John Lewis director of online trade Mark Felix is departing the business for Moneysupermarket.com, Retail Week can reveal.
He follows his former boss Mark Lewis, who left the partnership to become chief executive of the price comparison site in early 2017.
Felix is leaving at the end of this week to take up a leadership role at Moneysupermarket.
The department store chain is bringing together its online trade and online product teams. Online product director Sienne Veit will be promoted to digital director, looking after both departments, following Felix’s departure.
John Lewis said: “We can confirm that Mark Felix is leaving to go to Moneysupermarket Group and we wish him well and thank him for his commitment to the partnership over the last three years.
“We have significant ambitions for digital and have taken the opportunity to unify our online trade and online product teams under one digital director, which we believe will help us create end-to-end digital experiences and leverage our technology platforms.”
John Lewis is struggling with the huge changes affecting the retail industry. It revealed its strategy for the coming years last month, when it admitted its first-half profits will be “close to zero”.
The partnership acknowledged the seismic changes affecting the retail sector and set out its stall for navigating the “generational change”.
Its strategy consists of three key aims:
- focusing on differentiation rather than scale;
- investing heavily; and
- placing partners at the heart of its business.
Focusing on differentiation will see Waitrose renew its focus on core customers and “extraordinary” service levels. Partners will become ‘food ambassadors’ and there will be an increase in the number of specialists on hand to advise customers.
John Lewis will centre its efforts on unique product, personal service and new service propositions. It plans to “supercharge” women’s fashion by launching a major new collection, acquire new niche brands, secure exclusives with international brands and grow its design capability.
It plans to grow its own-brand and exclusive product from 30% of sales to 50%.
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