A change is planned at the level of the General Management of the Coop Group. As part of a new digital strategy, in 2023 the company will combine the Marketing, Digital Services and IT sectors into a single entity within the General Management.
According to the retailer’s press release, the new “Digital & Customer” Department has been created to be part of the evolution towards agile and interdisciplinary teams in the context of digitalization. “Coop will thus be able to meet the ever-changing expectations of its customers even more quickly and in a targeted manner, recognize new trends earlier and carry out its projects more efficiently”, specifies the group.
Thomas Schwetje Monte en Grid, Reto Conrad retire
Thomas Schwetje, hitherto head of the “Marketing and Digital Services” division, has been appointed head of the new department. With this appointment, he becomes CEO of the Coop group. According to his Linkedin profile, Thomas Schwetje has worked for the retailer since October 2008.
Reto Conrad, the current head of IT/Production/Services, will on the other hand leave the company. He joined the group in the summer of 2012. The press release from Coop states that he is leaving on good terms, to take up new challenges. “I would like to thank Reto Conrad for the exceptional commitment he has shown, the targeted development of the areas for which he was responsible and the fruitful collaboration over the past ten years. I wish him every success for the future,” says Philipp Wyss, CEO.
Since March 2021, Lukas Wirth has been responsible for Coop’s IT department, reporting to Reto Conrad. In an interview with our German-speaking editorial team, he revealed in particular how the retailer Coop approaches AI, the change of its ERP and the outsourcing of IT.