Harshavardhan Chauhaan
C-Suite Leader | Oxford Said Business School Alumnus | LBS Global Venture Program | IIM A | Retail, eCommerce, D2C, Shopping Malls, FMCG, Consulting
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Brand Management
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Business Strategy
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Product Marketing
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Digital Marketing
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Strategic Planning
Gurgaon, India

Experienced C-Suite leader with a passion for retail, eCommerce, and martech. Led impactful transformations at Spencer's Retail and DLF Shopping Malls. Worked with ShopClues and Godrej, delivering business growth and strategy. 

Recognized as one of the 50 Most Influential Retail, eCommerce & Martech professionals in India. 

Chief Marketing & Omnichannel Officer, Spencer's Retail
February 2020 - February 2024
- Spearheaded retail disruption for a billion consumers building Hypermarkets, Superstores, Daily & Neighborhood (Kirana), eCommerce, Out of Store business, Omnichannel Retail, D2C Brands
- Rebranded and launched Spencer’s Hyper, Spencer’s Kirana & Spencer’s Value Market across 35 cities redefining the Consumer Value Proposition for the New India
- Leading all things “Consumer” with a digital first mindset for India’s biggest & most hyper competitive Industry segment Grocery Retail with estimated market size of USD 300 billion spearheading a Pan India portfolio for Spencer’s Retail, Natures Basket & D2C Brands under RPSG Group (India’s leading multi-sector conglomerate with AUM of USD 8 Billion)
- Spearheading People, Building Culture, Driving Transformation with Brand Marketing, Consumer Analytics, Digital & Performance Marketing, eCommerce & Omnichannel Marketing for Spencer's Retail & Nature's Basket for more than 200+ stores spread across 35+cities
- Led as part of Cofounding team for D2C brands portfolio incubated under RPSG group scaled to multimillion dollar brands from zero, including thegiftstudio.com - India’s leading Gourmet Gifting Brand , gigglesandwiggles.co in - Leading Premium Baby Care Brand
Central Head of Marketing & Phygital (Digital Transformation), DLF Limited
July 2017 - February 2020
India
- Conceptualized and led DLF Shopping Malls Digital Transformation, disrupting modern retail consumer experience with an industry-first and one of the most successful outcomes culminating into one of the world's most cutting-edge Phygital Shopping Experiences
- Led all the Central Marketing functions, Brand Marketing, Digital & Business Transformation Strategy, Phygital Consumer Products, Performance Marketing for DLF Shopping Malls, India's biggest Retail Marketplaces with annualized GMV of USD 2 - 5 billion creating delightful experiences for 60 million consumers
- Central Head of Marketing for DLF Mall of India, DLF Cyberhub, DLF Promenade, DLF Avenue & DLF One Horizon
Director & Business Head - Marketplace (Merchant Strategy, Seller Ecosystem , Platform Monetization), ShopClues
December 2016 - July 2017
Gurgaon, India
- Senior Leadership Role to lead Marketplace Strategy & Seller Ecosystem
- Worked towards building a highly productive, growth oriented and high value driven ecosystem for a Million+ merchants, Small & Medium Businesses focused at: Building Merchant Acquisition, Engagement & Retention Strategy
- Scaling up & Innovating in Up-selling Services for Non-Transaction Revenue
- Evolving Merchant Policy to deliver impeccable Merchant Experience
- Leading Financing & Other Large Partnerships
- Creating long term Government Partnerships for digitally enabling SMB's in India
- Lead a team of 89+ rockstars to take Shopclues to the next level!!!
