Mercatus Promotes Mark Fairhurst to Chief Growth Officer

Marketing exec to lead newly formed team tasked with driving growth strategy

6/21/2023

Newly-promoted Mark Fairhurst of Mercatus will co-lead a July 12 workshop on unlocking e-commerce growth at the inaugural GroceryTech event in Cincinnati.

Grocery and e-commerce company Mercatus has promoted Mark Fairhurst to the newly-created position of chief growth officer. In this role, he will lead initiatives to accelerate revenue, achieve profitable growth and expand market share, among other duties.

Fairhurst was elevated from his most recent role as VP of marketing. He has led the firm’s marketing strategy and industry insights program and contributed to several thought leadership efforts. Prior to joining Mercatus six years ago, he held senior management jobs at software companies including GS1, Solera and Intelex.

At next month’s inaugural GroceryTech event in Cincinnati, co-produced by Progressive Grocer and RIS News, Fairhurst will be a featured presenter, along with Mercatus CEO Sylvain Perrier and Chief Technology Officer Steve Benteau. On Wednesday, July 12, the trio will host a workshop on “The Key to Digital Growth and Profitability: Connecting E-commerce Strategy, Technology and Operations.”

According to Perrier, Fairhurst’s promotion will help bring the company and its offerings to the next level. “Mark has consistently demonstrated his ability to align strategic objectives with our mission. This promotion is a testament to his success,” the CEO remarked. “Mark’s exceptional leadership skills and industry knowledge make him the ideal choice to oversee our expanded account executive team.”

As he takes the reins of the growth team that includes sales and marketing functions, Fairhurst will lead a group that includes strategic account executives Rob Thacker and Tyler Holland.

Thacker brings 18 years of experience in technology business development to his new role at Mercatus, including work in sales at Hewlett-Packard’s software-as-a-service division and other positions at JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, TD Bank, Verizon, Comcast and Canadian Tire. Holland is a 20-year tech pro with a strong background in e-commerce who served in key jobs at Spryker Systems, ChannelAdvisor and SAS Analytics.

“Both Rob and Tyler have a remarkable track record of driving revenue growth,” Fairhurst said. “They will focus on nurturing new client relationships and discovering new opportunities, bolstering Mercatus’ growth initiatives. We’ve already established ourselves as industry leaders, enabling grocers of all sizes to create successful and profitable omnichannel businesses. Now we’re signaling our commitment to strategically growing our business even further.”

Based in Toronto, Canada, Mercatus works with an expansive network of more than 60 integration partners to enable grocery businesses to create authentic digital shopping experiences with solutions to drive shopper engagement, grow share of wallet and achieve profitability, while adapting to changes in customer behavior. The Mercatus Digital Commerce platform is used by North American retailers such as Weis Markets, Save Mart brands, Brookshire’s Grocery Co., Kowalski’s Markets, Buehler’s Fresh Foods, WinCo Foods, Smart & Final, Stater Bros. Markets, Southeastern Grocers’ Fresco y Más, Harveys Supermarket and Winn-Dixie grocery stores, among others.

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