"Enriching businesses and personal lives through impactful value creation is my mission"
"In trust we connect, with respect we flourish, through caring we thrive, my vision"
About
Patrick Wermer is a seasoned manager with 25 years of experience across Europe, the Middle East, and the United States. He has held senior leadership roles in ICT-driven e-commerce organizations, including Vice President E-commerce Operations at Chalhoub Group, as well as Director E-commerce Operations and Customer Services at PVH. Throughout his career, Patrick has consistently delivered results in complex, fast-paced commercial environments driven by technology.
Patrick excels at translating strategic objectives into operational excellence, implementing customer-centric strategies, and driving cost efficiencies.
His experience spans diverse sectors such as retail, telecommunications, technology, finance, and hospitality.
He has worked with leading companies including KPN, Telfort, and Boretti, as well as iconic brands like Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, Tumi, Max Mara, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Lacoste, and Karl Lagerfeld.
Country & Brand experience
Experience
Founder
PPOC Consultancy
Jun 2022 – Present • Amsterdam
Helping brands elevate customer satisfaction while optimising operational cost.
PPOC Consultancy support businesses with: Omni channel ecommerce/ post-purchase optimization/ process improvement/ people management/ digital payments strategy/ digital payment fraud prevention/ digital payment /transaction optimization/ customer service management/ operational excellence/ budget management/ cost management/ contract negotiations.
Vice President E-commerce Operations & Customer Services • Chalhoub Group
Jun 2022 – Dec 2023 • Dubai, UAE
Vice President at Chalhoub Group, the largest retailer and distributor of luxury brands in the Middle East and North Africa responsible for teams across Operations, Customer Service & Digital payments.
• Contributed to the growth of the Chalhoub
E-commerce from $110M GMV to $209M GMV.
• Drove transformative journey of unprofitable ecom business into vertical with 17% profit margin, making it the groups growth engine.
• Last mile fulfillment optimizations contributed to ‘delivery on target’ percentage exceeding 98% in KSA and UAE; implemented 4-hour delivery service in Jeddah and Riyadh, increasing regional sales by 15%.
• Optimized return process flow for Chalhoub brands, increasing ‘speed of refunding’ money to consumers by 89%; CSAT rating on returns increased from 7.1 to 8.7.
• Worked with the Digital payment team that optimized Credit Card Authorization rates, implementing BNPL and is managing risk; Authorization rates 95%, bad debt =<0.4%, BNPL (Tamara & Tabby) accounts for 30% of sales.
• Led "the Peak Planning" initiatives for the group, aligning 50+ stakeholders/brands during the "end of year" and Ramadan sales periods. $23M Ecom Sales delivered without operational issues.
• Managed Customer Service Support for 48+ brands, supporting 6 GCC countries, in 2 languages, in 4 support channels. +1M contacts in 2023.
Boosted customer satisfaction by 20% through strategic analyses of NPS data and reports.
Director E-commerce Operations & Customer Services • PVH Corp
June 2014 – Dec 2022 • Amsterdam, Netherlands
Director at PVH one of the world’s largest fashion companies, connecting with consumers in over 40 markets. It’s iconic brands include Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger. Responsible for teams across Operations, Customer Service & Digital payments.
• Contributed to the growth of the PVH E-commerce from €433M to €815M GMV.
• Responsible for PVH Digital Payment strategy and around $1B of payments “annually”.
• Managed Omni Operations for 27 Calvin Klein and 25 Tommy Hilfiger European countries during the Covid-19 crisis, delivering 5.3M orders, adding 3.5M new consumers, and keeping 6.5M SKUs in stock.
• Led PVH Europe Customer Service Support, 7 languages, 5 channels, 300FTE . Execute Covid-19 contingency plans, creating 200+ workstations in housing apartments of customer service agents to deliver full customer support from home.
• Launched operations for Zalando and AboutYou Partner Programs in 7 European Countries. Adding €32M additional Revenue. (About You +€11.8M GMV, Zalando +€21M GMV)
• Co-led a successful 6-month PVH's digital payments replatforming of from Wirecard AG to Adyen, mitigating the risk of PVH's €727M, E-commerce payment volume processing. Realizing €5M in savings in the process.
