WWD profiles new CEO of Americas, ESW, Patrick Bousquet-Chavanne and his career to date

Patrick Bousquet-Chavanne, an executive with decades of international experience working at Emaar Malls, Marks & Spencer and The Estée Lauder Cos. Inc., has joined eShopWorld as president and chief executive officer, Americas.

It’s a new position at eShopWorld, underscoring how e-commerce continues to rapidly grow and present opportunities for brands and retailers to extend their reach to markets around the world.

EShopWorld, often referred to as ESW, sets up brands and retailers with an “end-to-end” solution for conducting cross-border e-commerce. It’s worked in 200 markets around the world and with brands such as PVH, Movado, Tarte, Nike and Estée Lauder.

“In the complex world of international retail, if you think about taxes, tariffs, VAT, pricing, translations, logistics, returns, data security, fraud protection, customer service — all those complexities — ESW takes that away from their clients so they can focus on what they do best — merchandising and developing product,” Bousquet-Chavanne said in an interview Tuesday.

“This is a young company. It’s been amazingly successful,” he told WWD. “Their technology has been integrated into many of the leading global brands in the world. The company provides very fast and efficient access to international arenas with minimal capital. In six to eight weeks, we can on-board a brand in a new market.”

Bousquet-Chavanne will have overall responsibility for ESW’s Americas business and growth strategy as well as worldwide marketing. In addition, he will lead ESW’s new consulting division: The Reach Advisory. Bousquet-Chavanne previously served as a member of ESW’s retail advisory council.

Bousquet-Chavanne said his client focus will be on fashion, beauty and luxury. “Clearly, those three verticals all care about brand equity, delivering an exceptional customer experience online and having more and more control of the direct-to-consumer route. We have seen brands just wholesaling or engaging with marketplaces such as Amazon. Now they want to control their own website. Why? Because it is so rich in analytics and so rich in customer data.”

Prior to joining ESW, Bousquet-Chavanne was CEO of Emaar Malls, owner of The Dubai Mall, the largest shopping  center in the world at 5.5 million square feet.

Before that, he served as executive director, customer, marketing and M&S.com, for Marks & Spencer, and prior to that he was group president at The Estée Lauder Cos., where he oversaw some of its largest brands, including Estée Lauder and MAC, as well as the designer fragrances division.

Read the full article on WWD.