1 January 2019
Gaze was delighted to bring John O’Loghlen to NZ to speak to our NZ CEOs and CFOs. John is the Director of Alipay in Australia and New Zealand based in the Alibaba Group Sydney office, joining Alibaba Group in March 2016 as Director of Business Development for the Tmall Global business in Australia and New Zealand. During his first three years with Alibaba Group he oversaw the onboarding of over 250 ANZ brands onto the Tmall Global e-commerce platform, also worked closely with Australian and New Zealand fresh food businesses supplying into Alibaba Group’s Tmall Fresh, Hema Fresh and Yiguo platforms. Since taking responsibility for the Alipay business in 2019 John has focused on building a leading local team combining professionals from the payments sector as well as deep industry experience to best serve Chinese Alipay users and retailers across Australia and New Zealand.
Before relocating to Sydney in 2014, John co-founded a leading gourmet pizza delivery and dine-in chain in Beijing, Gung Ho! Pizza, a commercial and strategic partner in China for Fonterra and winner of all major industry awards. This venture allowed John to develop significant operations experience in multiple Chinese payment platforms as well as all the leading food delivery, social media and customer review apps including Alipay, Ele.me, Meituan and Dianping.
Prior to Gung Ho! Pizza, John led Domino’s Pizza International’s Asian business from 2006 to 2009, expanding its international footprint. He was responsible for master franchisees across Asia including Macquarie’s investment in the China master franchise. John also spent five years in investment banking at Goldman Sachs, working with telecom and technology clients and financial sponsors in London, New York, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing, where he also worked for former Goldman Sachs Chairman John L. Thornton’s advisory business. John also served as a New Zealand Trade & Enterprise (NZTE) government appointed advisor to leading New Zealand corporations in China, raising capital for a number of private equity funds and start-up businesses across Asia.
John holds a BA from Harvard University and an MPhil from Cambridge.
Gaze Foundation initiated and brought John O’Loghlen, Alibaba’s Director of Alipay and E-Commerce throughout Australia and New Zealand. In partnership with Auckland Business Chamber, Michael Barnett interviewed John on the developments of global retail.