Dive Brief:
- Gopuff has landed former Amazon Vice President of Global Logistics Tim Collins as its new senior vice president of operations, the company confirmed Monday.
- Collins, who spent more than 20 years total at Amazon, will oversee Gopuff’s operations, supply chain, customer service, real estate and launch teams.
- Gopuff recently revised its branding and has made other key executive appointments as it grows rapidly on the back of a recent $1.15 billion in new funding.
Dive Insight:
Collins’ tenure with Amazon stretches all the way back to 1999, when he started as general manager of fulfillment, according to his LinkedIn profile and personal website. He worked in various operational management roles in the ensuing years, including director of customer service operations, and in 2013 became Amazon’s vice president of operations for Europe.
Beginning in 2014, Collins spent nearly two years with Uber as vice president of global community operations before returning to Amazon in 2016 as head of the company’s worldwide logistics.
News that Collins was in discussions with Gopuff was reported last week by Insider, which noted that turnover among senior executives is particularly high right now. That report noted that Collins left Amazon in February. Collins posted a note on LinkedIn over the weekend announcing his move.
Collins brings considerable experience in operations and customer service to Gopuff at a time of significant growth for the online convenience retailer. The company currently operates a network of 250 dark stores offering delivery of around 2,000 impulse buys, from fresh produce to pain relievers, in major cities and on college campuses.
Gopuff hasn’t outlined expansion benchmarks recently, but a company job listing noted the company is currently at “a pivotal point in its development.” A company representative noted triple-digit year-over-year growth in terms of product expansion, order volume and geographic expansion, while The Information reported Gopuff anticipates it will triple revenue this year, to around $1 billion.
Frank Beard, a convenience retail analyst, said he’s noticed Gopuff's job listings lately emphasizing fresh grab-and-go foods, indicating the company plans to offer more mealtime options. He said the company’s quirky early marketing and focus on college students belies an aggressive growth strategy.
“They're quick, efficient, and the $1.95 [delivery] fee is a breath of fresh air in a world of scaling service charges, high delivery costs, and local fees,” Beard said. “They're also designed from the ground up to expose a large variety of SKUs whereas the competition is retooling platforms designed for restaurant menus.”
Gopuff recently trialed — and quickly shuttered — a ship-to-home service that sought to extend its assortment to consumers living outside its same-day delivery area.
In addition to Collins, Gopuff has recently hired executive talent from other top companies. In March, Sharad Sundaresan, former head of growth and traffic at Airbnb, joined as Gopuff’s head of product and growth, and Eva Behrend, who formerly headed up communications at Uber, became vice president of communications.
In addition, Jocelyn Wong, Gopuff’s chief customer officer, came over from home improvement retailer Lowe’s late last year, while Rekha Singh, formerly an engineering executive with TripAdvisor, became Gopuff’s senior vice president of engineering, analytics and data science.
Correction: An earlier headline for this story inaccurately stated that Gopuff poached Collins from Amazon. Collins joined Gopuff after leaving Amazon.
