Rear Window

Wesfarmers to part ways with Catch.com CEO

Wesfarmers will overhaul its Catch.com group as its CEO resigns and the e-commerce unit moves under its OneDigital division under Nicole Sheffield.

Tom RichardsonJournalist

Apr 4, 2022 – 5.00am

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Wesfarmers is set to concede that its underperforming Catch.com e-commerce business needs a change of direction, and Catch’s Melbourne-based chief executive Peter Sauerborn will resign from the business on June 30.

As part of the overhaul, Catch Group is set to be removed from Wesfarmers’ Kmart and Target retail division and placed under the control of digital boss Nicole Sheffield.

Former Amazon executive Sauerborn had moved from Seattle to Melbourne to join Catch in mid-2020, but hasn’t exactly covered himself in glory on the operating results.

Catch’s earnings before tax loss widened by $29 million to $44 million over the half-year to December 31, and its total transaction value was up just 1 per cent. Total revenue fell 4.3 per cent to $315 million.

These numbers are in the context of a pandemic-induced e-commerce super-cycle after Wesfarmers paid $230 million for Catch to internet entrepreneurs Gabby Leibovich and Hezi Leibovich in June 2019.

That was nice timing, but another thorn in Catch’s side has been the disappointing customer acquisition growth, amid competition from the likes of Kogan.com.

Nicole Sheffield, the digital boss at Wesfarmers OneDigital, will soon be responsible for Catch.com.

Over the half-year to December 31, Catch added just 0.1 million customers to take its total to 3 million at the same time as Wesfarmers committed to investing hard in the business via increased marketing, recruitment, and tech spends.

Catch is set to be integrated into a new group known as Wesfarmers OneDigital from July 1 and former News Corp executive Sheffield will be charged with turning its performance around.

One key strategy to reverse the stagnant customer growth numbers is the Catch OnePass membership that gives shoppers free delivery, exclusive deals, and the cheapest prices around in exchange for a monthly subscription fee. That sounds a lot like the Amazon Prime model of Sauerborn’s former employer.

If you can’t beat them, recruit them – or just save yourself the hassle and copy them, we guess.

Tom Richardson writes and comments on markets including equities, debt, crypto, software, banking, payments, and regulation. He worked in asset management at Bank of New York Mellon and is a member of the CFA Society of the UK as a holder of the Investment Management Certificate. Connect with Tom on Twitter. Email Tom at tom.richardson@afr.com