Former Zalora Southeast Asia MD Candice Ong has been appointed chief commercial officer for Singapore shopper rewards start-up ShopBack.
Ong brings more than 10 years of global experience in e-commerce, marketing and finance to ShopBack, launched two and a half years ago. She will lead country teams across the region, as well as direct regional marketing and work within the core business management team.
With Zalora Southeast Asia for four years, she had roles in marketing and procurement, and was responsible for establishing regional marketing teams that won awards for customr engagement and loyalty.
Ong was also involved in high-profile special projects such as the region’s 12-12 e-commerce sale event, collaborations with NBC and a collaboration in Malaysia with cult brand Sometime By Asian Designers.
“As ShopBack continues to expand quickly across the region, we’ve been looking to work with a senior executive who has both practical experience regionally and strong leadership to help us scale further,” says ShopBack CEO/co-founder Henry Chan.
“I’ve been in the same team as Candice on numerous projects in the past, and I believe she is the right catalyst to take us higher.”
Ong was invited to be a member of the sub-committee on Future Corporate Capabilities and Innovation last year and chaired the retail panel for the Asean Business Club Forum in 2015. She has also been a keynote speaker and panellist at industry events, including the World Chinese Economic Summit 2015, Young Women’s Leadership Connection 2015 and the Ministry of Trade & Industry’s 8th Economic Dialogue 2016.
Before joining Zalora, Ong held positions in the investment banking industry in Barclays Capital in New York and Credit Suisse in Southeast Asia. Seeing the growing interest and opportunities in the e-commerce sector, she made a major career move by joining the expanding tech start-up scene in Singapore.
“The digital economy is here to stay. I’m very glad to have had the opportunity to continue contributing to the rapidly rising tech innovation sector,” says Ong.