Director & Business Head - General Merchandize & Alternate Payments Business (Semi-Open Loop PPI), ShopClues
May 2016 - December 2016
Gurgaon, India
- Senior Leadership Role to head General Merchandise business (Auto, Toys, Personal Care, Gifting, Books, Gourmet Food, Pets, Perfumes, Sports, Health & Fitness) and Alternate Payments Business (Semi Open Loop Pre-Paid Instruments, Open Loop Cards)
- Grew business by 78% yoy while delivering phenomenally positive bottom line, with a 2-3% market share acquisition across ecommerce industry
- Launched and scaled newer business segments in Gifts Cards Business, Automotive Booking Model, Pet Supplies, FMCG - B2B model, including logistics innovations in supply chain for complex imports, private labels, regional brands and high volumetric - high ASP portfolio
Head - Category Management (Fashion & Lifestyle,Home & Furniture, FMCG, Sports & Auto), ShopClues
November 2015 - May 2016
Gurgaon, India
- Business Leader for Unstructured (everything non electronics) categories portfolio
- Lead a team of 78 Rockstars across category management function
- Led Fashion & Lifestyle business focusing on backward integration & regional - tier 2 strategy to improve margins by 13 basis points and bring it into positive bottom line
- Built and scaled up high growth high margin Household Furniture and Sanitaryware business
- Scaled up to 3x GMV with significantly positive margins
- Built lasting strategic relationships with top 15 consumables brands including Nivea,P&G,Unilevers,Marico,Colpal,J&J,etc
- Scaled upto 4x GMV, solving for logistics and regional demand aggregation strategy
- Scaled business upto more than 35% of marketplace orders, with highest consumer touch points across industry and improving bottom line from negative 40 to positive territory in 6 months
- Solved for Geolocal, regional & backward integration strategy along with most efficient supply chain metrics
- Scaled up business by 2x through portfolio enhancement focused on auto electronics, Spares & accessories business
- Strategic tie-ups with regional partners through best in trade logistics metrics
- Exclusive tie-ups with sports brands across the board
Head - Central Strategy Team (Marketplace), ShopClues
July 2015 - November 2015
Gurgaon, India
- Leadership role wherein Headed Central Strategy Team encompassing four Strategic Verticals, focused at driving cross functional synergies across marketplace to fuel high growth sustainable business, ensuring delightful shopping experience for millions of consumers!! Built a team of 18 Rockstar Strategic Thinkers and Execution specialists to transform marketplace into a high growth & high profitability ecosystem post Series D funding of 100 million USD
- By the end of this tenure we witnessed Series E of around 140 million USD, making ShopClues the newest Unicorn with a 11billion USD valuation
- Successful in achieving the best in class metrics of profitability and sustainable growth
Associate Director & Head - Consumer Electronics, Large & Small Home Appliances, ShopClues
March 2015 - July 2015
Gurgaon
- Lead Electronics business for B2C & B2B marketplaces
- Scaled up business into a multi million dollar GMV portfolio
- Setup strategic relationships with top 20 Indian & MNC Consumer Electronics & Durables brands with Exclusive tie-ups and joint business planning
- Scaled up Televisions, Camera, Gaming, Audio & Video, Refrigerator, Air Conditioning, Washing, Kitchen Appliances & Electronic Accessories businesses to 3x GMV
- Lead a team of 23 rockstar Account Managers & Category Marketing
Group Business & Strategy Controller - (Pricing, Planning & Sales Strategy), Godrej Group
January 2014 - March 2015
Mumbai Area, India
- Business Strategy (Group Business Finance Controller) for 2500cr(AUM) business, Portfolio spanning across four Categories
- Business Strategy - National Business Mix, Business Planning & Analysis
- Price Strategy - National Pricing Controller
- Channel Strategy - National Channel Inputs/Schemes/Business Mix Controller
- International/Overseas Market - Corporate Controller for Exports markets
- Cost Strategy - Strategy for Business Operating Costs
- Technology/Business Intelligence - Operational Vertical Headed - Business Analytics & Intelligence Systems for all Sales & Marketing functions across the business
National Category Manager - (Home & Kitchen and New Product Innovation Categories), Godrej Group
April 2012 - March 2014
Mumbai Area, India
