Sainsbury’s tech chief joins Shop Direct in new role, will oversee Very Exclusive

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Nov 29, 2016

Shop Direct’s technology focus will see it creating a new board-level tech role next year with Jon Rudoe joining from Sainsbury’s.

Currently head of technology at the supermarkets-to-general merchandise retailer, Rudoe will next April move to Shop Direct, overseeing its e-commerce, marketing, trading, commercial, and business development, and IT. He will also be in charge of its premium-to-luxury fashion site Very Exclusive.

The powerful new role will see him reporting directly to Shop Direct CEO Alex Baldock.

Rudoe has been with Sainsbury’s for five years and has run its digital and technology operations, plus marketing innovation and user experience since 2014.

Shop Direct is combining its retail and IT teams from next year and Rudoe will be key to this process. Baldock said the new appointment comes at an important time for the company.

“Bringing together our e-commerce and IT teams into one combined function with Jon at the helm will allow us to respond more quickly to our customers’ rapidly changing needs, and to be faster to market in identifying and implementing new tech-focused opportunities," he said.

The retailer has been focusing heavily on technology development in recent months and is working on several major tech-based projects initiatives. These include the introduction of artificial intelligence for both customer service and to help shoppers as they browse; as well as greater personalisation using AI; and data analytics, and boosting mobile. The company said recently that m-commerce currently makes up 62% of its total e-sales.