OWNER & FOUNDER OF MAVERICK MARKETING

Melissa is the founder and managing director of Maverick Marketing, a boutique e-commerce design and development agency.

Melissa designs and develops customised e-commerce websites for a variety of clients, including fashion and homeware retailers, beauty and lifestyle producers, nuts and bolts specialists, automotive parts manufacturers and even intimate product suppliers. You name it, she has built it.

Melissa’s specialty is Shopify: recognized by the global multinational as one of their experts in 2016, where she was named as the First Female South Africa Expert. She develops unique themes, templates and solutions using the best platforms and integrations for a client’s needs. She also writes code for specialised apps and loves keeping up with the constant developments in technology.

Melissa has an intimate knowledge of the inner workings of e-commerce from the merchant’s perspective too, having owned and run her own online store, which she custom built and launched in 2009.

In her previous life, Melissa was a journalist, designer and managing editor for South Africa’s leading financial newspaper – Business Report, and helped launch the Daily Maverick in 2009.

She has a Bachelor of Arts, Honours and Postgraduate degrees from the University of Witwatersrand.

Melissa is a regular speaker at e-commerce and marketing conferences, where she is happy to share her experience and love for the local e-commerce industry, trends in the environment and how to build a successful and profitable online store in South Africa.

Melissa has multiple e-commerce awards, ranging from her Shopify Experts status and 2016 Shopify Award to SA’s Top e-Commerce Entrepreneur Award in 2018. Maverick Marketing is also one of the Finalists in this year’s Bookmark Awards for Best e-Commerce Website.