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Arun Arora

Senior PartnerParis

Global leader of McKinsey’s NeXT Commerce initiative; draws on over 25 years of operational and leadership experience to help clients build and manage successful technology-led businesses

A seasoned executive, Arun has over 25 years of experience managing operations for US-based and multinational companies. He has extensive expertise in many environments, including digital, retail, and omnichannel. Arun specializes in helping clients transform businesses and overall customer experiences by harnessing the power of technology.

Prior to joining McKinsey, Arun worked in home-appliance and home-services businesses.

Arun joined Sears from Staples, where he served as senior vice president and general manager of global e-commerce, and was responsible for running the day-to-day business of Staples.com and Staples’ mobile properties—the second largest behind Amazon. He leveraged data science and analytics to help create actionable insights for the business and led a number of strategic initiatives for the e-commerce business, such as online- and mobile-product roadmaps and the rollout of dynamic pricing.

Arun came to Staples from Groupon. While at Groupon, he served as head of global risk and operations. In this role, Arun established and actively managed operating metrics for each business in the e-commerce segment of Groupon, following the company’s IPO. In less than eight months, he helped scale the business from $100 million to $2 billion, while developing standards and expectations that allowed Groupon’s business to be managed globally.

Throughout his career, Arun has held various operational and leadership positions with industry leaders, including Apple, Sun Microsystems, 3M, Groupon, Staples, and Sears.

Published work

Power forward: Five make-or-break truths about next-gen e-commerce,” McKinsey & Company, October 2024

How playing offense on sustainability can power e-commerce performance,” McKinsey & Company, March 2024

Becoming indispensable: Moving past e-commerce to NeXT commerce,” McKinsey & Company, November 2022

The new B2B growth equation,” McKinsey & Company, February 2022

Open-source e-commerce: The next wave of value for the enterprise,” McKinsey & Company, October 2021

Can companies build on their digital surge?,” McKinsey & Company, August 2021

It’s showtime! How live commerce is transforming the shopping experience,” McKinsey & Company, July 2021

DTC e-commerce: How consumer brands can get it right,” McKinsey & Company, November 2020

Think fast: How to accelerate e-commerce growth,” McKinsey & Company, November 2020

Reimagining marketing in the next normal,” McKinsey & Company, July 2020

Building an e-commerce business: Lessons on moving fast,” McKinsey & Company, April 2020

Fast Times: How Digital Winners Set Direction, Learn, and Adapt,” McKinsey & Company, February 2020

Past Experience

Sears Holdings Corporation
President, home services and appliances

Staples
Senior vice president and general manager, global e-commerce

Groupon
Senior vice president, global operations

3M
Senior executive, international operations

Oracle
Senior executive

Apple
Product manager
Vice president, retail

Education

Harvard University
MBA

University of Kansas
BS, finance