- Category Manager for Kitchen & Cooking - National P&L ,Category Management & Brand Management initiatives - Brown Goods Space
- Category Manager for New Product Categories - Responsible for the foray into New & Adjacent Category spaces
- Managed 6 New product portfolios-including Small Appliances & Large Durables: Deep Freezers, Air Coolers, Chotukool (Mobile Cooling), Induction Cookers , Rice Cookers, Water Purifiers, Green Wash etc
- Product Innovation of the Year for Launching India's 1st Pizza & Kebab Maker
- Category Annual Business Planning - Turnover/Gross Margin/Contribution Margin Outlook
- Long Term Forecast - 10 by 10, 20 by 20 (10 years, 20 years Forecast Model)
- Category Top line, Category Mix, Contribution & Bottom line targets
- Achieve Market Reach, Addressibility, Extraction, Numeric & Weighted Distribution Plans
- Drive Profitable Business Growth for the Category
- Product Sourcing, Vendor Selection, Assortment/Range/Portfolio Selection, Product Pricing
- Go to Market Strategy implementation across category in Trade, Modern Trade, Institution, Exports Channels
Regional Brand Manager, Godrej Group
May 2011 - March 2012
Bangalore
- Sole Responsibility for Regional Brand Management & Marketing function for all 5 categories at Godrej
- Annual Marketing Budget Management of 0
- 75% Net Realisation of Regional Sales
- (Annual AUM of 38cr for ATL,BTL,Retail,Trade spends) Managed Performance of Secondary Sales Force
- Annual Marketing Plan & Execution for the Brand
- 360 Media Planning
- Trade & Consumer Campaign Development
- New Product Launches & Development
- Brand POSM & Creatives Development
- Agency Co-ordination & Vendor Management
- Co-ordination with Category Managers & Brand Managers
- Brand Visibility, Brand Awareness & Brand Positioning in ATL,BTL & PR
Trade Marketing Manager, Godrej Group
June 2010 - May 2011
South India & Emerging Territories
- Sole Responsibility for Brand's Trade Marketing Function of the region
- Responsible for planning, managing and getting maximum impact for the Brand's Annual Marketing Budget
- Extensive work done on improving Brand Visibility, Brand Awareness, Brand Connect and Brand Relevance with consumers
Manager - Brand Marketing (Corporate Initiatives), Godrej Group - Sales & Marketing
March 2010 - May 2010
- Worked on Brand Visibility, Brand Salience, Brand Tonality & Brand Promotions
- Co-ordination with National Category Managers & Brand Managers
Sales & Distribution Strategy, ITC Limited
2009 - 2010
India
- Sales and Distribution for Bingo Category for South India
- Responsible for the introduction and setting up of the Hybrid Order booking model (HOBS) for distribution of Bingo Packaged snack food
- Extensive work on channel strategy and sales loss mitigation
Shopper Marketing Insights, Hindustan Unilever Limited
2009 - 2009
India
- Shopper Marketing for Unilever’s Personal Fabric Wash Category for South India
- The Audit studied the In-Store Merchandising in the outlets for Unilever’s Personal Fabric Wash category and benchmarked it with Proctor & Gamble’s Ariel and Tide
- Shopper Marketing, Instore VM
Founder & Strategy Consultant, Live Action Group
2006 - 2009
India
- Founded Live Action Group - Academic Consulting Initiative in Sales & Marketing Strategy
- Instrumental in Incorporating, Setting up a team of 7 members, and kick-starting the venture through its first clients
Business Intelligence Consultant, Accenture
May 2007 - June 2008
- Worked for the client Duke Energy, one of the biggest utility services company in US
- Work Profile included understanding the client’s business requirements thoroughly and providing Business Intelligence (BI) solutions
- Instrumental in developing BI solutions for the entire Release I, leading to integration of information systems at Charlotte and India delivery centre
- Worked in co-ordination with a dedicated team at Charlotte delivery centre to develop information systems for client’s business processes involved in Supply Chain Management and HR Systems
- Led a team of 12, for a period of 2 months to develop the first in-house Asset for the Data Warehouse (DW/BI) Capability at Mumbai Delivery Centre
- Successfully executed the Asset development which was later used for training new joiners at the Greenfield Training Program at Accenture
Education
Executive Education
Organizational Leadership, Managing the Company of Future
Accelerated General Management Program
Oxford Advanced Management & Leadership Programme
2021 - 2022
Global Venture Development Program
2019 - 2020
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