50 Essential Thought Leaders in Retail Leadership in AU/NZ

Introduction

If you lead a retail organisation in Australia or New Zealand in 2026, you are operating in one of the most contested, data-rich, and rapidly changing business environments in the world. The decisions being made right now about culture, leadership, digital capability, workforce strategy, and customer experience will shape which businesses thrive through the rest of this decade and which ones contract under the weight of their own inertia.

The conversation about retail leadership in this region has never been louder, or more urgent. The Australian Retail Council, which launched in February 2026 following the merger of the Australian Retailers Association and the National Retail Association, now represents a sector valued at $444 billion that employs more than 1.4 million Australians. Across the Tasman, New Zealand's retail sector has shown early signs of recovery, with the total value of core retail sales for the December 2025 quarter rising 4.5% compared to the same period in 2024.

Yet even against that improving backdrop, a Retail Doctor Group sentiment study found that 82% of Australian retail leaders believe their current business model still needs to change. The pressure is structural, not cyclical.

This directory profiles 50 of the most relevant voices shaping retail leadership across Australia and New Zealand in 2026. It spans retail CEOs and managing directors, industry association leaders, analysts, consultants, academics, and specialists whose work touches the people dimensions of retail that determine whether strategy translates into performance. The list deliberately moves past the most prominent household names to surface voices across the full spectrum of the sector.

For teams navigating the leadership dimensions of this environment, Jonno White, Certified Working Genius Facilitator and bestselling author of Step Up or Step Out, works with retail and corporate leadership teams across Australia and New Zealand to build the communication, accountability, and team dynamics that allow strategy to actually land. Email jonno@consultclarity.org.

Why Retail Leadership Matters Right Now

Leadership has always been the variable that separates high-performing retailers from those that struggle to execute their own strategy. But the scale and pace of the current environment has raised the stakes considerably.

Australian e-commerce's share of total retail trade rose from 9.9% in 2020-21 to 11.8% in 2024-25, and the Australia Post eCommerce Report 2026 confirmed that local marketplaces outperformed every other category in 2025. The iMedia Retail Industry Pulse 2025 captured the mood of senior retail decision-makers: technology enables scale and efficiency, but people remain the true growth driver.

In New Zealand, the retail sector is navigating a recovery after several years of sustained pressure. Inflationary conditions, shifting consumer expectations, and the structural challenges of a small, geographically isolated market have tested retailers and their leadership teams in ways that have no simple playbook answer. The voices on this list are actively working through these challenges in real organisations, in real time.

Book Jonno White, Certified Working Genius Facilitator and bestselling author of Step Up or Step Out (over 10,000 copies sold globally), to facilitate the leadership sessions that help retail teams make those decisions better, together. Email jonno@consultclarity.org.

How This List Was Compiled

Every person on this list was selected on three criteria. First, a documented and verifiable contribution to retail leadership in Australia or Aotearoa New Zealand, supported by conference speaker credentials, published research, executive track record, or public advocacy on retail leadership topics. Second, active engagement with the retail leadership conversation in 2025 or 2026 through speaking, publishing, media appearances, or sector advocacy. Third, a deliberate effort to surface voices across organisation types, geographies, and disciplines rather than defaulting to the most prominent names on the conference circuit.

Category 1: Industry Champions and Association Voices

The people who speak for the retail sector at the policy, advocacy, and industry-development level. Their work shapes the environment in which every retail leader in the region operates.

1. Fleur Brown

Fleur Brown is the Chief Industry Engagement and Marketing Officer at the Australian Retail Council, the body that emerged in February 2026 from the merger of the Australian Retailers Association and the National Retail Association. She leads the industry affairs portfolio across policy and advocacy, media, marketing, events, and partnerships, and has become one of the most visible public voices representing Australia's $444 billion retail sector across media, government, and industry forums. Her background spans government relations, technology and innovation leadership, and executive marketing, and she founded the Launch Group agency before joining the ARA.

Brown is also the author of The Business of Being You, a guide to building an authentic personal brand that draws directly on her experience at the intersection of personal visibility and institutional credibility. Her work at the ARC connects the operational realities of individual retailers with the policy environment that governs them.

2. Carolyn Young

Carolyn Young is the Chief Executive of Retail NZ, the peak body representing New Zealand's retail sector. She took the role in late 2023 following the departure of Greg Harford and has since become the primary public advocate for New Zealand retailers navigating one of the most challenging trading environments in recent memory. In February 2026, she welcomed data showing the value of core retail sales rising 4.5% for the December 2025 quarter, while noting that the gains needed to be sustained to genuinely signal recovery.

Young has used the Retail: Unplugged podcast and regular media appearances to translate economic complexity into practical guidance for retailers of all sizes. Her background in membership organisations and advocacy, combined with firsthand roots in New Zealand retail through her family's dairy business, gives her a grounded credibility with the sector she represents.

3. Amie Larter

Amie Larter is the CEO of Octomedia, publisher of Inside Retail Australia and its global editions, and one of the most influential figures shaping how the Australian retail industry understands itself. Under her leadership, Inside Retail has expanded from a weekly trade newspaper founded in 1971 into a multi-platform retail intelligence platform covering Australia, Asia, New Zealand, and the United States, producing the annual Australian Retail Outlook in partnership with KPMG.

Larter was named a finalist for the 2026 Franchise Industry Awards Outstanding Contribution by an Individual to Franchising, and her platform has become the reference point for retail news, analysis, and executive content across the region. The 2026 Australian Retail Outlook drew on commentary from over 40 executives and 750 consumer surveys to map the retail terrain ahead.

Category 2: The Analysts and Economists

The people who make sense of retail data, market trends, and economic conditions for practitioners and investors alike.

