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Marcus Keutel

PartnerCologne

Helps retail and consumer-goods companies pursue digital transformations to achieve stronger omnichannel and e-commerce performance while taking technology to the next level

Passionate about omnichannel e-commerce, Marcus develops digital strategies for retail and consumer-goods companies. He then sets up successful implementations to bring those strategies to life.

Partnering with McKinsey’s Consumer Packaged Goods and Retail Practices in Europe, Marcus combines a digital lens with an industry focus. He leads the firm’s omnichannel retail work, bringing technology innovation to a complicated and competitive sector. He also coleads the firm’s technology-strategy and -management work.

Since joining McKinsey, Marcus has seen the power a digital strategy has to transform the way a company operates. To support successful omnichannel retailing, teams need to collaborate in new ways. Development hubs need to be established, and core processes need to be rethought.

For example, Marcus recently guided a technology transformation for a European retailer. Working with executives, he set up nearly 90 teams to pursue customer-focused product development while reorganizing the IT department globally to focus on needed skills, including hiring 150 new engineers. For a global consumer-goods company, he guided a journey-driven digital transformation, including target and vision setting, road-map creation, and implementation setup. The effort helped the company stay competitive with online-only peers.

As a student in economics and information systems at the University of Cologne, Marcus conducted research at both the Helsinki Graduate School of Economics and Tongji University. As part of this research, he focused on how to address requirements uncertainty in software-development projects.

Published work

The tech transformation imperative in retail,” McKinsey & Company, May 2022

Customer lifetime value: The customer compass,” McKinsey & Company, October 2021

Prioritizing flexibility in tech strategies can unlock new value for grocers,” McKinsey & Company, June 2021

The end of IT in retail?,” McKinsey & Company, February 2020

Past experience

University of Cologne
Researcher and teaching assistant

AXA
Researcher

Education

University of Cologne
PhD, economics
MA, information systems