Scott Schaefer, who took over as acting CEO at Zappos.com after the exit of Kedar Deshpande in December, has been officially named permanent CEO of the company, effective immediately.
Over the course of his nearly 14-year tenure at Zappos, Schaefer has held numerous roles. Prior to serving as acting CEO, he had been VP of finance, which was preceded by multiple positions with financial, operational and strategic scopes at the company. Before joining Zappos in 2008, Schaefer was in finance roles at Davenport Wealth Management and Ernst & Young.
“I am thrilled and honored to continue my journey at Zappos as CEO,” said Schaefer in a statement. “My genuine passion for and deep understanding of our business allows me to get a quick start in creating an unmatched experience for our brand partners, surprising and delighting our customers, continuing our long history of leading compassionately and, as a financier at heart, strengthening our business’s financial position.”
As CEO, Schaefer will oversee all operations at the e-tailer, which now has more than 1,400 employees across the United States.
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According to Zappos, the CEO is already implementing his leadership vision, anchored in “experience, efficiencies, energy and each other” — a reference to Zappos’s famous company culture, built around its 10 core values.
This is the latest executive move for the online giant. In March, FN reported that longtime Zappos merchants Jeff Espersen and Mike Normart had left the company. At the time, it was announced Kathy Forstadt would step in as interim merchandising leader as the e-tailer conducted an external search for a chief merchandising officer.
Zappos has been at the forefront of e-commerce innovation since its founding in 1999. Though the company, which is a division of online behemoth Amazon.com, faces significantly more competition now in the digital space, a recent letter to vendors noted that 2021 brought “record-breaking sales and customer growth.”
