BrazilMcKinsey Germany partner Thomas Netzer joins Wayfair as COO Europe
Thomas Netzer, a partner at McKinsey & Company in Germany, has joined Wayfair as Chief Operating Officer for Europe. Netzer, who served the US strategy consultancy for more than two decades, is based in Wayfair’s Berlin office.
Founded in 2002 by entrepreneurs Niraj Shah and Steve Conine, Wayfair is today with a revenue of $4.8 billion one of the globe’s larger e-commerce companies. The organisation, headquartered in Boston, specialises in the home goods markets (home furnishings, décor items, accessories,etc), with its portfolio of brands and websites including Joss & Main, AllModern, Birch Lane and Perigold. Wayfair has offices and warehouses across North America and Europe – Germany, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.
New in the boardroom of Wayfair Europe is Thomas Netzer, who has been tasked with leading the firm’s European growth ambition. “As one of Wayfair’s most senior leaders, Thomas will be responsible for growing Wayfair’s European sales and service organisation, overseeing the European CastleGate warehousing business, managing all European supply chain functions and driving forward Wayfair EU’s product innovation,” said Wayfair’s global Chief Operating Officer James Savarese.
Netzer brings with him over 20 years of experience working in global transportation and infrastructure for McKinsey & Company. During his 22 years at the leading global management consultancy, of which 15 years were as a partner, he focused on the transportation and the infrastructure industry and co-led McKinsey’s global Logistics practice. Between 2006 and 2012 he played an instrumental role in building McKinsey’s transportation and infrastructure practice in India, helping one of India’s largest airports with doubling its cargo business and the government with transportation development plans, among other projects.
Commenting on his new employer, Netzer said; “Wayfair is not only uniquely positioned to lead the online development of the home market in Europe due to its strong focus on logistics and thereby overall customer satisfaction. It also follows a very value-driven and data-oriented management approach, which will allow the company to attract outstanding talent and build proprietary solutions in an increasingly digital business environment.”
Global COO Savarese, who is based in Boston, said he is delighted with the addition of the experienced recruit, stating; “With more than 11 million active customers globally, optimised logistics are the linchpin in helping to drive customer satisfaction. Under Thomas’s strategic leadership, we are looking forward to optimising our operational approach, enabling us to fulfil our promise of a seamless end-to-end shopping experience, from discovery to delivery in the most efficient way possible.”
