SOUTHBOROUGH, MA – July 2, 2020– Newmine, a retail technology and consulting firm and the innovator behind the first AI/ML returns reduction platform Chief Returns Officer®, announced today the appointment of Donny Askin as Executive Vice President and Partner. Donny has been a longtime advisor to Newmine and brings over four decades of experience founding, leading, and growing successful high-tech companies, primarily in the retail technology sector.
Pioneering technologies in the Order Management, Fashion PLM, and retail tech spaces, Donny founded and led CommercialWare, an Enterprise Order Management solution for D2C retailers, which built an impressive client base of 140+ retailers—including Abercrombie & Fitch, Brooks Brothers, Chico’s, Disney, J.Jill, and Patagonia—and was acquired by Micros, now part of Oracle. Similarly, as CEO of Ordermotion, a SaaS SMB Order Management for D2C retailers, Donny led the company’s significant growth. The company was ultimately sold to NetSuite, now part of Oracle.
“I’m excited to have Donny join the executive leadership team as we embark on the next phase of growth at Newmine,” stated Newmine’s CEO and Founder, Navjit Bhasin. “We started out as a retail consulting company nearly a decade ago and now we also have a full-fledged SaaS AI/ML platform to combat the retail’s most expensive problem: product returns. The estimated consumer returns are expected to reach $1 trillion worldwide. “
Newmine’s vision is to ensure retailers thrive in a transforming world. According to Navjit, “With the unprecedented events of 2020, retailers must transform faster than ever before. We had to ensure our business was prepared to serve the ‘new normal’ of retail industry. Donny’s experience in scaling retail technology start-ups will be a great asset to Newmine as we grow our SaaS and Omnichannel Consulting practices.”
“I have been working with Navjit and Newmine for five years as Newmine has grown into a premier retail consultancy,” says Donny. “Over the past year, Newmine complemented its consulting practice with the creation of its groundbreaking SaaS platform, Chief Returns Officer. I am thrilled to be part of the Newmine team particularly at this time of dramatic business growth when the importance of reducing returns is critical to any retailer’s or brand owner’s success.”
Receive up-to-date product, customer, and partner news directly from Newmine on LinkedIn.
About Donny Askin
Donny Askin is a retail technology pioneer and leader with over four decades of experience founding and growing successful high-tech companies. Covering a broad spectrum, these companies include startups, turnarounds, and business units within larger public and private-equity owned corporations. More recently, Donny has mentored dozens of startups and early-stage and growth-stage tech company CEOs, and he is one of three Leaders of Catlin & Cookman Group’s High-Growth CEO Forum® focusing on supporting early to growth-stage tech company CEOs. Additionally, Donny serves as a Board Member or Advisor to several companies. In parallel Donny commits a significant part of his time to volunteering and mentoring companies through incubator/accelerators, MassChallenge, XRC Labs, and most recently EforAll. He is an avid skier, cyclist, and four-time rider in the Pan-Mass Challenge.