4. Brian Walker

Brian Walker is the Chair and Founder of Retail Doctor Group, Australia's most awarded retail strategy and advisory firm, and one of the most consistently cited voices in the Australian retail industry across a career spanning more than 25 years. He chairs and hosts the Retail Doctor Group's State of the Nation series, which in its 33rd edition in February 2026 brought together leaders from Bunnings, THE ICONIC, Clark Rubber, and the Australian Retail Council to interrogate the forces reshaping the competitive landscape.

Walker has been awarded the International Retail Leadership Award, recognised by LinkedIn as a Top Voice in retail, and listed in Vend's Top 50 Global Retail Influencers. He regularly appears on ABC, Channel 9, and Channel 7, and his sustained contribution to the retail media commentary landscape over decades makes him the natural anchor for this list.

5. Gary Mortimer

Gary Mortimer is a Professor of Marketing and Consumer Behaviour at the QUT Business School in Brisbane, and Australia's most prolific academic voice on food retailing, consumer behaviour, and retail operations. He sits on the editorial board of the Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, has advised the Australian Retailers Association Consumer Research Advisory Committee since 2020, and produces research that is regularly cited by media, industry associations, and policymakers.

His February 2026 research, co-authored with Maria Lucila Osorio and Shasha Wang, continues a research trajectory that has directly informed retail industry decision-making across Australia. Mortimer's ability to translate academic findings into accessible commentary for mainstream media makes him one of the rare academics who bridges the gap between the research environment and the practical priorities of retail operators.

6. Craig Woolford

Craig Woolford is the Senior Consumer Sector Analyst at MST Marquee in Sydney and has been covering all aspects of the Australian retail sector for more than 24 years. His career includes 16 years as Head of Research and lead Consumer Analyst at Citigroup, where his team ranked in the top three with major institutional clients in both Retail and Food and Beverages. He is regularly cited in industry media and financial journalism for his analysis of retail sales trends and the strategic position of Australia's major retail companies.

Woolford also runs retailmosaic.com.au, where subscribers access his ongoing analysis and sector insights. His presence at the Retail Show Australia 2026 conference as a keynote speaker reflects his standing as the go-to analyst for investors and senior executives wanting rigorous interpretation of retail market dynamics.

7. Gareth Kiernan

Gareth Kiernan is Chief Forecaster and Director at Infometrics, New Zealand's leading specialist economics consultancy. He was a speaker at the RECON26 Retail Conference in Auckland, where he presented on navigating the retail road ahead, and is the primary economic voice within the New Zealand retail sector on questions of consumer spending, inflation, and market outlook. Infometrics produces the economic modelling that underpins business planning for New Zealand retailers.

Kiernan's forecasting work shapes how the sector anticipates and prepares for the macroeconomic shifts that determine trading conditions. For any New Zealand retailer working through investment decisions, site selection, or workforce planning, his analysis is an essential input.

8. Satish Ranchhod

Satish Ranchhod is a Senior Economist at Westpac New Zealand and one of the country's foremost experts on inflation and economic trends affecting retail. With more than 20 years of experience, he led crisis analysis during the Canterbury earthquakes and the global financial crisis, and has focused since 2014 on the economic pressures affecting New Zealand households and businesses.

He was a speaker at the Retail NZ Inspire Retail 25 conference, where he provided retailers with a clear-eyed view of the economic conditions they were navigating. His partnership with Carolyn Young on the Retail: Unplugged podcast has made the intersection of macroeconomics and retail strategy accessible to a broad practitioner audience across Aotearoa.

Category 3: The Strategists and Consultants

Independent voices and advisory practitioners who work across multiple retail businesses, bringing external perspective and rigorous thinking to the challenges retail leaders face.

9. Andrew Smith

Andrew Smith is an independent retail strategist, speaker, and author based in Australia who posts consistently to LinkedIn under the identity "Retail Nerd," building a substantial following among retail operators, executives, and emerging leaders who want candid analysis rather than polished conference keynotes. His posts in 2025 and 2026 have tackled topics including AI innovation theatre in retail, the behavioural economics of retail leadership decisions, and the gap between strategic intent and operational execution.

With a career spanning Fortune 500 consulting, executive leadership, and independent advisory, Smith brings a rare combination of practitioner credibility and public intellectual engagement. His work is particularly useful for mid-market retailers who want the quality of thinking that major consulting firms provide.

10. Danny Lattouf

Danny Lattouf is a Partner and Chief Strategy Officer at The General Store, a consumer experience consultancy in Australia, with more than 19 years of experience in retail operations and consumer strategy. His work focuses on the intersection of retail brand, customer experience, and commercial performance, and he is a regular voice on LinkedIn and in industry media on questions of retail transformation and customer engagement.

The General Store's client work spans global and Australian retailers navigating the shift between physical and digital commerce, and Lattouf's strategic perspective bridges the practitioner and consulting worlds in ways that make his analysis directly applicable to operational decisions.

11. David Campbell

David Campbell is a Partner at Egon Zehnder, the global executive search and leadership advisory firm, where he leads the Board, Industrial, Consumer, and Retail practices across Australia and New Zealand. He is a trusted advisor to retail boards and CEOs on succession planning, leadership development, executive transition, and organisational culture, and was a speaker at the ARC Leaders Forum 26 in Sydney.

His work sits at the intersection of human capital and commercial performance, which makes him one of the most useful voices for retail organisations thinking about the leadership talent pipeline and governance questions that determine long-term resilience. Campbell holds directorships at Carlton Football Club and Kilfinan Australia, and his background at Monash and Melbourne Business School grounds his advisory practice in rigorous commercial frameworks.

