Erica Berchtold has officially taken the reins from Patrick Schmidt as CEO of The Iconic. She started at the company a little over two weeks ago, after being named to the position in October 2018.
Berchtold brings over 20 years of retail experience to The Iconic, including most recently as the managing director of Rebel, where she nearly doubled top-line sales while maintaining EBIT margins of around 10 per cent across Super Retail Group’s sportswear division during her seven-year tenure.
She joins The Iconic following a strong 2018, when the online-only retailer achieved double-digit market share and record traffic and grew its range to more than 1000 brands and 60,000 products.
“For The Iconic, 2018 was a truly momentous year and I personally can’t think of a better time to have completed my tenure as CEO,” Patrick Schmidt, chairman of The Iconic and co-CEO of the company’s parent company, GFG, said.
“Not only did we deliver our highest sales period ever in the fourth quarter, we liberated global fashion standards by producing the world’s most body-positive runway show, maintained our market leading customer NPS and achieved our highest ever eNPS [employee NPS].
“I’m both proud and excited to have handed over my leadership of The Iconic to Erica and The Iconic’s leadership team, and I can’t wait to see what’s next.”
According to a statement from The Iconic, 15 per cent of all households across Australia and New Zealand were shopping with the retailer through 2018, up from 9 per cent in 2017. The site receives over 150 million visits annually, with seven out of 10 of these happening on a mobile device.
The retailer last year reported $267.8 million in sales in 2017, a 35 per cent increase over 2016, for a total loss of $9.7 million. The retailer said at the time that it was working towards profitability.
In a statement about Berchtold’s start, The Iconic said that she would focus on scaling the business for long-term growth.
“I’m thrilled to have finally started at The Iconic as CEO, a company renowned for its innovation, challenger mindset and laser focus on engaging customers through seamless and inspiring experiences,” Berchtold said.
“It’s an exciting challenge to take over from Patrick who has laid the foundation for The Iconic to disrupt and build the future of retail across Australia and New Zealand.
“Having observed how The Iconic has fostered a culture of passionate changemakers amongst its exceptionally talented team, I welcome the responsibility of leading such an incredible company and look forward to what the future brings.”
