ELC Updates Online Leadership

After nearly 20 years with the company, Dennis McEniry, president of The Estée Lauder Companies’ Online division, will retire at the end of this calendar year. He will be succeeded by Gibu Thomas, who will assume the role of president, ELC Online, effective November 16, 2020.
 
Thomas will report directly to Fabrizio Freda, president and chief executive officer. McEniry will work closely with Thomas through the end of the year to support a smooth and successful transition.
 
“I am thrilled to welcome Gibu to The Estée Lauder Companies as the new President of ELC Online,” Freda commented. “He is a highly talented and respected digital expert with a proven record of success in e-commerce, technology infrastructure, digital media, mobile and omnichannel. Throughout his exemplary career, which includes leading digital enterprises to scale at large global businesses as well as extensive entrepreneurial experience in Silicon Valley startups, he has driven meaningful, transformative growth for global brands with speed and agility. His deep understanding of consumer behavior, and ability to anticipate trends and build dynamic digital experiences, make him ideally suited to this role.”
 
In the role of president, ELC Online, Thomas will be responsible for the company’s Online business globally, leading e-commerce and omnichannel platforms, and will leverage his forward-thinking, strategic approach to digital channels to continue to accelerate growth and reach for ELC’s brands.
 
Additionally, he will partner closely with global brand presidents and other executive leaders across the organization to drive a highly interconnected omnichannel strategy that supports ELC’s High-Touch consumer experience and leverages every touchpoint to build brand equity and drive consumer engagement and loyalty. Thomas will also work closely with Jane Lauder in her new role as executive vice president, enterprise marketing and chief data officer, to further integrate the company’s analytic capabilities and turbocharge breakthrough, brand-building digital innovation through compelling data and insights.
 
Experience
 
Thomas joins ELC from PepsiCo Inc., where he served as senior vice president and global head of E-Commerce for the past five years. During his tenure, he was responsible for the holistic strategic direction and execution of PepsiCo’s global e-commerce business, which he oversaw and grew from the ground up.
 
Prior to his time at PepsiCo, Thomas served as senior vice president, mobile and digital at Walmart Inc., where he oversaw all mobile initiatives across stores and online, as well as digital media programs, including content services, owned devices and partnership, and had direct P&L responsibility for VUDU, a movie streaming service owned by Walmart at the time. In this global role, Thomas significantly grew Walmart’s m-commerce revenues, launched omnichannel digital capabilities such as Scan and Go and Disc-to-Digital, and scaled VUDU in terms of users and revenue run rate.
 
With a Master of Business Administration degree from Stanford University and a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from University of Kerala in India, Thomas possesses both a keen business sense as well as deep-seeded technical acumen.
 
“I am thrilled to be joining The Estée Lauder Companies,” said Thomas. “Dennis has done a truly incredible job of leading ELC Online, and of developing a uniquely talented and dynamic team. It’s an honor to step into this leadership role, and I am eager to continue to build on the success and growth of this quickly-evolving area of the business.”