagirisamy will take on all the technology in the business along with his current responsibilities. I think this is an interesting move because supply chain at Nike should be about how to innovate on shoes faster, which if technology is required great, it will be under one roof. You won’t have technology just creating random products and buying NFT companies like what happened at Nike not that many years ago.

Even in my work with brands, having a Head of Digital separate than a Head of Tech (where tech is defined as touches revenue - different role than CIO) to me has been a recipe for disaster for most brands. Simply too slow. Tech is an enabler and not the product itself.

Which is different than if you are a software company.

Ultimately it’s not clear what Donahoe was doing here. At the end of the day, if you are a sneaker company your product is something you wear on your feet. Software is not worn on your feet.

At least not until we all enter the metaverse.

Rick Watson

Rick Watson founded RMW Commerce Consulting after spending 20+ years as a technology entrepreneur and operator exclusively in the eCommerce industry with companies like ChannelAdvisor, BarnesandNoble.com, Merchantry, and Pitney Bowes.

Watson’s work today is centered on supporting investors and management teams incubating and growing direct-to-consumer businesses. Most recently, in partnership with WHP Global, Rick was a critical resource in architecting the WHP+ platform, a new turnkey direct to consumer digital e-commerce platform that powers AnneKlein.com and JosephAbboud.com.

Watson also hosts a weekly podcast, Watson Weekly, where he shares an unbiased, unfiltered expert take on the retail sector’s biggest players.

In the past year alone, Rick has spoken at many in-person and virtual events as well as podcasts on topics ranging from retail/ecom to supply chain/logistics and even digital grocery including CommerceNext IRL, ASCM Connect, and Retail Innovation Conference.

https://www.rmwcommerce.com/
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