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One of the coolest ecommerce jobs around!
We are working with Floor & Decor in their search for a world-class Director of Online Merchandising based in Smyrna, GA — future home of the Atlanta Braves.
Founded in 2000, Floor & Decor is a leading specialty retailer in the hard surface flooring market, offering the broadest in-stock selection of tile, wood, stone, related tools and flooring accessories – at the best prices.
At Floor & Decor, homeowners and professional contractors have access to superstore selection at warehouse prices with showroom quality. The company’s extensive selection of in-stock product allows customers to get what they need when they need it. And because Floor & Decor sources directly from manufacturers and quarries worldwide, its top quality products are priced below those of its competitors.
HARRY’S COMMENTS: Before I get cranked up, let me just say that I have a MONSTER amount of primary and secondary research to share with qualified candidates on this search. Several years ago I placed Floor & Decor’s VP of Ecommerce in a prior role and we have a great relationship. Our intake call for this search spanned 83 mins over TWO in-depth sessions. This VP is a super nice star, and he has done a fantastic job of building Floor & Decor’s multichannel business.
And oh, what a multichannel business it is.
A significant amount of the product bought online is picked up in F&D’s stores, and the firm’s in store sales reps are an outstanding value add to the overall sales process, which can involve either DIY (“Do-it-Yourself” consumers) or DIFM (“Do It For Me” contractors and subcontractors).
Either way: If you’re not sure whether you should use porcelain or ceramic tile in a particular bathroom, the experts at Floor & Decor can help …
Floor & Decor’s value prop is underpinned by a local focus that allows it to create a store experience and product mix that meet the needs of each market it serves. For Floor & Decor’s new Director of Online Merchandising, there’ll never be a dull moment: The company empowers its store managers — or chief executive merchants — to create a local shopping experience while offering the broadest selection of products in the industry.
Multi-channel. Multi-device. Multi-local.
Frankly, it’s a little hard to “showroom” a retailer like Floor & Decor because many of its customers aren’t sure exactly what they need until they speak with a Floor & Decor rep. And those that do know what they need choose Floor and Decor because of its pricing and selection of immediately available inventory. In short, the underlying economics of Floor & Decor’s locally attuned business are very favorable, and that’s a tremendous advantage for any online retailer to have.
About the Market
Estimating the size of the home flooring market is tricky business. It’s massive, but it’s still a subset of the Home Centers & Hardware Stores industry — a giant galoot of an industry with about 22,000 establishments (single-location companies and units of multi-location companies) with combined annual revenue of about $160 billion.
A couple of reminders about Floor & Decor’s ecommerce business:
- Currently, Floor & Decor has 60 stores, and most of the firm’s online business is buy-online-pick-up-in-store. Which is totally understandable because the reverse logistics on a pallet of floor tiles is a nightmare.
- 60 stores ain’t much given the potential of the market — so there’s plenty of opportunity to grow F&D’s online business outside of its current trade area.
And that’s why I went crazy on the research for this role. You’ll be selling to TWO types of customers, DIY and DIFM, in TWO primary categories, tile and flooring. Therefore, my research / intel packet for this search includes 30-35 page market research reports for EACH of the following industries …
- Tile & Marble Stores in the US
- Floor Covering Stores in the US
- Flooring Installers in the US
- Tile Installers in the US
That’s more than 120 pages of research to help you understand the size and scope of the markets Floor & Decor plays in.
About the Role
As Floor & Decor’s Director of Online Merchandising, you will work closely with the firm’s category merchants and buyers to develop and support F&D’s digital merchandising strategy. It will be your job to ensure that this strategy aligns with the organization’s overall strategic thrust.
Floor and Decor isn’t your typical Big Box home improvement chain. Every day the firm becomes more and more like a fashion business, because consumers have begun to express (and in some cases define) themselves by their surroundings — which includes flooring. Therefore, you’ll be expected to bring a trend-right sensibility to the company’s merchandising calendar -– which you will manage personally.
You’ll definitely need your right brain. But the left brain matters, too.
This role is for an A-player who is business-oriented. Proactive. Strategically literate. It’s for someone who understands technology — where it is, and where it’s going. It’s for a confident (not cocky!) Director who knows how to “work a building” and drive productive change in a way that’s hard on the issues / soft on the people.
The existing team is excellent, and there are no major fires to put out. This role involves helping a team of really smart, driven and engaged retail executives understand “what’s in it for them” by embracing digital. According to Floor & Decor’s VP of Ecommerce, “I have never been in an environment that embraces digital more than this one. In every big retail organization there are always a few slow adopters — but there aren’t many at F&D. The new Director won’t be battling a bunch of people who are anti web/eCommerce. Our people support digital completely, and they’re in it to win it.”
On any given day, you’ll find yourself working with Purchasing, Planning, Marketing, Operations, Logistics and Supply Chain, and more. Floor & Decor is a complicated retail business, and you’ll need to understand the gritty basics of these execs’ jobs in order to push F&D’s digital transformation throughout the organization.
The good news is: You will encounter no poison wells. Everyone at Floor and Decor understands the criticality of “getting it right” in digital. They just need someone to lead the way. If you’re up to the job, then we’d love to hear from you.
Smartphone users can TEXT Harry Joiner at (404) 281-2025 for more details — or simply apply below.
View Harry Joiner’s profile
Responsibilities:
- Must be product focused and creative in addition to web savvy.
- Bachelor’s degree (B.A) or equivalent experience required, with Business, Merchandising, Communications preferred.
- Minimum of 3-5 years relevant work experience required in Interactive Merchandising and/or eCommerce.
- Experience in working with retail purchasing and planning departments.
- Experience in web site interaction and back end tools (content management systems) is preferred.
- Previous experience using eCommerce platforms is highly preferred.
Essential Functions
- Manages product set up including categorization, sequencing, filter and collection attribution, photography, availability and pricing.
- Participates in defining and refining the online shopping experience, including site architecture, taxonomy, browsing and buying features, product views and details and other key eCommerce elements.
- Communicates and executes product and category merchandise strategy of key products throughout the site.
- Collaborates with buying team to assure product assortment is reflected online accurately.
- Performs in-depth analysis for selling and conversion reports to guide opportunities for improvement of merchandise presentation and performance.
- Optimizes internal search through in-depth analysis and awareness of product selection adjustments.
- Collaborates closely with creative and production team to develop content, landing pages and other site enhancements.
- Works directly with buyers to identify upcoming trends and product collections to provide customer with best possible product selection.
- Select products to feature based on trends, metrics and marketing activity.
- Responsible for monitoring and regular reporting on category performance and standard metrics.
- Additional duties and projects as required.
UPDATE: THIS SEARCH IS CLOSED.
