Guy Nappa – co-founder and COO at Oz Hair & Beauty – tops the rankings of Inside Retail’s 2025 Top 50 People in E-Commerce, presented by Australia Post.
Nappa first started working at Oz Hair & Beauty as a warehouse packer during school holidays and officially joined the business as a partner in 2015.
He has played a key role in leading the business’s omnichannel expansion and scaling its backend operations to meet increased demand.
You can download the full report here.
“Guy’s successful execution of extensive store expansions and transformative omnichannel strategies underscores his role as a leading force in achieving substantial growth and innovation, solidifying his status among Australia’s top hair and beauty e-commerce leaders,” said one of this year’s judges, Sam Shaheen, GM of technology for retail, brand and marketing, and enterprise services at Australia Post.
Heather McIlvaine, managing editor of features and premium at Inside Retail, said Nappa’s relentless focus on continuous improvement and technological innovation, such as rolling out digital pricing labels in stores, sets him apart in a highly competitive industry.
“One of the many projects Guy spearheaded in the past year was the launch of Oz Hair & Beauty’s highly successful own brand. He also implemented several supply-chain optimisations, including a custom ship-to-store solution, which led to significant cost-savings,” she said.
“According to Guy, the secret to being a successful COO in e-commerce is simple: make things faster, better, cheaper or improve the customer experience. He has certainly done that at Oz Hair & Beauty.”
This year’s Top 50 includes people working across many different categories of online retail, from health and personal care to fashion and lifestyle.
Gary Starr, executive GM of parcel, post, and e-commerce at Australia Post, said that shoppers are turning to smaller but more frequent online purchases to “manage costs and shop strategically for affordable items” amid the cost-of-living crisis and high interest rates.
“The outlook for online shopping is bright, and the agility and adaptive capabilities of the e-commerce landscape make it so exciting,” said Starr.
“The opportunity to recognise and celebrate the emergence of new retail entities and trailblazing talent is what the Top 50 is all about.”
Joining McIlvaine and Shaheen on the judging panel were Mark Baartse, e-commerce and marketing consultant; Nathan Bush, e-commerce transformation consultant; Stephanie Caite Chadwick, features and premium editor for FMCG and retail at Inside Retail; Prasad Gokhale, GM of freight services at Australia Post; Lyn Nguyen, founder and operations specialist at Auvie Consultants; Kelly Slessor, e-commerce coach and digital marketing expert; Paul Waddy, e-commerce coach and adviser; and Travis Wright, chief product officer at Ecommerce Equation.