12. Roger Simpson

Roger Simpson is the Founder and CEO of The Retail Solution, an Australian training and consulting firm with more than 25 years of experience improving customer service and sales performance for retailers across Australia and New Zealand. His work focuses specifically on store-level leadership, coaching store managers and team leaders to build the frontline performance that determines whether a retail brand's strategy translates into the customer experience it promises.

Simpson is one of the few voices in the AU/NZ retail conversation who focuses consistently on the gap between head office strategy and the daily reality of the shop floor. His content on LinkedIn reflects a practitioner's understanding of what retail leadership looks like when the customer walks through the door.

13. Simon Burrett

Simon Burrett is an independent brand strategist and retail consultant based in Australia who has led the launch and repositioning of major retail brands including Aldi, Specsavers, Snooze, and Harris Scarfe. His expertise spans brand strategy, customer experience, CRM, loyalty programme design, and omnichannel marketing, and his commentary on LinkedIn addresses the commercial and cultural dynamics that determine whether retail brands build durable customer relationships or simply cycle through promotional activity.

Burrett's independence from any single large organisation gives his perspective a critical quality that is often absent from the voices of people whose public platform is tied to a specific employer's interests.

14. John Batistich

John Batistich is one of Australia's most active retail advisory practitioners, holding Non-Executive Director roles at McPherson's Consumer Products and, from May 2026, at Adairs Retail Group, as well as board and advisory roles at Foodco Group, Moose Toys, Ksubi, and Sunnyfield Disability Services. His career includes senior leadership roles at Scentre Group (Westfield) and major consumer goods companies including PepsiCo, Kimberly-Clark, and Mars Incorporated.

Batistich writes consistently on LinkedIn about the strategic implications of retail media network evolution, noting in early 2026 that the Australian RMN market has surpassed $2 billion and that the focus in 2026 is shifting from revenue to margin and profitability. He was named by CMO Magazine as one of Australia's top two most innovative chief marketing officers in 2015.

Category 4: The Innovators and Specialists

Leaders whose contribution to retail leadership centres on a specific capability, emerging category, or underrepresented dimension of the retail experience.

15. Natalie Phillips-Mason

Natalie Phillips-Mason is the Founder and Chief Ally of Inclusive Change, an Australian consultancy pioneering research into the neurodivergent customer and employee experience in retail settings. In 2026, Inclusive Change launched the second wave of its retail neuroinclusion research with more than 1,200 responses, challenging retailers to think differently about sensory environments, store design, and inclusive service delivery. Phillips-Mason was recognised as a 2026 Top Retail Expert by RETHINK Retail and spoke at the ARC Leaders Forum 26.

She has written for Inside Retail and Inside FMCG on what genuine inclusion looks like beyond policy statements. Her work is supported by the Australian Retail Council, Aspect, and the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower program, and she is one of the few voices in Australian retail bringing rigorous research to a dimension of the customer and team experience that most retailers are only beginning to understand.

16. Katerina Ali

Katerina Ali is the Founder and CEO of Immersifi, an Australian company focused on transforming the fashion retail experience through AI, blockchain, and emerging digital platforms. With more than 25 years of experience in marketing and business development, she builds platforms designed to create genuine connection between customers and fashion brands rather than transactional volume.

Ali's work addresses the intersection of technology and human experience in retail, and her advocacy for a future where brands foster authentic community is increasingly relevant as large retailers invest in retail media networks that prioritise data capture over relationship depth. She is an active voice on LinkedIn on the future of retail commerce and brand identity.

17. Anastasia Lloyd-Wallis

Anastasia Lloyd-Wallis is Senior Insights Manager at THE ICONIC, Australia and New Zealand's leading fashion and lifestyle platform, where she applies a data science and consumer psychology background to the challenge of understanding what shoppers actually want beneath the surface of transaction data. She was a speaker at BIGBOX Australia 2025 and serves on the advisory board for the iMedia Future of Marketing Summit NZ.

Her career prior to THE ICONIC included heading the consumer insights division at Retail Doctor Group, where she developed a proprietary approach to consumer psychology for retail that bridges the gap between behavioural science and commercial strategy. Lloyd-Wallis brings quantitative rigour to a conversation often dominated by anecdote and intuition.

18. Aidan Bartlett

Aidan Bartlett is the CEO of Designer Wardrobe, New Zealand's leading fashion resale marketplace, and one of the most compelling voices in the region on the future of circular fashion and recommerce. Under his leadership, Designer Wardrobe has grown to include one in ten women in New Zealand, and Bartlett has driven the integration of AI across the platform's dispute resolution, seller onboarding, and product search functions.

He was a speaker at Retail NZ's Inspire Retail 25 conference in Auckland, and his work represents the frontier of a retail format that blends technology, community, and sustainability in ways that challenge conventional product-ownership retail models. His perspective is essential for any retailer thinking seriously about what recommerce means for their category and customer relationships.

19. Lukas Halikias

Lukas Halikias is the Founder of Glide Media, a social media agency based in New Zealand that has become one of the most innovative voices on retail-focused digital content strategy. His collaboration with Retail NZ on the viral #7Jobs7Days campaign generated millions of views and demonstrated what creative, platform-native storytelling can do for retail sector advocacy and brand visibility.

Halikias spoke at Retail NZ's Inspire Retail 25 on the business of TikTok for retail, sharing a perspective on engagement, authenticity, and humour that cuts against the corporate content strategies adopted by most large retailers. For any retail organisation building its direct-to-consumer digital presence, his insights into social content that actually works are practically valuable.

20. Roger Dunn

Roger Dunn is a principal consultant in retail media and AI commerce with a career spanning both the demand and supply sides of the retail advertising ecosystem. He was a speaker at the ARC Leaders Forum 26 in Sydney, contributing to the conversation about how retailers are transforming their businesses to monetise first-party data through retail media networks.

