We caught up with Martin Ponsan – Project Owner at Chalhoub's Digital Hub – to hear about his career evolution this year.
GH: So I heard you moved to “The Digital Hub” – tell me what you were doing just before, and what your current role entails.
MP: I joined Chalhoub over a year ago as a Regional Business Analyst for Tory Burch – I was in charge of reporting and analytics; our aim was to understand the business and take actions accordingly. About a month ago, I moved to the Digital Hub led by Gustavo Smidt; where I support brands on e-commerce development – starting with harmonizing all processes through the Fashion and Own Concepts Verticals.
In short, I’m helping brands get the most out of their in-store analytics to increase sales and reduce costs.
GH: I know you worked closely with one of the startups of the Greenhouse FW18 cohort – StoreDNA – in implementing their in-store analytics solution; what was that experience like?
MP: Without any hesitation, one of the best professional experiences I’ve had. Mainly thanks to the people I worked with; Uros, Camelia, and Dina who gave me their trust from the beginning.
I realized the importance of a collective drive towards implementing this solution – there was a group effort from everyone involved in setting up StoreDNA; from IT, to store staff, HR to security. Coordination was made easy through collaboration. This mindset is so important in implementing these solutions; together we’re involving people across the brand to co-create a tool that is useful for all.
GH: How much did your involvement with StoreDNA enable you to move to this new role?
MP: Thanks to StoreDNA, The Greenhouse and Tory Burch, I have been involved in one of the key innovations within retail technology: in-store analytics – and how we might make decisions based on data.
The Digital Hub wants to be a pioneer in supporting our brands to create and implement digital solutions to business challenges. Lucky for me, Gustavo recognized my passion and drive towards this topic, and asked me to join his team.
GH: I remember when you presented the solution to the Tory Burch team, you surprised us all with your passion towards the product – was this something you’ve always been interested in?
MP: I've always been interested in tech; I was involved in it mainly within the wine industry. The difference here, was that I was involved from A to Z; from highlighting the needs on the Tory Burch side, to a customized platform release. My passion only grew as the rollout progressed, I was discovering the potential of StoreDNA, and how we could be part of this “shift” in a retail environment.
GH: Working closely with Uros, I'm sure you picked up tips & tricks on the “startup way” – have any that you’d like to share?
MP: We faced many challenges throughout this project. What I learned from Uros? “There is always a solution”.
GH: To switch gears, we asked Uros for a quick note on working with Martin.
Uros: Martin and Camelia from Tory Burch, showed to be one of the most progressive client teams I’ve worked with. Chalhoub already handles an abundance of data, and Martin seems to be transforming the multiple data points into one digital language for all. This takes understanding and vision, creativity and persistence; traits that Martin can bring to the Digital Hub.