Coty eyes digital expansion, hiring Sean Foster as SVP of E-commerce

By

Obi Anyanwu

Published
Apr 12, 2017

Beauty company Coty is making e-commerce a major focus for its new strategy. The company announced on Tuesday the appointment of 20-plus-year digital veteran Sean Foster to lead Coty’s e-commerce strategy as Global Senior Vice President of E-commerce.

 
Foster will oversee all three of Coty’s divisions and will lead the team in amplifying e-commerce domain depth across the company’s main networks and accelerate recruitment and capability investments. He will be based in New York City, and he will report to Jason Forbes, Chief Digital and Media Officer.
 
"Our priority is expanding consumer reach with better content on the right media platforms to drive sales in a highly fluid marketplace,” said Forbes. “Sean's background is a perfect fit for this." 

Foster, who brings over 20 years of digital and e-commerce experience to Coty, previously served as CEO of Crowdtap, President of Avon online, and the head of Marketing at Gilt.com
 
"We are excited to welcome Sean to Coty to help us build a richer set of eCommerce capabilities,” said Pane. “Digital is a cornerstone of our strategy for the new Coty. At the core of this focus is our commitment to working with our priority retailer, salon and stylist partners to drive category growth.
 
The German company said in March that it is not opposed to selling products online, but its main concern is the positioning of its luxury brands. The comments were made during a case that would determine if luxury companies could prevent retailers from selling their products online via Amazon, eBay or any other e-commerce website. The hiring of Foster could be Coty’s chance to establish a true online presence and get ahead of online retailers.
 
In addition, Coty entered an agreement with Burberry to develop, manufacture and distribute Burberry Beauty brands globally.