His independence from any single platform or retailer gives him a credibility and objectivity that is rare in a space where most public voices have commercial interests in promoting specific solutions. Dunn's perspective on where retail media is headed in Australia and what it means for the leadership of both retailers and their supplier partners is increasingly important as the sector matures.

Category 5: The Department Store, Fashion, and Specialty Leaders

CEOs and managing directors of major retail brands whose leadership decisions and public positions shape the direction of their categories and inform the broader industry.

21. Olivia Wirth

Olivia Wirth is Executive Chair and CEO of Myer, the department store group that in 2025 completed a major merger with Premier Investments' apparel brands including Just Jeans, Jay Jays, Portmans, Dotti, and Jacqui E. A former CEO of Qantas Loyalty, where she built the programme into a $2 billion revenue business with 15.8 million members, Wirth brought a loyalty-first commercial discipline to Myer's turnaround and has since overhauled the executive team to pursue a strategy of creating a leading Australian retail platform.

Her appointment in 2024 as both Chair and CEO in an unusual dual-role structure reflects the scale and pace of the transformation she is driving. Wirth is one of the most consequential figures in Australian department store and fashion retail in 2026.

22. Scott Fyfe

Scott Fyfe is the CEO of David Jones, Australia's oldest department store chain, and a regular speaker at the ARC Leaders Forum. He has been leading David Jones through a significant strategic review of its positioning in the premium-to-upscale segment of Australian retail, navigating the pressure from both the mass market value brands below and the international luxury retailers entering the domestic market from above.

Fyfe was a confirmed speaker at the ARC Leaders Forum 26 in February 2026, contributing to the industry discussion on retail transformation at the senior executive level. His work at David Jones reflects one of the most watched leadership challenges in Australian retail: how a legacy department store brand can redefine its relevance without abandoning the heritage that its most loyal customers value.

23. Elle Roseby

Elle Roseby became Group CEO and Managing Director of Adairs Retail Group in January 2025, joining as one of Australia's most experienced specialty retail executives. Her career encompasses 16 years as CEO of Sportsgirl, roles as General Manager of Supre, and the Managing Director of both Trenery and Country Road within the Country Road Group. Adairs Chairman Trent Peterson described her at appointment as "an authentic values-driven leader who brings deep retail experience across fashion apparel and home textile product categories."

Roseby has spent her career proving that culture and commercial performance are not in tension, and her arrival at Adairs at a pivotal moment for the group positions her as one of the most closely watched leadership figures in Australian specialty retail.

24. Mark McInnes

Mark McInnes is the CEO of Premier Investments, the ASX-listed retail group that owns Just Jeans, Jay Jays, Portmans, Dotti, Jacqui E, Peter Alexander, and Smiggle. He has led Premier Investments through a period of significant strategic activity including the merger of its apparel brands with Myer, and remains the architect of one of the most interesting structural bets in Australian retail: the simultaneous pursuit of digital-first youth brands and premium sleepwear through the Peter Alexander platform.

McInnes has a long track record in Australian retail leadership, having previously been CEO of David Jones, and his continued commercial output at Premier Investments makes him one of the most influential figures on the fashion and specialty retail landscape.

25. Hilton Seskin

Hilton Seskin is the APAC CEO of JD Sports, the UK-based athletic footwear and apparel retailer that has built a significant presence across Australia and New Zealand. With extensive experience across retail and wholesale brand launches across the Asia-Pacific region, Seskin has been central to JD Sports' regional growth strategy.

He was a speaker at the Retail Leaders Forum 2026 in Melbourne, contributing to the conversation about how global athletic brands are navigating the complexity of the APAC market. His perspective on the intersection of global brand strategy and local market execution is particularly valuable for specialty retailers operating under international frameworks.

26. Dione Song

Dione Song is the Chief Executive of Love, Bonito, the Singapore-founded fashion brand that has expanded into Australia and New Zealand, bringing a product-and-community-first approach to fashion retail. Before Love, Bonito, Song led e-commerce expansion and regional marketing for Sephora across Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand, building a depth of digital commerce understanding that she has applied directly to Love, Bonito's market strategy.

Her career arc from regional e-commerce leader to brand CEO reflects the emerging generation of retail leaders for whom omnichannel capability is not a transformation objective but a baseline competency. She was a speaker at the Retail Leaders Forum 2026.

27. Chris Garlick

Chris Garlick is the CEO of Retail Zoo, the Australian multi-brand food retail group that operates Boost Juice, Salsa's Fresh Mex Grill, and Betty's Burgers across Australia and internationally. With more than two decades of consumer brand leadership experience, including 10 years as CEO of Starbucks Australia, Garlick has built a career around the cultural and operational dimensions of franchise retail.

He was a speaker at the Retail Leaders Forum 2026, and his perspective on the leadership challenges of high-volume customer-facing retail, particularly in the quick-service restaurant segment, is directly relevant for organisations managing large frontline workforces. Retail Zoo operates across Australia, New Zealand, and multiple international markets.

Category 6: The Grocery and Mass Retail CEOs

Leaders of Australia and New Zealand's largest grocery, general merchandise, and mass market retailers, whose decisions shape the everyday retail experience for millions of consumers.

28. Amanda Bardwell

Amanda Bardwell became CEO and Managing Director of Woolworths Group on 1 September 2024, taking over from Brad Banducci after more than two decades with the company. Her most recent role before the top job was Managing Director of WooliesX, the group's e-commerce and digital division, where she built a multi-billion dollar digital capability that positioned Woolworths as the leader in Australian grocery e-commerce.

