Jarid Lukin takes on physical stores role at M&M’S after overseeing candy brand’s global digital business

Jarid Lukin has taken on the role of GM for M&M’S Global Retail Stores.

M&M’S, the flagship product of the Mars Wrigley Confectionery division of Mars Incorporated, has stores in Berlin, London, New York, Disney Springs, Mall of America, Shanghai, and Las Vegas.

In a LinkedIn post, Lukin said: “I am thrilled to share a significant career update...After an incredible journey the last four plus years overseeing the M&M'S Global Digital business, I am now embarking on a new chapter as I step into the role of GM for M&M'S Global Retail Stores.”

He added: “It has been an absolute privilege to lead our Global Digital team, navigating us through our digital transformation, including the launch of the award winning redesign of MMS.com on the CPG industry's first composable microservices e-commerce platform, enabling us to deliver personalised experiences to consumers across the globe.”

“I am immensely proud of what we achieved together in enhancing the M&M'S consumer experience and delivering record sales and earnings growth.”

He concluded: “As I transition into my new role, I am eager to bring my passion for consumer experience and strategic leadership to our iconic retail stores in some of the world's most iconic places.”

“I also want to express my heartfelt gratitude to everyone who has supported me throughout this journey, especially to my Global Digital Leadership Team - Kaitlyn Albert, Kerry Columbro, Candice McNamara, Keval Lakdawala, and Alicia Jitaru.”

“Your expertise, enthusiasm, collaboration, and feedback have been instrumental in my professional growth. I look forward to staying connected with everyone as we further connect the M&M'S ecosystem for all funkind.”

The rise of D2C commerce

Last year, Mars laid claim to “the world’s most comprehensive example of composable commerce in play for multi-brand enterprises going direct-to-consumer (D2C)”.

As a result of the deployed solution, delivered by Valtech in collaboration with commercetools, Mars said it had boosted incremental in-year revenue for a leading snacking D2C proposition by 20% YoY.

“The rise of D2C commerce has presented a highly competitive environment, where achieving brand differentiation across a variety of channels and touchpoints is now a matter of survival,” said Casper Aagaard Rasmussen, Group SVP of Technology at Valtech.

“For a multi-brand enterprise as large as Mars with several potential D2C brands in its expansive portfolio, there’s an urgent need to balance differentiation with economies of scale and consistency across individual brands.”

“These requirements need to then be combined with a high level of autonomy, which each brand needs and demands.”

“With our composable commerce platform, we now have the technology foundation to support mms.com, the largest D2C business in Mars Snacking,” said Lukin.

“This technology not only improves our ability to offer personalised M&M’S to consumers and businesses, but it also gives us the speed and agility to launch new value propositions to celebrate those you care about in a fun and meaningful way.”

“With time to market paramount in a fast moving commerce landscape, our composable commerce approach accelerated time to market for new experiences, thanks to a 60% increase in speed,” added Kyle Barz, Director, Global Retail & eCommerce Technology at Mars Snacking.

“We were able to trade time spent on endless technology upgrades with time to innovate, freeing up our resources to drive commerce innovation. Not only did this enable our brands to deliver experiences that differentiate, but to also accelerate ROI via revenue from these improved experiences.”

“We’re seeing a trend whereby omnichannel experiences are increasing the urgency for diversified commerce strategies, which especially resonates with multi-brand businesses,” commented Kelly Goetsch, Chief Strategy Officer at commercetools.

“Simply put, composable provides the foundation for commerce innovation, both in the short-term and long-term as shopping experiences evolve. Mars has set the stage for how multi-brand businesses can win through composable commerce in multi-brand D2C and B2C commerce ecosystems, and we can’t wait to see how others follow suit.”

Rasmussen aded: “Composable commerce is the best option to give brands in a multi-brand organisation what they need to stay on top of their game. Together with Mars and commercetools, we’ve proven the possibilities of composable when delivered the right way at scale, something that has yet to be shown in the commerce industry.”

“We’re proud to have created the world’s most comprehensive example of how a multi-brand business can implement a composable commerce approach in a marketplace driven by fast-paced technology adoption and innovation in commerce.”