Ingo W.-Independent Management Consultant and Interim Manager for Retail & Consumer Goods

• Currently working as an Interim Manager in a dual role: as Head of IT/VP IT (approx. 75 internal employees and 20 external staff) and ERP Program Manager (approx. 90 employees and an annual program budget of 10 Mio. EUR) at a leading DIY and building materials retailer in DACH (B2B and B2C).

• Transformation of an online furniture retailer
• Organization: 7 direct reports, total team of 90, revenue responsibility for 30M EUR
• Products: solid wood and upholstered furniture from India, Indonesia, Poland, Romania, Ukraine, Bosnia and China
• Sales/Marketing: own webshops in Germany, France and Italy, as well as German and international marketplaces and B2B sales for commercial projects. Online marketing functions and digital content creation handled in-house. Brand segmentation for product lines currently being developed.
• Sourcing, Supply Chain and Logistics: own product designs manufactured by third parties in India, Indonesia, Eastern Europe and China. Central B2C warehouse in Dessau and an external warehouse with a factory outlet near Coburg

Key Achievements:

• Finance: CAGR of 5,5% over three years and 10% revenue growth with 5,5% EBIT in 2024 (while the market and competition were seeing a negative CAGR of -20%, with insolvencies and drastic consolidation in online and offline furniture retail)
• People & Culture Transformation:
• Developed and introduced a company vision as the basis for culture and leadership initiatives
• Professionalized organizational structures, roles, responsibilities and leadership processes
• Built and integrated a new team in India
• Introduced goal-oriented leadership and compensation approaches
• Supported organizational and cultural change during a challenging market and transformation phase
• Digital Transformation: Successfully implemented ERP Microsoft Business Central across all inventory and financial flows, Plentymarkets as standard middleware connecting webshops and marketplaces, modern customer service software (ZENDESK), a global intranet, and a pilot project for the future shop system (Shopware)
• Procurement strategy: Moved production of the company’s Top3 series to Ukraine, reducing procurement costs by 20% and increasing revenue by 85% year over year. Established China as a new sourcing market with three manufacturers.
• Sales: Built and expanded the OTTO marketplace business. Revenue grew from 500k to 3,5M EUR in three years.

• Built and developed a global HR IT team with 15 internal employees and up to 20 external staff
• Overall responsibility for the global HR systems landscape, including SAP HCM, payroll solutions, talent and performance management systems, and communication and workflow platforms
• Strategic partner to the global People & Culture organization for digitizing and standardizing key HR processes
• Responsible for evaluating, selecting and implementing new HR technologies as part of a global HR transformation
• Total budget of 6,5 Mio. EUR over three years

Key Achievements:

• Program lead for the selection, development and global rollout of the #MYBEST performance management solution for around 60.000 employees worldwide
• Led an international selection process for modern performance management platforms, including the assessment of in-house solutions and market-leading options such as SAP and Workday
• Harmonized global HR processes and enabled digital support for talent, performance and leadership processes
• Built and launched a global intranet for around 30.000 employees

• Strategic and operational responsibility for all Retail Store IT solutions, with an annual budget of 6M EUR. Team of 14 internal employees and up to 15 external project staff
• Responsible for the strategic business model and the development of an aligned digital roadmap for "OmniChannel" solutions with customer touchpoints in the WebShop, OwnStores, Franchise Stores and B2B sports retailers

Key Achievements:

• Selected POS GK as the global in-store and mobile point-of-sale system, including SAP Retail integration for all master and transaction data, as well as Click&Collect and Ship-from-Store functionality. Successfully rolled out to 200 stores in Europe. Increased visitor numbers and conversion rate by 20%.
• Initiated and chaired the global internal Retail Technology Forum with Global VPs from Retail and Marketing, local CFOs and the SVP IT Sales to align on global digital store standards and develop a global roadmap

• IT Project Manager for the global "SAP Retail" pilot project from February 2007 to February 2008. Then held overall responsibility for Retail IT North America from March 2008 to March 2009. I was subsequently transferred to Germany to help build a global retail organization.

Key Achievements:

• Successfully implemented the SAP Retail pilot, including store integration. Delivered with 35 project staff and a 5,5M USD budget. Ensured alignment between global and local decision-makers (Global CFO, local managing directors and Retail Head) through forward-looking, transparent communication that built trust.
• Successfully folded Reebok US into SAP Retail and designed the adidas Reebok Canada solution at only 15% of the original implementation cost.

• Transformation and development of the retail business. In 2005, adidas strategically established retail as a new growth channel, expanding beyond the Factory Outlet/Clearance business that had been its sole focus until then. The new business model led to the transformation of Performance and Original Concept Stores through brand segmentation, managed by a central retail team with Europe as the pilot region. Stores opened in various European countries, a retail back-office team was formed, and process and IT solutions were implemented.
• As a first-time people manager, responsible for growing and developing the IT team (eight internal employees), implementing processes and IT for the new Concept Stores, and managing the ongoing operations of all Factory Outlet stores in Europe.

Key achievements:

• Successfully opened 10 stores in three different countries and harmonized and consolidated systems for retail back-office processes across all Factory Outlet stores in Europe.

Controlling

Monthly reporting Cost center planning SAP FICO