Bardwell has spoken publicly about the importance of team development and customer-led decision-making in navigating the economic pressures affecting Australian grocery retail. Leading a team of over 200,000 people across Woolworths, Countdown, and the group's broader portfolio, her leadership decisions have a direct effect on more Australians than almost any other retail executive in the country.

29. Leah Weckert

Leah Weckert became CEO and Managing Director of Coles Group on 1 May 2023, becoming the first female CEO in the supermarket chain's 109-year history. A McKinsey alumna with an MBA from Harvard Business School, Weckert has driven Coles' strategy across customer, digital, and sustainability dimensions while navigating one of the most competitive grocery markets in the world.

Her public contributions to the retail leadership conversation span executive panels, industry forums, and media interviews that address both the commercial and human dimensions of leading a business of Coles' scale. As one of only a small number of women leading ASX 200 companies, her profile in the retail leadership conversation carries significance beyond the commercial metrics.

30. Aleks Spaseska

Aleks Spaseska is the Managing Director of Kmart Group, overseeing both Kmart and Target Australia, and was a confirmed speaker at the ARC Leaders Forum 26 in February 2026. Kmart's consistent performance in the value segment of Australian retail has made it one of the most studied models of mass-market retail leadership in the country.

Spaseska leads an organisation that serves as a benchmark for customer accessibility, supply chain efficiency, and frontline workforce management. Her presence at the ARC Leaders Forum reflects Kmart Group's active engagement with the broader retail leadership conversation at the industry level.

31. Michael Schneider

Michael Schneider is the Managing Director of Bunnings Group, Australia's leading home improvement and outdoor living retailer and one of the country's most consistently profitable retail businesses. His observation at Retail Doctor Group's State of the Nation 33 in February 2026 that "AI is going to be as significant a change in our generations as the Industrial Revolution was" captured the scale of the operational transformation he is navigating at Bunnings.

Schneider champions initiatives for mental health, charitable partnerships, and team engagement, and his approach to managing one of the largest frontline retail workforces in Australia has made him one of the most cited examples of culture-led commercial performance.

32. John Gualtieri

John Gualtieri is the Managing Director of Officeworks, the Wesfarmers-owned office supplies and technology retailer, and a regular contributor to the retail leadership conversation at industry forums including the ARC Leaders Forum 26. Officeworks has been one of the most consistent performers in the Wesfarmers portfolio, building a position that spans both the consumer and business customer segments.

Gualtieri's leadership of Officeworks reflects a disciplined commercial approach combined with genuine investment in the team culture that defines the brand's customer experience.

33. Fiona Hayes

Fiona Hayes is the CEO and Managing Director of 7-Eleven Australia, the convenience retail and fuel network that serves millions of Australian customers daily across more than 700 sites. She was a speaker at the ARC Leaders Forum 26 in February 2026, contributing to the industry conversation on the future of retail formats and customer convenience.

7-Eleven's evolution under Hayes' leadership from a conventional convenience store model toward a more integrated fuel, food, and digital customer platform reflects the broader transformation in convenience retail that is reshaping the category across Australia.

34. Merrill Pereyra

Merrill Pereyra was named CEO of Domino's Pizza Enterprises, the Australian and New Zealand operations of the world's largest pizza chain, in January 2026. With a background as a veteran of global quick-service restaurant operations including Pizza Hut, Pereyra oversees more than 880 Domino's stores across Australia and New Zealand in the company's largest regional market.

His mandate on appointment focused on operational efficiency, franchise relations, digital ordering experience, and reversing the sales challenges that preceded his arrival. His early months in the role have been closely watched by the QSR and franchise retail community across both countries.

Category 7: The Home and Lifestyle Retail Leaders

Leaders across home improvement, homewares, and lifestyle retail categories that together represent one of the most dynamic and contested segments of the AU/NZ retail landscape.

35. Rachael McVitty

Rachael McVitty is the Chief Customer Officer at Bunnings Group, responsible for leading the teams that deliver the customer offer across the Bunnings store and trade network as well as commercial sales and service teams. Prior to this role, she served as Bunnings' Chief Financial Officer, giving her an unusually broad understanding of the commercial architecture that underlies the customer experience.

She has worked within the Wesfarmers Group for more than 14 years, and her dual financial and customer-facing background makes her one of the most complete retail leaders on this list. McVitty serves as a Director of Flybuys and sits on the board of the National Association of Women in Operations.

36. Ryan Baker

Ryan Baker is the Chief Operating Officer of Bunnings Group and has more than two decades of leadership experience across the Bunnings business in Australia and New Zealand, with deep expertise spanning store operations, merchandising, supply chain, marketing, digital, data, and customer experience. Central to his leadership approach is developing inclusive, collaborative, and high-performance teams focused on long-term strategic growth.

Baker also serves as a Director of Flybuys and on the board of the National Association of Women in Operations. His career at Bunnings represents one of the most comprehensive operational leadership journeys in Australian retail, spanning both countries and every major function of the business.

37. Jonathan Waecker

Jonathan Waecker joined Michael Hill as Chief Executive Officer in August 2025, bringing a career that spans retail, brand, digital, customer experience, and business transformation across some of the world's most recognisable organisations. Prior to Michael Hill, he served as Chief Customer and Sales Officer at The Warehouse Group in New Zealand, and has previously held global executive positions at The Walt Disney Company and Yahoo.

His arrival at Michael Hill at a critical moment in the jewellery retailer's strategic evolution has been closely watched by the New Zealand retail community. His experience navigating digital transformation and omnichannel strategy in complex multi-market environments is directly applicable to the challenges Michael Hill faces across Australia and New Zealand.

