eBay Enterprise president Saridakis exits

Chris Saridakis, president of eBay Enterprise, a division of eBay, has resigned for personal reasons, according to the company.

An external search will be conducted for a successor, the company said. Until the search is completed, Tobias Hartmann, VP, omnichannel operations and international, will serve as the company’s interim head.

Saridakis had served as president of eBay Enterprise since June 2011, following the company’s acquisition of GSI Commerce (renamed eBay Enterprise in 2013), where he was part of that company’s management team.

News of Saridakis's exit coincided with the company's published findings from its 2014 Omnichannel Benchmark Study, conducted in Dec. 2013, which audited the maturity of 168 retailers across capability, technology, organization and customer experience.



The research confirmed that mid-size retailers are behind their larger competitors in implementing omnichannel experiences and inflexible technology is the biggest factor in prohibiting retailer maturity and growth.



Key findings from the report include the following:

• Mid-sized retailers continue to lag behind large-scale retailers in providing omnichannel experiences to their customers.


• Large-scale retailers are still new to omnichannel customer engagement, having only invested in it during the last five years.


• Mid-size retailers face the greatest deficiency in their ability to deliver content to consumers as they research brands and products.


• Rigid technology solutions are the biggest impediment to increasing and improving customer omnichannel experiences.

“As mid-size retailers continue to compete with their large scale counterparts, their ability to adapt to an omnichannel environment becomes critical for profitability, loyalty and survival,” said Steve Denton, VP of marketing solutions, eBay Enterprise. “The 2014 Omnichannel Benchmark study highlighted a critical gap in the ability of mid-market retailers to provide consumers with relevant experiences that also allow them to research products and consumer behavior across multiple touch points, including in-store, online, mobile, marketplaces, and customer service, significantly impacting their ability to increase brand awareness and demand generation.”