ChannelAdvisor has appointed Vladi Shlesman as Managing Director, EMEA. As he assumes his new role, Shlesman has warned that an overabundance of digital channels has caused chronic indecision at senior levels of many brands and retailers, posing a risk to how quickly ecommerce can grow post COVID.
In this new role, Shlesman will lead business strategy and the company’s EMEA operations, overseeing customer acquisition, expansion, and retention. He previously led the company’s EMEA and APAC Client Services since 2018.
Shlesman has a demonstrable track record, serving for over 20 years in senior presales and services roles at leading tech companies, including CA Technologies, Automic Software and BMC Software.
Shlesman’s appointment comes as ChannelAdvisor surveyed senior decision makers from 100 retailers and brands. 41% stated that their biggest challenge when selling online was that there were simply too many digital marketplaces to choose from. This was seen as the major challenge, over managing online inventories (28%) and achieving sales conversions (22%).
“Channel overload is the greatest risk to ecommerce growth post COVID, as it’s causing chronic indecision at the highest levels of many brands and retailers. There’s a real gap in understanding how to navigate this overabundance of digital channels, from marketplaces to social media. Unfortunately many have concluded that it’s safer to either try one or two big name platforms or simply wait for the landscape to become less complex, which just isn’t going to happen.
There’s a huge post-COVID ecommerce opportunity, but a failure to move quickly and adopt an agile digital strategy could see many brands and retailers suffer a similar fate to the high street. At a time when consumers have never been more eager to buy online, brands who aren’t agile enough to test and try the many varied digital shopfronts on offer will watch competitors snap up sales. I’m tremendously excited to lead ChannelAdvisor’s EMEA operations at such a transformative time for retailers and brands.”
– Vladi Shlesman, Managing Director EMEA, ChannelAdvisor