READERPROFILE The Accidental Supply Chain Nerd
as told to Karen Kroll
ZACH THOMANN is chief operating officer with iHerb, one of the largest online retailers specializing in health and wellness. RESPONSIBILITIES: Oversee worldwide operations and third-party logistics providers across iHerb’s expanding network of fulfillment centers and inventory hubs; build a faster, smarter, and more scalable distribution network; and enhance the company’s delivery promise to customers in 180-plus countries. EXPERIENCE: Chief operating officer, Americas and APAC, GXO Logistics, Inc.; president and chief operating officer at PFSweb, multiple executive roles, PFS; program manager, Amerisource Bergen; manager, PFSweb EDUCATION: MBA, Finance, with Honors, UT Dallas; B.S., Corporate Communications, The University of Texas at Austin.
O ne joke says that you don’t choose supply chain; but supply chain chooses you. I think that’s true. In high school, I worked at JCPenney, unloading trucks and bags for customer pickup. I promised myself that I’d never work in retail or logistics. I thought I’d be an investment banker. But right out of school, I started in client services with a small ecommerce service provider. As the company grew, I was afforded many opportunities to grow and learn. Eventually I was overseeing all our program management and client success programs. I was always the youngest guy in the room. That probably made me hungrier and willing to work twice as hard. I led with facts and relationships. You show up, attack the problems, and earn your seat at the table; it’s not given to you.
in this space. Health and wellness is one of the fastest growing verticals in ecommerce. iHerb has an opportunity to take even more market share. In a growing business, supply chain has to be leading the charge and making sure we’re in front of the growth, in a cost-effective manner. For instance, we don’t want to be talking about capacity constraints when we want to run a promotion. Priorities one, two, three, and four are ensuring that we deliver on time and within budget, so we meet customers’ expectations and delight them. The next priority is looking at our network, while considering the future. As we race to take advantage of market growth, where does our supply chain need to go? What do the facilities need to look like?
The CEO at the time asked me to run supply chain. I told him he was silly, but that I wouldn’t say no. I’ve made my career by saying yes to opportunities, irrespective of the challenge. If you’re comfortable, you’re doing it wrong. I took over supply chain and worked up to general manager and president of the division. Although supply chain wasn’t a conscious decision, I’ve enjoyed every bit of it. At this point, I’m a bit of a supply chain nerd. It’s a dynamic time period for supply chains. Everybody’s trying to re-evaluate their points of presence, as well as how to work around changing tariffs and dominion rules, and in health and wellness, regulatory processes. For instance, what does product labeling need to look like by geography? I joined iHerb because of the tailwinds
10 Inbound Logistics • December 2025
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