Shipt hires Meta exec as first chief growth officer

Dive Brief:

Shipt announced Thursday it has appointed Meta executive Katie Stratton as its first chief growth officer.
The Target-owned delivery service said it created the position to expedite the company’s growth in CPG and retail.
Stratton will oversee Shipt’s new Growth team, which includes business development, business capabilities, CPG, partner success, innovation, and site merchandising and catalog operations.

Dive Insight:

Shipt said that the new role signals its move into its “next strategic, growth-focused phase.”

The e-commerce company said that Stratton’s tech and advertising sales leadership is ideal for expanding its business initiatives, along with fueling growth with partners. Stratton will report to Shipt CEO Kamau Witherspoon.

Optional Caption

Courtesy of Shipt

“Katie’s deep experience and strategic mindset will help us reach the next level,” Witherspoon said in a statement. “There is a large addressable market that Shipt is ideally-suited to serve, and Katie will lead efforts to ambitiously and deliberately pursue opportunities to be even more of a growth engine for our partners.”

Shipt said that Stratton has nearly two decades of experience at the intersection of business development, partner management, advertising technology and marketing.

Stratton spent more than a decade at Meta in several CPG and retail leadership roles, including five years as the company’s head of U.S. restaurant sales, and most recently oversaw sales and strategy for the Facebook and Instagram national sales team.

Prior to Meta, Stratton managed auto advertising at Saatchi & Saatchi and led the global advertising account for Unilever and Cadillac at Bartle Bogle Hegarty.

“I’m thrilled to be joining Shipt at a key time in the company’s growth. ... I am excited to accelerate growth with and for our partners, expand our offerings, and drive innovation across the company,” Stratton said in a statement.

Last month, Shipt announced plans for an updated dashboard for its membership program and new value-added perks for members to make it easier for them to access their benefits, lifetime savings, exclusive offers and preferred in-store shoppers.