Wesfarmers restructures loss-making retailer Catch Group with boss Pete Sauerborn set to leave

The loss-making Catch Group will say goodbye to its boss after less than two years after owner Wesfarmers triggered a restructure of the online marketplace.

Catch Group boss Peter Sauerborn will leave the business in June after owner Wesfarmers triggered a restructure of the loss-making online retailer. Picture: Aaron Francis/The Australian

Wesfarmers has acted to stem the losses at its underperforming online marketplace Catch Group by triggering a restructure that will see it form part of a new digital and online arm for the Perth-based conglomerate – but without its current chief executive.

Wesfarmers announced on Monday that Catch would join its new data and digital division, now called Wesfarmers OneDigital.

The move will see the departure of Catch managing director Pete Sauerborn at the end of June, with the New Jersey-born executive only joining Catch in May 2020 just as the Covid-19 pandemic was surging in Australia. Mr Sauerborn had come to Catch from online retail giant Amazon, where he was general manager for Amazon Marketplace.

Wesfarmers bought Catch from founders Gabby and Hezi Leibovich for $230m only six months before the pandemic emerged. It has underperformed despite the boom in online shopping since the pandemic hit.

Catch posted a pre-tax loss of $44m for the first half of 2022, a full-year loss of $46m in 2021 and a profit of $1m in 2020. For the first half of 2022, its gross transaction value only lifted 1 per cent to $616m and its actual revenue fell 4.3 per cent to $315m at a time when other online retailers have recorded booming sales.

Catch will now be part of Wesfarmers OneDigital, which is led by Nicole Sheffield, a former executive at Australia Post and News Corporation, and currently includes loyalty program OnePass and the Advanced Analytics Centre.

Wesfarmers chief executive Rob Scott said the change would bring together the group’s pure digital businesses. This would provide benefits in the attraction and development of digital talent as well as logical synergies between the group’s shared data platform, advanced analytics team and subscription capabilities, he said.

“Each of our divisions is developing significant capabilities in data analytics and digital services to meet the specific needs of their customers,” Mr Scott said.

“Wesfarmers OneDigital will complement these divisional capabilities, particularly through the benefits of the shared data platform and OnePass program.

“The Catch marketplace, together with the OnePass subscription program and the Advanced Analytics Centre, provide a strong foundation for Wesfarmers OneDigital. This will support the growth and performance of our retail divisions while providing new growth opportunities for the group.”

It comes as Wesfarmers hopes to roll out its new OnePass customer loyalty program and data collector to take advantage of the millions of shoppers it attracts to its key retail arms such as Kmart, Target and Catch. Wesfarmers recently set up a new corporate entity called Wesfarmers A Plus, with its own board and whose directors include Mr Scott as well as the CEOs of the conglomerate’s key business units including Bunnings boss Mike Schneider, ­Officeworks boss Sarah Hunter and Kmart Group boss Ian Bailey. Also on the Wesfarmers A Plus board is Ms Sheffield.

Mr Scott thanked Mr Sauerborn for his contribution to the business during its foundation years within Kmart Group. More detail on Wesfarmers OneDigital plans will be provided at a strategy briefing day in June.

Wesfarmers shares closed down 19c at $49.40

Originally published as Wesfarmers restructures loss-making retailer Catch Group with boss Pete Sauerborn set to leave