Engage3 taps former Gorillas, Lidl exec to spearhead international growth

Dive Brief:

Engage3, which provides competitive pricing data to retailers and product manufacturers, has named Stephen Edelman, a former Gorillas and Lidl executive, as its first general manager of international, the company announced in a press release on Tuesday.
Edelman will lead California-based Engage3's efforts to expand to more than 30 countries in 2022.
Engage3 is expanding its leadership team as the company rides a wave of growth driven by retailers looking to manage their pricing strategies in the face of record-high inflation.

Dive Insight:

Edelman is arriving at Engage3 amid a push by the artificial intelligence startup to build its position as a supplier of tools to help retailers develop and manage price optimization strategies.

The company said in December that it had closed a $35 million Series D financing round, noting at the time that it planned to use the new funds to fuel international growth, enhance its products and double its employee count.

Before joining Engage3 to help lead the company's international expansion, Edelman served as chief commercial officer and commercial director for Gorillas US, which began providing ultrafast grocery delivery service in New York City in May, per the announcement. Edelman worked for the German e-commerce company for less than a year, leaving in October, according to the executive's LinkedIn profile.

Prior to his time at Gorillas, Edelman held several purchasing roles for Lidl's U.S. operations, including vice president of purchasing, and earlier was a senior owned brand manager and buyer for Target.

Engage3 also said it has named Candace Simpson, a data analytics specialist with experience working for NielsenIQ and Nielsen, as vice president of customer success. In addition, Dennis Smith, a former Adstra Data vice president, has joined Engage3 as general manager of non-FMCG retail as the company looks to increase its business working with companies outside the grocery industry.

Engage3 saw its client base more than double in size in 2021 and now works with five of the world's 10 largest retailers, according to the company's website. It added supermarket chains Heinen's, Redner's Markets and Festival Foods to its customer list last year.

Engage3's growth comes at a time when retailers are battling inflation. According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, prices for food to be consumed at home were up 6.4% in November on an unadjusted year-over-year basis, their largest annual increase since December 2008.