ShopLocal Team
Vikram Sharma
Chief Executive Officer
With more than 20 years of experience in leveraging technology for competitive advantage, Vikram is committed to keeping ShopLocal resolutely focused on leveraging the power of the Web to drive shoppers into stores, where 92% of “online shopping” really takes place.
Vikram has been at the helm of ShopLocal since 2005. His roots are with Information Resources, Inc. (IRI), a major retail and grocery research firm, where he served as President of the Data Systems Division. While at IRI, he led the development of the company’s revolutionary scanner-based InfoScan service and served as a member of the management team that led the company’s growth to make it what is now a multi-million-dollar industry leader.
Vikram’s experience includes management positions at a number of prestigious Chicago-area information technology firms, including Partner and Chief Information Officer at Grant Thornton LLP, where he chaired the firm’s international IT committee and led a worldwide technology modernization program.
Vikram is also active as an advisor on technology and marketing information services to companies in the U.S. and India.
He received a Bachelor of Science degree from the Indian Institute of Technology and earned an MBA and a Master’s in Computer Science from the University of Illinois.
Jamie Ray,Vice President, Retail
Jamie has more than 18 years of experience in the technology industry — managing sales teams and cultivating client relationships to create new revenue streams.
Jamie’s experience has been crucial for the organization. For the past 8 years Jamie has shepherded ShopLocal’s growth from a handful of clients to over 100 today, including landing ShopLocal’s first Canadian client (Canadian Tire). Building a strong base managing a sales territory, Jamie quickly moved to managing the sales team and now oversees the entire division as VP, Retail.
Prior to joining ShopLocal, Jamie worked for Group 1 Software / Pitney Bowes where he landed the company’s first multi-million dollar CRM database software account, and he was consistently one of the top 5 sales reps in the nation.
Jamie received a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing with a minor in Business Administration from Illinois State University.
Loch Rose,
Analytics
Loch’s experience includes nearly 20 years in market research, data reporting, analytics, business analysis, and data transformation algorithms, all of it with Information Resources Inc. (IRI), one of the world’s leading market research companies. During his time at IRI, Loch leveraged his skills in data-based decision making to develop and incorporate complex business algorithms into software. Following the successful development of many of the key methodologies used in the company’s InfoScan tracking service, Loch was named Senior Vice President.
Loch received a B.S. in Biological Sciences from Stanford University and a S.M. in Management (MBA) from MIT’s Sloan School of Management.
Edward McLaughlin,Technology
Ed is an Information Technology executive with over 20 years of IT experience building successful solutions and products. Ed’s background and experiences includes development and deployment of internet applications, expert systems, analytics, large scale database systems, OLAP tools, and business intelligence software products.
As Vice President, Technology, he manages our information technology organization and is responsible for our critical technology systems. His experience in building scalable and reliable solutions in the retail vertical directly benefits ShopLocal clients.
Prior to joining the ShopLocal, Ed spent 18 years at Information Resources Inc, in Chicago; one of the world’s leading market research companies. At IRI Ed held various technical positions including Senior Vice President, Technology. In this position, Ed directed the Software Development, Database Development and QA. Ed was also responsible for leading the Architecture team.
Ed is a graduate of Southern Illinois University where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science with a minor in Business.
Steven B. Carter,
Operations
Steve has over 15 years of experience in the marketing and technology industries — leading teams in operations, data analysis, production control, client service and quality assurance. As head of operations, he has played an integral role in the ShopLocal’s success over the past 5 years.
Steve provides day-to-day senior leadership to ShopLocal’s highly flexible and rapidly scalable operations teams. Prior to joining ShopLocal, Steve spent 10 years working at Information Resources (IRI) managing teams in the Data Services division.
Steve received a Bachelor of Science degree in Advertising from Southern Illinois University.
Patrick Flanagan,
Product Management
Patrick currently serves as the Senior Director of Product Management at ShopLocal where he works with leading multi-channel retailers like Target, Lowe’s and CVS to help these clients leverage the web to influence offline sales via numerous digital advertising mediums.
One of his main focuses is how to create targeted and measureable digital distribution strategies and mechanisms that help extend the reach of traditional advertising by turning to emergent forms of media such as widgets, mobile and social networks. He is a frequent contributor to the ShopLocal Blog as well as other leading industry publications and trade shows.
Prior to joining the ShopLocal team in 2004, he worked as a senior consultant for Accenture within their retail process and strategy group helping clients such as Walgreens and the Gap re-think how they manage their global supply chains.
Patrick is a graduate of Purdue University’s Krannert School of Management.
Mark Kim,
Business Development
Email Mark @ bizdev@shoplocal.com
Mark brings a breadth of expertise in business development and interactive marketing. For ShopLocal, Mark manages the development of strategic partnerships with the goal of driving incremental revenue for company growth.
Selected as one of the up and coming future leaders of the interactive newspaper industry by the Newspaper Association of America, Mark lead business development and marketing for Newsday Interactive, part of Tribune Company’s Interactive division. Early in his career, Mark worked in the sports management industry most notably for FAME, best known for managing basketball powerhouses such as Michael Jordan, Allen Iverson, and Mike Krzyzewski.
Mark received a B.A. in Government Politics and Sociology from the University of Maryland, College Park. Fear the turtle.