38. Tim Schaafsma

Tim Schaafsma is the CEO of Coco Republic, the premium Australian furniture and homewares retailer. He was a speaker at the ARC Leaders Forum 26, contributing to the industry discussion on the premium segment of the home retail market. Coco Republic operates at the intersection of design, retail, and hospitality experience.

Schaafsma's leadership of the brand reflects the growing importance of experiential retail environments in differentiating premium home goods brands from online and mass-market competitors. His perspective on how premium Australian retailers build loyal customer communities in the face of international competition is a useful counterpoint to the volume and value conversations that dominate much of the retail leadership discussion.

Category 8: The Retail Operations and Logistics Leaders

Leaders whose contribution to retail excellence focuses on the supply chain, logistics, operational systems, and digital infrastructure that enable what customers experience at the front end.

39. Sharon McVicker

Sharon McVicker is the Country Omni Area Manager for IKEA Australia and New Zealand, an executive role she assumed in 2025 overseeing omnichannel operations, e-commerce, customer experience, and remote selling initiatives across both countries. She was a speaker at the ARC Leaders Forum 26 in Sydney. Her leadership philosophy centres on clarity, trust, and empowerment.

Her focus on creating highly engaged teams to deliver sustainable omnichannel transformation reflects an operational rigour that is rare in the executive conversation about omnichannel retail. IKEA's particular approach to combining digital and physical experience gives her an interesting and highly practical perspective on omnichannel execution.

40. Justin Taylor

Justin Taylor became CEO of Jaycar Electronics Group in 2025, taking the top role at one of Australia and New Zealand's most recognised specialty electronics retailers after serving as its Chief Supply Chain Officer since 2022. With more than 30 years of experience across retail, supply chain, and logistics, Taylor has a deep practical knowledge of warehouse automation and the application of technology to improve how complex retail businesses operate.

Jaycar operates more than 150 corporate stores across Australia and New Zealand, plus 276 resellers across the broader network. Taylor's appointment to the CEO role signals a strategic elevation of operational capability as a driver of commercial performance in the specialty retail segment.

41. Gary Starr

Gary Starr is the Executive General Manager for Parcel, Post, and eCommerce Services at Australia Post, overseeing the logistics and delivery infrastructure that underpins a significant proportion of Australian e-commerce. He was a speaker at the ARC Leaders Forum 26, contributing to the conversation about how last-mile delivery and fulfilment strategy shapes the retail customer experience.

Australia Post's role as the backbone of the Australian e-commerce ecosystem gives Starr a perspective on retail leadership that is genuinely cross-sector, spanning the interests of retailers, platforms, marketplace operators, and the consumers who expect reliable, affordable, and sustainable delivery.

42. Mark Cripsey

Mark Cripsey joined Wesfarmers Health in 2025 as Chief Digital and Technology Officer, bringing 25 years of experience delivering digital-powered transformation in leading retail and consumer businesses. His career includes senior technology leadership at Tesco in the UK, India, and the USA, and digital leadership roles at Coles, Myer, and Carsales.com.au in Australia.

His profile at the ARC Leaders Forum 26 reflected the increasing importance of digital and technology leadership within the retail C-suite. His perspective on how retail businesses build the technical foundations for omnichannel commerce is grounded in extensive hands-on implementation experience rather than advisory theory.

43. Gayle Burchell

Gayle Burchell is the Chief Commercial and Sustainability Officer at THE ICONIC, and a member of the Retail Leaders Forum 2026 Content Council. Her role sits at the intersection of commercial strategy and sustainability, an increasingly important pairing as Australian fashion retailers face regulatory and consumer pressure to address the environmental and social dimensions of their supply chains.

The commentary from THE ICONIC at the ARC Leaders Forum 26 that "200,000 tons of fashion items are literally landfilled in Australia every year" provides the commercial context for the recommerce and sustainability work that Burchell leads within the platform.

Category 9: The New Zealand Practitioners and Voices

Leaders and practitioners based primarily in Aotearoa New Zealand whose work contributes to the retail leadership conversation from within the specific context of New Zealand's market, culture, and conditions.

44. Katherine Rich

Katherine Rich is the Chief Executive of BusinessNZ, New Zealand's foremost business advocacy organisation. Her background spans both politics, including service as a Member of Parliament from 1999 to 2008, and business sector leadership, including 14 years as CEO of the New Zealand Food and Grocery Council. She also served on the APEC Business Council, advocating for trade liberalisation and international collaboration.

Rich was a speaker at Retail NZ's Inspire Retail 25 in Auckland, contributing to the panel on adapting to the changing retail business environment. Her breadth of policy and commercial experience gives her a perspective on New Zealand retail that is uniquely connected to the policy levers that shape the trading environment.

45. Olivia Blaylock

Olivia Blaylock is the Chief Executive of The Icehouse, New Zealand's leading growth partner for small and medium-sized businesses. With more than 25 years of leadership experience across sales, marketing, strategy, and operations in both public and private sectors, she has become one of the most credible voices in New Zealand on the leadership dimensions of business growth.

She chaired a panel at Retail NZ's Inspire Retail 25 on how retailers can adapt to changing customer expectations and shifting demographics. Her background as both a former business owner and a Stanford executive programme alumna grounds her perspective in both lived experience and rigorous frameworks.

46. Janine Sudbury

Janine Sudbury is the Founder and Director of Impact Leadership, an international leadership development coaching practice based in New Zealand. Known within the retail and business community for her experiential approach to leadership development, which includes working with horses to surface leadership presence and emotional intelligence, she has delivered keynote talks for the Women Leaders Institute, WISTA, and the NZERA Conference.

