eBay executive Gautam Thakar appointed as CEO, President of LivingSocial.com

Thakar had ran Shopping.com.

By Kevin Manuel

WASHINGTON, DC: Gautam Thakar has been officially unveiled as the new CEO and president of LivingSocial.

Thakar had been an executive at eBay and ran Shopping.com, a website where customers can compare prices for products at multiple retailers. He replaces Tim O’Shaughnessy, who had been waiting for the appointment of his successor to step down to take an advisory role.

Thakar released a statement on his new undertaking: “LivingSocial is well-positioned to play a growing role in demand generation for both local and national merchants. This is a huge opportunity that will be realized by delighting consumers with personalized services and experiences at great prices. I am excited to join LivingSocial at this important chapter in its journey and help build on all the accomplishments that Tim and the team have achieved so far.”

Thakar had worked with eBay for more than a decade, working in various roles for the online trade company from overseeing the Indian operations for the company and spearheading Shopping.com. Acquiring Thakar gives LivingSocial more credibility and will give it stability as it attempts to bounce back from a challenging period where it had reign in some operations and lay off employees due to competition.

Gone are the days when LivingSocial was the leading daily deals website, the sector is now overrun by similar businesses. The company now puts its faith in marketplace innovation, product development, and marketing in an attempt to adjust to market demands and pull in revenue.

LivingSocial is partly owned by Amazon.com and is now making strides in customer personalization to set it apart from the competition. Nonetheless, LivingSocial will require some ingenuity to push it back to the fore of the market it once dominated.

In the meantime, O’Shaughnessy will be looking forward to his next challenge in the face of uncertainty, after he leaves the company he cofounded over 7 years ago.

He said in a report on the Washington Post, “A lot of that occurred when I made the decision that I thought this was the right thing to go and do,” O’Shaughnessy said. “At this point, I made that decision and it’s been all about how we can set the company up for the best chance of success possible and a new leader for the best chance of success possible.”