MAM
Sharad Gupta joins GoKwik as senior director – products
Mumbai: GoKwik, an e-commerce enabler in India, has appointed Sharad Gupta as senior director of products. With over a decade of experience, Sharad will lead GoKwik’s custom checkout vertical, focusing on streamlining checkout and payment processes to enhance digital shopping and support brand growth across e-commerce platforms.
Before GoKwik, Sharad held key roles at Swiggy, Dineout, and Paytm. At Swiggy, he led initiatives including a partnership with IRCTC that expanded food delivery for train passengers. At Dineout, he contributed to customer loyalty and product development, and at Paytm, he strengthened customer support infrastructure. His experience in product strategy and consumer experience aligns with GoKwik’s goals.
GoKwik co-founder & CEO Chirag Taneja stated, “Having Sharad join our team is a significant step towards becoming deeply platform agnostic. We believe that every eCommerce brand should be able to provide a smooth, fast, and secure checkout experience regardless of the platform they are present in. That’s what Sharad is going to drive. Sharad’s expertise in building impactful products makes him an ideal leader to drive our checkout solutions forward. We’re excited about the potential his leadership brings in shaping GoKwik’s growth and increasing the value we deliver to our partner brands.”
Gupta said, “What excites me most about joining GoKwik is the team’s passion for making digital commerce easy and seamless for everyone. The eCommerce space in India is booming, with brands actively seeking innovative, frictionless ways to engage directly with consumers. GoKwik is at the forefront of this shift, setting new standards for a smooth, hassle-free shopping experience that keeps customers returning. I’m thrilled to be part of a team that’s redefining the online shopping landscape and championing the future of eCommerce in such a meaningful way.”
GoKwik’s network includes over 10,000 brands, such as Lenskart, Neemans, Man Matters, and Shoppers Stop, spanning categories like fashion, beauty, health, nutrition, and electronics. With over 120 million shoppers, its leadership team features talent from Amazon, Myntra, Google, and Nykaa. GoKwik anticipates continued growth during the festive season leading up to Diwali.
Brands
Faber-Castell India appoints Sunaina Haldar as director – marketing
With stints at Tata, SleepyCat and ADF Foods under her belt, Haldar is primed to redraw Faber-Castell’s brand story
MUMBAI: Faber-Castell India has poached Sunaina Haldar from ADF Foods, appointing her director – marketing as the German stationery brand looks to muscle up in a category that is rapidly reinventing itself around creativity and self-expression.
Haldar hit the ground running. “My first couple of weeks have been incredibly energising, understanding consumers, visiting markets, engaging with retailers and immersing myself into the world of Faber-Castell Group,” she said.
She arrives with considerable firepower. At ADF Foods, Haldar ran marketing across India and international markets for a portfolio spanning Ashoka, Aeroplane, Camel and ADF Soul. Before that, she was vice-president – marketing at direct-to-consumer mattress brand SleepyCat, where she helmed brand, content and performance marketing. Her résumé also includes a stint leading marketing, new product development and CRM for Tata SmartFoodz at Tata Consumer Products, no small proving ground.
Between corporate roles, Haldar also operated as a fractional CMO for early-stage startups, building marketing strategy and operational structures from scratch, a signal that she knows how to move fast with limited resources.
With 18 years straddling FMCG, D2C and the startup world, Haldar now takes the reins at a brand that has long owned the classroom but is clearly hungry for the living room. In a stationery market where the pencil has become a lifestyle statement, Faber-Castell has picked someone who knows exactly how to sell that story.