She spoke at Retail NZ's Inspire Retail 25 on building high-performance team cultures, and her background as a BBC and Radio New Zealand journalist gives her communication coaching a credibility and depth that is distinct from the corporate leadership development industry.

47. Mat Kearney

Mat Kearney is a Partner at INSIDE Consulting in Auckland, bringing more than 25 years of experience in human resources and leadership advisory. He has worked with organisations including ANZ, Kiwibank, New Zealand Police, and the Ministry of Education on organisational design, culture transformation, and executive team development. He served as both MC and content facilitator at Retail NZ's Inspire Retail 25.

Kearney's expertise in strategic operating models and embedding high-performance cultures is directly applicable to the workforce challenges facing New Zealand retailers in 2026, including retention, frontline capability development, and the cultural integration challenges that arise from rapid organisational change.

48. Leonie Freeman

Leonie Freeman is the Chief Executive of the Property Council of New Zealand, and was a speaker at the RECON26 Retail Conference in Auckland, the dedicated property-and-retail forum for professionals in the New Zealand retail property sector. Her work at the Property Council connects the property investment and development community with the retail operators who occupy retail property.

Her advocacy on the conditions that enable strong retail precincts to develop and thrive across New Zealand reflects a perspective on retail leadership that is rarely captured in practitioner-facing content. For any retailer making decisions about site strategy, lease negotiations, or the evolution of their physical footprint, Freeman's policy and advocacy work is directly relevant.

Category 10: The Convenience, Quick Service, and Franchise Leaders

Leaders in the fast-growing convenience and quick-service restaurant segments of Australian and New Zealand retail, where high-volume customer interactions and franchise relationships create a distinct leadership environment.

49. Shane Bracken

Shane Bracken is the Managing Director of Subway Australia and New Zealand, with more than 25 years of experience managing and driving growth for major food brands across Australia, New Zealand, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. He joined Subway in 2022 and has focused on brand growth, franchise partner returns, and building the commercial foundation for Subway's next phase of development across both countries. He was a speaker at the ARC Leaders Forum 26 in February 2026.

Bracken's experience across commercial, operations, and product development functions in food retail and packaging companies gives him a cross-functional leadership perspective that is unusual in the QSR sector.

50. Krista Sherali

Krista Sherali is Head of Customer Marketing and Analytics at THE ICONIC, where she has played a pivotal role since 2020 in establishing the platform's customer insights and marketing analytics function. She led the development and launch of THE ICONIC Front Row, the platform's loyalty programme, a commercially significant achievement that reflects both analytical rigour and a customer-led design approach.

Prior to THE ICONIC, she spent a decade in the hotel industry in senior revenue strategy, analytics, digital, and performance marketing roles. Sherali serves on the advisory board for the iMedia Retail Summit Australia. Her career trajectory from hospitality analytics to fashion retail loyalty programme leadership represents the kind of cross-sector mobility that is shaping the next generation of retail leadership talent in Australia.

Notable Voices We Almost Included

Any list of retail leadership voices in Australia and New Zealand inevitably involves difficult decisions about who to prioritise. Paul Zahra, who led the Australian Retailers Association through one of the most challenging periods in the sector's history before its merger with the National Retail Association in early 2026, was seriously considered. His 40-year career in retail, including his tenure as CEO and Managing Director of David Jones, places him among the most experienced voices in the country.

We also considered Erica Berchtold, the former CEO of THE ICONIC and Rebel Sport, whose career has spanned some of the most consequential leadership decisions in Australian fashion and sporting goods retail. Natalie Davis, who led Woolworths Supermarkets before moving to lead Ramsay Health Care, was another strong candidate.

Ian Bailey, the former Managing Director of Kmart Group who oversaw one of the most successful retail transformations in Australian history, was also seriously considered. Brene Brown, Adam Grant, and Simon Sinek would appear on most broad leadership lists. This list deliberately moved past these household names to surface voices the reader may not yet have encountered.

Common Mistakes Retail Leaders Make in 2026

The first mistake is treating AI as a technology project rather than an organisational leadership challenge. Michael Schneider's observation at State of the Nation 33 that AI will be as significant a change as the Industrial Revolution is not a metaphor to be enjoyed at a keynote and forgotten. Most retail organisations struggling with AI adoption are not struggling because of technology limitations. They are struggling because their leadership systems, decision-making cultures, and team capability development are not oriented toward continuous change.

The second mistake is investing heavily in customer experience strategy while underinvesting in frontline leadership capability. Roger Simpson has spent 25 years documenting the gap between head office strategy and what customers actually experience in Australian and New Zealand retail. His observation that store manager capability is the single most important variable in retail execution quality is supported by decades of evidence.

The third mistake is ignoring the neurodiversity and inclusion dimensions of both the customer experience and the team culture. Natalie Phillips-Mason's research with more than 1,200 responses in 2026 documents the extent to which standard retail environments are actively exclusionary for a significant proportion of the population. Retailers that design for neurodivergent customers and employees access customer segments and retain talent pools that their competitors are unknowingly pushing away.

The fourth mistake is treating sustainability as a reporting exercise rather than a commercial strategy. The 200,000 tons of fashion items landfilled in Australia every year is not just an environmental statistic. It is a market opportunity.

The fifth mistake is underestimating the difference between Australian and New Zealand retail contexts. Island geography, smaller market scale, a primary industries economy, and a different cultural relationship between business and community create leadership challenges that require specifically local expertise. Transplanting Australian retail playbooks directly into New Zealand without local leadership depth is a consistently documented failure mode.

Implementation Guide: How to Build Your Retail Leadership Reading List

The 50 voices on this list span every segment of the retail leadership conversation in Australia and New Zealand. Building the reading and following habit that makes this list useful takes deliberate structure.

