Claus leads our commercial excellence work within the retail sector and serves on the private capital leadership team in Europe. Since joining McKinsey in 2013, he has advised leading grocery and nonfood retailers, quick service restaurants, e-commerce players, and internet marketplaces in Europe on commercial transformation and revenue growth management initiatives. Claus leverages deep expertise in category management (assortment, price, promotions, loyalty, and vendor negotiations), advanced analytics, and AI. His expertise also includes leading over 30 commercial due diligence engagements and advising consumer clients on M&A activities.
His recent client work includes the following:
- orchestrating commercial turnarounds of retailer companies by optimizing all commercial levers, including assortment, price, promotion, and loyalty redesign. This involved introducing new commercial methodologies and processes and building the capabilities of the organization to win back market share
- guiding the transformation of a specialty retailer into an advanced-analytics-driven enterprise, which included building up the required capabilities and technologies and implementing first use cases in category management, including assortment, price, and promotions
- leading a multiyear implementation of a growth and margin improvement program for a prominent online classifieds company in Europe. Key initiatives included implementing analytics-driven pricing, enhancing go to market, and identifying inorganic growth levers in Europe
- conducting a comprehensive commercial due diligence and synergy assessment for a leading European specialty retailer
- formulating a robust revenue growth strategy for a leading European quick service restaurant, including menu redesign, optimized pricing, and CRM enhancements
- designing and executing advanced pricing and promotional strategies, leveraging advanced analytics and AI for a leading consumer electronics player
- performing commercial due diligence and post-merger integration plans for a leading European classifieds player
Prior to joining McKinsey, Claus gained valuable experience in business development and business intelligence at Rocket Internet, a prominent company builder, in China, Nigeria, and Germany.