• Launched new headless program in July 2020, including a new checkout increasing conversions by 1.4%.
• Implemented together with legal the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) compliance project on 52 websites.
Head of Quality & Control • Achmea - Agis
Dec 2011 – Jun 2014 • Leiden, Netherlands
Head of Quality & Control overseeing financial control teams for Achmea B.V. one of the largest financial service providers in the Netherlands. In addition to the Netherlands, Achmea is actief in five European countries.
• Managing financial control teams executing formal controls to limit financial leakage on paid out insurance claims. recovered yearly amount: €40M
• Assessed the efficiency of management measures implemented, such as reduced processing time, streamlined workflows, or cost savings. €5M cost savings delivered.
• By proactively identifying and reporting risks in payment processes, the Quality Control team helped the company mitigate potential losses by 15% and maintain a strong financial standing.
• Monitored the Refunds team's ability to recover excess or improper payments, tracking the percentage of funds successfully recovered. recover percentage =<91%.
Managing Director • Boretti
Oct 2008 – Sep 2009 • Watergang, Netherlands
P&L responsible for Boretti BV, a market leader in luxury cookers and kitchen equipment with branches in the Benelux, Spain, and Bali.
• Achieved year-over-year revenue growth target and raised profit margin.
• Initiated redesign of boretti.com and the webshop.
• Managed retail channel operations across 500+ points of sale.
• Reorganized the support organization and customer processes, achieving a 98% customer satisfaction response (CSAT score, August 2009).
• Renegotiated major company contracts to enhance efficiency and cost-effectiveness. Contract negotiation success: €3M yearly cost savings.
Senior Business Process Manager. KPN • Telfort
2006 – 2008 • Amsterdam, Netherlands
Responsable for Telfort initiatives to optimize the business through process simplification and more efficient litigation. Achieved short- and long-term cost savings while increasing customer satisfaction and revenue.
• Cost Savings Achieved: €8M Total cost savings realized as a result of process simplification and efficiency improvements.
• Improved customer satisfaction with a 6 percentage point increase in CSAT score.
• Optimized processes and introduced SIM only subscriptions, resulting in a triple digit revenue growth of 300%.
• Increased customer retention by 25% through the implementation of 'save team', resulting in a decrease in churn rate.
Senior Manager Voice & Data Specialists • Telfort
2004 – 2005 • Amsterdam, Netherlands
Leading a team of over 20 data & network specialists who support Telfort's/O2 large accounts and data end-users.
• Boosted team efficiency by 20% through effective network management and optimization.
• Reduced customer wait time by 50% by implementing self-service options for O2 data customers on web portal and voice response system.
• Established a dedicated test team to collaborate with handset manufacturers on new handset testing.
• Established a cross-functional crisis team, successfully managing major incidents.
Manager Service Delivery Chain
• O2
2002 – 2004 • Amsterdam, Netherlands
Responsible for the implementation of new Telfort products. Representing Telfort at the OPTA board concerning number portability litigation matters.
OPTA has existed since 1997 as an independent regulator of the postal and telecommunications market in the Netherlands.
• Optimized SD chain, leading to increased efficiency and communication among multiple departments.
• Implemented several new Telfort products within existing service level agreements and quality standards.
• Supervised production planning and streamlined processes within the chain to achieve cost efficiency.
Supervisor Customer Care Business • Telfort
2000 – 2002 • Amsterdam, Netherlands
Managed Customer Service Front Office Business, Corporate accounts, & SME accounts.
• Boosted team efficiency by 20% through effective network management and optimization.
• Reduced customer wait time by 50% by implementing self-service options for O2 data customers on web portal and voice response system.
Education
De Maere
Fashion & Textile Technologies
Enschede, Netherlands
The George Washington School of Business
Managing Projects in organisations • Bachelor of science in Business (not completed)
Washington, D.C., USA.
