The Warehouse Group has appointed Facebook managing director for Australia and New Zealand Will Easton as a non-executive director to the board.

Easton previously worked as Facebook’s vice president for Asia Pacific emerging markets, as well as at Google, Microsoft, and Coca-Cola.

“Will is a dynamic leader with a strong track record of driving transformational change across a range of emerging markets and technologies and we are very pleased he is able to support us at what is an important time of transformation,” The Warehouse Group chair Joan Withers said.

“Will’s substantial experience in technology will add a valuable skill set to our Board, and will complement the experience of existing members.”

The Warehouse Group recently reported a 13 per cent decline in its annual earnings, with Withers adding that it was an encouraging result considering the context of the year.

For the period, group online sales in New Zealand rose by 6.6 per cent to NZ$221.1 million.

“2018 was a challenging year,” said Withers.

“We began a transformation program to accelerate our strategy, made a major change to our operations with the move to EDLP in the core The Warehouse business, and continued to integrate our business across the group.”