Sought-after senior executives drive salary growth in retail space
As international retailers in Asia Pacific turn from rapid expansion in brick-and-mortar locations to pursuing sustainable investment and profitability in the region, demand for a new breed of retail leaders is driving up remuneration by 20% or more, warns headhunter firm CTPartners.
Tim Boerkoel, Global Head of Consumer & Retail Practice, CTPartners commented, “This is especially evident in Asia’s luxury retail sector, where many Western brands sought to quickly expand into the region over the last five to ten years. But the onslaught of mobile commerce, increasing competition and soaring retail property costs mean that today’s retail leadership focus has shifted to enhancing regional profitability more than rapidly opening new stores. Thanks in part to the impact of social media and e-commerce, retailers are also looking for executives with a deeper, wider toolbox of skills that also include both brand and consumer marketing skills.”
In 2012, B2C e-commerce sales in APAC grew more than 33% to USD 332.46 bn, estimates eMarketer, with Asia surpassing North America to become the world's number one market for B2C e-commerce sales. This year, the region will see sales increase by more than 30% to over USD 433 bn—accounting for more than one-third of all such B2C e-commerce sales globally. This will mostly be driven by growth in China. According a governmental report released by the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), over 240 million people made an online purchase in China in 2012.
The six most sought-after qualities in senior executives:
- Keen financial acumen
- Digital aptitude—social media, e-commerce, multi-channel sales
- APAC multi-market expertise
- Ability to lead through transformative change
- Supply chain management know-how
- Ability to be a good brand ambassador
“Some companies are even turning to hiring from outside their own industries, in order to sidestep the talent shortage for experienced leaders and managers with these qualities,” said Sarah Lim, Partner at the Retail & Consumer Practice at CTPartners. She illustrated, “Ralph Lauren’s President for Asia Pacific came from the gourmet and speciality foods sector. The current CEO of Levi Strauss was brought in from Procter & Gamble.”
Lim asserted that retailers in Asia will increasingly promote younger retail executives into leadership positions. “E-commerce and multi-channel expertise are perhaps the most highly sought-after leadership skills in the retail industry today. Such digitally savvy leaders tend to be younger and in the consumer services, media and mobile communications sectors. This drives the cross-industry executive searches,” she observed.
Paul Arkwright
Publisher