Executive Leadership Programme
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Executive Leadership programme • Lean management • Green belt lean six sigma
Leiden, Netherlands
Executive Leadership programme • Leadership Development • People Management • Self Management & Intervision programme
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Skills
Business Growth, Business Operations, Change Management, Coaching, Contract Negotiation, Cost Management, Cost Reduction, Customer Experience, Customer Loyalty, Customer Management, Customer Satisfaction, Customer Service, Digital Transformation, Finance, Financial Management, Fraud Prevention, Leadership, Marketing, Operational Excellence, Order Fulfillment, Planning Process, Process Improvement, Process Management, Process Simplification, Productivity, Profit and Loss Responsibility, Quality Management, Recruitment, Returns Management, Revenue Growth, Sales Targets, Service Delivery, Service-Level Agreement, Strategic Thinking, Team Building, Team Management.
Languages
Dutch (Native) - English - German
Interests
Interests: Padel tennis, Running, Swimming, Squash, Cooking, Fashion, Fragrance.DISPEZZI Parfums is a project by Patrick Wermer. inspired by working with the highest quality materials, creating products that stimulate the senses of smell and sight. modern, clean, a balance of pure and architectural minimalism from the quit naturals, where every detail counts.
We sell a luxury scented candle and contribute part of each sale to fight poverty through micro-lending.
With the concept 'buy a candle, lend a hand,' every candle sold funds a loan.
References
"While we interviewed countless operations leaders, none had the required blend of expertise and experience until we met Patrick. He quickly built a best-in-class operations team defined by their integrity and willingness to collaborate. With the significant improvement the team delivered, I know there is not a single brand in the GCC that could not benefit from Patrick's deep experience".
Ryan den Rooyen, Chief Ecommerce Officer.
“I highly recommend Patrick for his excellent sales and tough negotiation skills. He's a problem solver who successfully grew my business during the worst financial crisis. Patrick worked with the manufacturers' R&D department to improve our cookers based on customer feedback, which was crucial for our success. He's a valuable asset to any business."
Bob Brilman, CEO Boretti.
"Patrick was the interface between the Operations Vertical (supply chain, tech, data etc), which I had the privilege to lead, and the commercial verticals, with particular emphasis on e-commerce.During Patrick’s tenure the group experienced annual growth rates in e-commerce of close to 100%. Patrick ensured that when the rubber hit the road that all bits of the jigsaw fitted perfectly together to fulfil Chalhoub's mission of delighting the customer".
Marcus Freeman, CFO & President Operations.
"Patrick has a deep understanding of the omni channel landscape and how to create a seamless customer experience across all channels. He has a proven track record of success in developing and executing omni channel strategies that have resulted in increased sales, customer satisfaction, and brand loyalty. Patrick is also an excellent leader"
Margaret Breen, Chief Supply Chain Officer.
"You learn a lot about a person’s character when things are not going as planned. You need someone you can rely on, someone with integrity and someone who is willing to step forward and take responsibility. All these values I have seen reflected during my tenure working with Patrick."
James Schlesinger, Director Customer Acquisition.
"His greatest leadership asset is the fact that he is very reliable and supportive. His openness brings down any hierarchy barriers and I always feel very comfortable expressing my opinion and share my thoughts. He also makes sure that he rewards his team for the effort and he never forgets to show his appreciation and I consider this a great trait because it keeps the team motivated".
Ada Gkritzela, Ecommerce Customer Service Director.
"Patrick combines great leadership skills, people management skills and strategic skills, which is a rare characteristic to be found all grouped in one individual.He is a visionary and he knows the direction Operations in ECOM needs to take in order to add a competitive advantage to the business"
Stefania Picchi, Director Direct to Consumer.
"I had the privilege of collaborating closely with Patrick as part of the E-commerce team at Chalhoub Group. Under his leadership, our Operations function flourished, with cross-functional collaboration becoming the norm. He steered the team through a significant overhaul that streamlined processes, enhanced customer experience, and optimised operational efficiency".
Sarah Evans, Director of Product.
Let's work together. Hit me up at [email protected]