Practice

Retail

Global retail sales are projected to north of 30 trillion U.S. dollars in the early years of the new decade, and aggregate retail revenue for the Top 250 companies alone already amounts to more than15% of that. Even though majority of the Top 10 global retailers are based in the US, Europe has the highest number of large retailers; with 88 giant companies in the region, globally focused with operations in 10+ countries on average. European retailers remain the most globally active as they continue to search for growth outside their mature home markets.

With consumers growing interests in health, wellbeing and increased participation in fitness activities, the global sports apparel retail sector has simultaneously grown to around 181 billion U.S. dollars in revenue in 2019. There is also a greater demand for clothes that are both stylish and comfortable, and as the Athleisure trend set to surpass formal fashion, sports apparel brands are forecast to reach around 208 billion U.S. dollars in 2025.

Within the retail space, E-commerce is driving high retail revenue growth as the value of transactions made by mobile payments continues to grow exponentially. While some brands and retailers are looking to build their own apps to enable customers to pay directly on their online platforms, E-commerce companies such as Zalando and Amazon are experimenting with physical store space that offer a 360-degree shopping experience.

Our clients have the ambition to dominate the market segment in which they compete, and we have the experience in this industry to provide them with star retail veterans that specialize in defining luxury digital retail and redefining traditional retail solutions. From the board level of classical retail multi-channel chains, to movers and shakers at internet businesses omni-channel operations, we are qualified in the field of retail to deliver industry experts with proven success, tailored to the market your business is grappling with.

What We Do

With the magnitude of change in this industry comes growing pains, but also incredible opportunity for visionaries. We are seeing that the winning global formula requires holistic “real” shopping and entertainment “theme-parks” addressing consumers’ needs in one space. At the same time, global developers and retailers are competing to create unique, innovative spaces offering art, technology, entertainment, theater, luxury, and the most “edgy” fashion & style, food, and hospitality.

Retail executives need to be creative, innovative, and able to anticipate and execute the next moves. At August Leadership, we help our clients identify and develop exec

Our Expertise

  • Beauty
  • Retail
  • Fashion
  • Lifestyle
  • Digital Retail

Practice Team

Michael Maeder

Partner

Michael is Cofounder & Managing Partner of August Leadership in China and IOT ONE, a global IoT consulting practice.

Mrinalini Singh

Partner

Highly driven and a perfectionist by nature, Mrinalini is committed to her clients, candidates and colleagues.

Chun Liew

Partner

Chun has more than 12 years executive search experience.

Ami Bhatt

Partner

Ami has 30 years experience in search, handling assignments in a range of industries with a strong focus in the consumer goods, retail, sourcing and industrial sectors.

Carilyn Quigley 

Partner

Carilyn has started and grown two executive search firms in her search career. These search firms focused in a range of different markets which is the reason that Carilyn now successfully executes senior appointments across a wide range of industries.

Paul Chau

Partner

Paul Chau has over two decades of executive search experience, and is highly regarded by clients of his expertise in the technology sector.

Jane Feng

Advisory Partner

Jane Feng is an Advisory Partner of August Leadership, based in Shanghai.

Arne Adrian

Partner

Arne specializes in top management positions in trade, FMCG, luxury good and media industries. In addition to executive search Arne leads a personnel diagnostics business called Scan Up AG.

Markos Moya

Partner

As a Partner at August Leadership, Markos leads operations in Australia. With over 30 years of experience, Markos focuses on the Technology, Private Equity, and Retail industries.

Sarah McGowan

Partner

With over 25+ years of experience in the retail industry, Sarah has an extensive background in talent management, learning and development, diversity and inclusion, and general management.

Louise Gatenby

Partner

Louise has 25 years of non-executive and executive search experience working with clients in the UK, Europe, Asia, and Australia supporting the appointment of diverse and purpose-led leaders into non-executive and senior leadership roles.

Michelle Partipilo

Partner

Her experience spans a range of industries and sectors including but not limited to sports & entertainment, technology, not-for-profit, travel/tourism & hospitality, alternative energy and real estate. Functionally, Michelle’s specializes in VP, C-suite, and Board level searches primarily.

Janeen Kang

Partner

Janeen Kang brings 15 years of experience in the Retail industry across North America and Asia Pacific.

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