Simon Thompson

Simon Thompson, having been appointed to head up Morrisons’ online food ambitions, now has to work out the best possible option to launch and create a profitable model when it is so far behind its competitors.

Thompson, who was most recently at Apple, is working towards a launch date of Morrisons’ 2013/14 financial year. But there is no guarantee the grocer will launch food online – Thompson has to make the numbers add up first. And while he can learn from US etail grocer FreshDirect – which Morrisons bought a 10% stake in earlier this year in order to swot up on how to launch online – even if he gets the model right, he faces stiff competition from rivals Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Ocado and Waitrose.

Yet Thompson has a good pedigree despite not having online food experience. Until earlier this year he was worldwide strategy and customer experience director at Apple, and prior to that was general manager of Apple’s online store in Europe, Middle East, Africa and India. His tenure covered the launch of the iPad, iPad 2 and iPhone 4.

Before joining Apple, Thompson was at Lastminute.com where he oversaw the company’s first TV campaign, and before that was at Honda where he oversaw highly successful adverts including chain reaction commercial Cog and the animated Grrr.

Scoring 16th place in the Retail Week Etail Power List last year, Thompson is well respected in the digital world. Martin Newman, founder and chief executive of Practicology, says Thompson heightened awareness of Honda as a brand in his tenure, then leveraged that skill at Lastminute.com. “While he may not be the most obvious choice for a food retailer, he’s got a proven track record of different types of companies and driving profitability at each one,” he says.

Bernstein analyst Christopher Hogbin believes Thompson’s stature in the digital world is a coup for Morrisons. “The fact that Morrisons can hire someone of that calibre is an encouraging sign both for the company in general and for its online plans,” he says.

Hogbin says drafting in Thompson from Apple will bring a fresh perspective to Morrisons’ online launch. “Apple is consumer focused and a very innovative company and that’s what Morrisons needs,” he says. “Because they are so far behind the competition in online they need to do something different in order to stand out and to be in with a chance to catch up.”

Newman believes Thompson could even create a model that will leapfrog its competitors. “While it will be a learning curve for him on food delivery, his background in customer-focused businesses, plus his digital and strategic knowledge, might mean he can create something that will leapfrog what’s already there.”

Thompson is expected to fit well with the Morrisons culture. Newman says: “He is very grounded, which should fit well with Morrisons’ down-to-earth northern culture.”

Hogbin also sees strength in the business in Thompson’s hiring. “For a long time Morrisons was fairly inward looking and promoting only from within but that has changed now and there is a lot of external talent been brought in, which is a sign of strength,” he says.

While it may seem some way off yet before Morrisons’ potential online food launch, Thompson clearly has a lot to get to grips with.

But his background and reputation means the industry is expecting great things.