Start on LinkedIn. Forty of the fifty people on this list have active LinkedIn profiles and post content regularly. Following all of them takes approximately ten minutes.

Look specifically for the voices who post original analysis rather than reshared headlines. Brian Walker's commentary on strategic shifts in Australian retail, Andrew Smith's critical analysis of what is actually working versus what is being performed, and Natalie Phillips-Mason's research updates on neuroinclusion will give you a genuinely diverse and practically useful perspective on the landscape.

Add the industry conferences and events to your calendar. The ARC Leaders Forum, the Retail Leaders Forum, the Retail Show Australia, the Retail NZ Inspire Retail conference, the iMedia Retail Summit, and the NRF Big Show APAC are the primary gathering points for the voices on this list. Choosing one or two events per year to attend in person gives you enough exposure to stay current without becoming lost in the conference circuit.

Engage with the research and reports. The Australian Retail Outlook produced by Inside Retail and KPMG, the Retail Doctor Group State of the Nation series, the KPMG NZ CEO Outlook, and the Australia Post eCommerce Report are the foundational documents that the voices on this list reference in their public commentary.

For leadership teams who want facilitated development around the communication, accountability, and team dynamics that underpin retail execution, Jonno White, Certified Working Genius Facilitator and bestselling author of Step Up or Step Out, delivers workshops and executive offsites for retail and corporate teams across Australia and New Zealand. Email jonno@consultclarity.org.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who are the most influential thought leaders in retail leadership in Australia and New Zealand?

The most influential voices span multiple disciplines and organisation types. Brian Walker, founder of Retail Doctor Group and a LinkedIn Top Voice, has contributed to the retail strategy conversation in Australia for more than 25 years.

Fleur Brown, Chief Industry Engagement Officer at the Australian Retail Council, is the primary industry advocacy voice for the $444 billion Australian sector. Carolyn Young leads Retail NZ, the peak body for New Zealand retailers. Gary Mortimer at QUT produces the most rigorously sourced academic research on Australian retail consumer behaviour.

How was this list compiled?

Every person on this list was selected on three criteria: a documented and verifiable contribution to retail leadership in Australia or Aotearoa New Zealand, active engagement with the retail leadership conversation in 2025 or 2026, and a deliberate effort to move past the most prominent household names to surface voices across geographies, disciplines, and organisation types.

Why does this list include industry association leaders and analysts alongside retail CEOs?

Retail leadership is shaped not only by the people who run individual retail businesses but by the people who shape the environment in which those businesses operate. Industry associations like the ARC and Retail NZ set the policy agenda. Analysts like Craig Woolford and Gary Mortimer provide the data and frameworks that inform strategic decisions. Consultants like Andrew Smith, Danny Lattouf, and Roger Simpson help organisations apply insights to their specific operational challenges.

What are the biggest retail leadership challenges in Australia and New Zealand in 2026?

The primary challenges centre on three intersecting pressures: the human leadership dimensions of technology transformation including AI integration; the financial pressure of cost inflation and margin compression in the broad middle of the market; and the cultural and talent dimensions including frontline workforce retention, building inclusive customer experiences, and developing the next generation of store leaders.

Can I hire someone to help build the leadership culture in my retail team?

Yes. Jonno White, bestselling author of Step Up or Step Out with over 10,000 copies sold globally and Certified Working Genius Facilitator, works with leadership teams across Australia, New Zealand, and internationally to build the communication systems, accountability frameworks, and team dynamics that allow retail organisations to execute their strategies effectively. Email jonno@consultclarity.org.

What is the difference between Australian and New Zealand retail leadership contexts?

The two markets share a common language and significant trade relationships, but they operate under different regulatory frameworks, different competitive dynamics, and different cultural contexts. New Zealand's smaller market scale, island geography, and distinctive Maori and Pacific cultural dimensions create retail leadership challenges that require specific local expertise.

Final Thoughts

The retail leadership landscape in Australia and New Zealand in 2026 is characterised by unusual intensity. The external pressures on the sector, from cost of living impacts on consumer spending to the structural disruption of AI and the competitive reshaping of the online marketplace, are real and not easily resolved. But the quality and diversity of thinking represented by the people on this list give reason for genuine confidence about the sector's capacity to navigate this environment.

What distinguishes the best retail leadership voices from the rest is not the sophistication of their analysis or the polish of their conference presentations. It is the willingness to engage honestly with the gap between where their organisations are and where they need to be, and to do the hard work of building the teams, cultures, and capabilities that can close that gap. That honest engagement is what makes the voices on this list worth following.

If you are working through the leadership challenges that sit behind retail performance, Jonno White, bestselling author of Step Up or Step Out (over 10,000 copies sold globally) and Certified Working Genius Facilitator, works with retail and corporate leadership teams across Australia, New Zealand, and internationally. Email jonno@consultclarity.org.

About the Author

Jonno White is a Certified Working Genius Facilitator, bestselling author, and leadership consultant who has worked with schools, corporates, and nonprofits around the world. His book Step Up or Step Out has sold over 10,000 copies globally, and his podcast The Leadership Conversations has featured 230+ episodes reaching listeners in 150+ countries. Jonno founded The 7 Questions Movement with 6,000+ participating leaders and achieved a 93.75% satisfaction rating for his Working Genius masterclass at the ASBA 2025 National Conference.

To book Jonno for your next keynote, workshop, or facilitation session, email jonno@consultclarity.org.

Next Read

If you found this list useful, these related blog posts from Jonno White are worth exploring:

For a global perspective on retail thought leadership, see 50 Best Thought Leaders in Retail (2026)

For voices specifically focused on grocery and food retail, see 35 Influential Thought Leaders in Grocery Retail