March 4, 2025

- 45:49

Europes Retail Evolution

or listen on

Aligning Teams and Changing Mindsets: Insights from Holland & Barrett’s CPO

📍London, UK

Katya Denike, Chief Product Officer at Holland & Barrett, recently joined the OFFBounds podcast to discuss her approach to digital transformation within a 150-year-old legacy brand. With over 1,300 stores in 16 countries, Holland & Barrett is an iconic presence in European health and wellness retail. Despite its extensive heritage dating back to 1870, the company is undergoing one of its most significant transformations yet, driven by a commitment to innovate at scale.

During the conversation, Denike emphasized the dual challenges she faces: solving the immediate product or customer problems (“Problem A”) and, crucially, aligning the entire organization around the transformation vision (“Problem B”). She underscored that shifting mindsets and breaking organizational silos are often more complex than implementing new technology. For Denike, “unlearning” outdated practices is just as critical as adopting new methodologies, highlighting the necessity for cultural evolution alongside technological advancement.

Authenticity and informality are cornerstones of Denike’s leadership philosophy. She argues that a relaxed, open culture encourages innovation by making team members comfortable to share bold ideas. This informal approach fosters a more collaborative environment, essential for a successful digital transformation. Denike also emphasized continuous communication as pivotal, noting that reinforcing new ways of working helps sustain long-term change.

Finally, Denike shared insights into how Holland & Barrett integrates its online and offline customer journeys into a seamless experience, stressing the importance of building flexible, scalable systems that address evolving customer needs. Her key message was clear: real digital transformation is less about technology itself and more about embedding an innovative, agile mindset deeply into the organization’s DNA.

Listen more

Book Author

Something Is Shifting in Business and We Can All Feel It

Book Author

Something Is Shifting in Business and We Can All Feel It

Interview

Rohlik Group: Europe’s Best-Kept Secret in Online Grocery

Operating across five European countries under locally adapted brand names, Rohlik delivers a full grocery assortment of 25,000 SKUs to customers' doors in as little as 60 minutes

Interview

Operating across five European countries under locally adapted brand names, Rohlik delivers a full grocery assortment of 25,000 SKUs to customers' doors in as little as 60 minutes

Rohlik Group: Europe’s Best-Kept Secret in Online Grocery

Operating across five European countries under locally adapted brand names, Rohlik delivers a full grocery assortment of 25,000 SKUs to customers' doors in as little as 60 minutes

Interview

From Points to Participation: What Actually Drives Loyalty

Points are just the visible layer. The real engine is engagement. Opening the app, loading offers, interacting weekly, building habits around the experience.

Interview

Points are just the visible layer. The real engine is engagement. Opening the app, loading offers, interacting weekly, building habits around the experience.

From Points to Participation: What Actually Drives Loyalty

Points are just the visible layer. The real engine is engagement. Opening the app, loading offers, interacting weekly, building habits around the experience.

Book Author

Retail Doesn’t Have a Technology Problem. It Has a Process Problem

Drawing from her experience in merchandising and the ideas explored in her book The Material Life, Liza points to the concept to market journey as the root cause of many of these breakdowns.

Book Author

Drawing from her experience in merchandising and the ideas explored in her book The Material Life, Liza points to the concept to market journey as the root cause of many of these breakdowns.

Retail Doesn’t Have a Technology Problem. It Has a Process Problem

Drawing from her experience in merchandising and the ideas explored in her book The Material Life, Liza points to the concept to market journey as the root cause of many of these breakdowns.

Interview

From “Best in Breed” to Frankenstein Stack: The Reality of Retail Technology

Lerman highlights the importance of strong discovery during the selection process, alignment between vendors and retailers, and clarity around what success should actually look like once a system is implemented.

Interview

Aligning Teams and Changing Mindsets: Insights from Holland & Barrett’s CPO

📍London, UK

Listen more

Something Is Shifting in Business and We Can All Feel It

Something Is Shifting in Business and We Can All Feel It

Rohlik Group: Europe’s Best-Kept Secret in Online Grocery

Rohlik Group: Europe’s Best-Kept Secret in Online Grocery

From Points to Participation: What Actually Drives Loyalty

From Points to Participation: What Actually Drives Loyalty

Retail Doesn’t Have a Technology Problem. It Has a Process Problem

Retail Doesn’t Have a Technology Problem. It Has a Process Problem

From “Best in Breed” to Frankenstein Stack: The Reality of Retail Technology

From “Best in Breed” to Frankenstein Stack: The Reality of Retail Technology

Menu

All Episodes

Receive new exclusive episodes

Receive new exclusive episodes 