Some people may say that a 30-year old Chief Operating Officer of one Asia's leading online retail platform, is a little too young for the job.
Yet, Giulio Xiloyannis perhaps, has played an instrumental role in propelling Zalora to become an e-commerce powerhouse and one of Asia's leading online retail platforms.
Whip-smart and modest, Xiloyannis saunters into the interview room - held at the group's 470,000 square feet e-fulfillment hub, wearing a blue blazer over his Zalora t-shirt.
“Our challenges at Zalora have changed a lot over the years. When we first started, the challenge was going into a meeting with big fashion groups - and their questions would be 'what is e- commerce'? 'Does anybody even shop online in Malaysia?'”
We have to develop local leaders and they would be stronger than us because they will understand our local customers much better than us
“The challenge these days are very different,” says the British-Greek-Italian. "Nowadays, it is not so much about convincing brands to give me products but making sure that when I buy these products, I can sell them fast enough, and that I buy the right ones."
"We have to be selective now as it has become a lot more about (brand) optimisation than just about getting the brand on board."
The fashion retailer made big moves to fill the e-commerce void in Southeast Asia in 2012, with Malaysia selected as its regional e-fulfillment centre.
Xiloyannis had a quick rise up the corporate later. He moved to Kuala Lumpur from Milan to take up the role as Zalora marketing director in 2013. Within five years, he was promoted to become the COO - certainly has come a long way from when he starting selling shoes on eBay at fifteen.
“Many of us, when we started the company, came to Malaysia with e-commerce learnings from either the United States or Europe. We applied those learnings here.”
“But we realised we had to develop local leaders and they would be stronger than us because they will understand our local customers much better than us.”
“So, that’s certainly one of our first priorities - that is to build local leaders,” says Xiloyannis when asked his leadership style.
Malaysia, according to Xiloyannis, is one of the countries Zalora invested most in talent, growing its employee base by more than fifty percent in less than two years.
“As we grew with the brand, we refer to ourselves as 'coaches' throughout the years - and I still believe in taking that approach," says the University of Pisa finance graduate.
“As a coach, it also means that sometimes you have to disappoint somebody on your team. You have to be firm and strict. It is a competitive industry but my belief is that we are coaches rather than COOs.”
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