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One of the coolest NC ecommerce jobs around!
To be based in Raleigh, NC, we’re on the hunt for a world-class Ecommerce Manager for VitalSource Technologies, which is wholly owned by Ingram Content Group.
HARRY’S COMMENTS: Ingram Content Group is one of the world’s largest distributors of physical and digital content. Thousands of publishers, retailers, and libraries worldwide use ICG’s products and services to realize the full potential of books, regardless of format. ICG has earned market preeminence by delivering innovative, integrated content solutions. Its customers have access to best-of-class digital, audio, print, print-on-demand, inventory management, wholesale and full-service distribution programs.
VitalSource Technologies is Ingram’s industry-leading e-textbook solution. Working with hundreds of publishers around the world, VitalSource Bookshelf offers fully-integrated three-way content delivery (online, download, and mobile) to higher education and corporate institutions around the world. In fact, VitalSource is the most widely used e-textbook platform in higher education today.
About the Role
The company seeks an experienced Ecommerce Manager to join its growing team. In this role, you will drive revenue growth and customer satisfaction for VitalSource’s new online store. You’ll develop product, merchandising, marketing, and creative strategies with a focus on improving conversion, usability, and the functionality of the firm’s ecommerce products and services. As well, you’ll be expected to raise organizational awareness of emerging market opportunities, customer needs, and the relevant competitive landscape.
In particular, where looking for rising stars with experience in the following areas:
Site search: Textbooks are extremely information intensive. Meaning, there’s a lot to know about any book. Imagine doing a search for mathematics textbook. You’ll see hundreds of results. What can you do to help users make sense of that?
Findability is essential to making the sale. You can drive tons of traffic to the site, but if the site search function isn’t accurate or intuitive, then those users won’t be able to find the content they were looking for.
Merchandising: Critically important. We’re looking for someone who can bridge the gap between what users seek on Google and what’s happening on the site. What are the customers pain points? How can your user’s journey be shortened or improved? How can you explain your customer’s requirements to your team members in VitalSource’s UX and Design areas?
As the voice of the customer, you’ll be using data to make your case to your team members. Naturally, you’ll be doing data-mining and A/B testing. We need someone who can use 80/20 thinking to separate “nice-to-have” improvements from critical improvements that are actually going to drive revenue or save lost sales.
SEO / Organic search: You be given access to VitalSource’s CMS in order to make basic, non-technical SEO updates to the site. Therefore, you’ll need to know the basics about SEO. You do NOT have to code, but be expected to use basic SEO tools / tactics to identify opportunities to improve SEO issues.
If those problem are easy to fix, you can handle it. If they are more complex, you’ll need to partner with the Product Team.
Affiliate: Affiliate marketing is a critical channel in the marketing mix at VitalSource. The firm has ongoing relationships with 3rd party sites which drive referrals and sales to the VitalSource site. Students are a cost sensitive audience that rely heavily on price comparison tools to find the most affordable course materials.
You’ll be helping VitalSource optimize its affiliate program through recruitment, messaging, and offer strategies while managing ongoing testing.
Email: At VitalSource, email is used for engagement, retention and reactivation. Email is a key platform to help educate students and instructors on the key benefits and features of the Bookshelf reader.
VitalSource is in the process of rebuilding its email program, and there’s never been a better opportunity for a new Ecommerce Manager to improve this channel through triggered contacts, personalization, lifecycle marketing, better email UX, smarter segmentation and promotional calendaring.
Testing / Analytics: UX testing can be used to make an online product better (and cheaper), and there are lots of ways to do that. It’ll be up to you to own the testing process end to end. Not too long ago I saw a video of Facebook’s analytics head saying in which he said “We hold our analysts to a simple standard: There recommendations MUST end up changing the site in some way.”
Meaning, Facebook’s management doesn’t care about reports for the sake of reports. They care that their analysts are hypothesis-driven, can ask GREAT questions about how the users’ ideal outcome for a particular interaction, TEST for it, and drive a REAL change with their findings. Bingo.
In general, this job is perfect for someone who is …
Well, we’re looking for someone who’s collaborative. Goes without saying. You will be selling the publishers’ content on the site, which means you’ll be working closely with the sales team, ensuring that the right content is available for sale through the onsite catalog. Additionally, you’ll be working very closely with the Product development team who manage website updates, as well as the Design/Creative and Marketing teams. Strong people skills are a must.
Beyond that, we’re looking for someone who’s intellectually curious. You’ll use a combination of data and qualitative research to uncover issues, identify opportunities and challenge the status quo. You’ll be a thinker and a doer combining ideas with details. Your curiosity will lead you to always ask why.
Finally, we’re looking for someone who is highly motivated. (You won’t fit in if you aren’t.) VitalSource offers an interesting mix of motivated and driven people who are smart and ambitious. Yet somehow they manage maintain a good work/life balance. Maybe that’s a Raleigh thing.
As usual, my team and I have a monster amount of intel to share with highly qualified candidates about this role. If you’re interested in this position, you definitely don’t want to apply without this information. Simply text “[your name] + Vitalsource” to 404-281-2025. Or, simply apply for the position at the bottom of the page. Either way, we look forward to chatting with you about this great opportunity!
View Harry Joiner’s profile
Responsibilities:
- Drive the development of new features, programs and services for the online store to optimize the overall user experience
- Partner with the Marketing, Sales and Product teams to support the strategic planning and execution of initiatives for the ecommerce website
- Manage execution and optimization of digital marketing programs to drive store sales (e.g. Affiliate Marketing, SEM, Email, Display)
- Monitor marketplace products, service offerings and pricing; leverage internal and external data sources to identify gaps/opportunities in store catalog
- Partner with relevant stakeholders to implement recommendations for catalog optimization
- Provide market, competitive, strategic and tactical intelligence to drive prioritization of store initiatives
- Develop and manage the onsite testing roadmap; oversee the testing process to improve engagement and conversion metrics for online store
- Use analytics to identify actionable insights and opportunities for testing and optimization, with a focus on improving conversion
- Partner with UX/UI team to optimize user journey and advise ongoing enhancements to all sites
- Assist in the development of pricing, promotional and other strategies to help achieve marketing and sales goals
- Monitor and analyze the overall health of the e-Commerce business as well as performance of program KPIs
- Identify opportunities to regionalize international sites and grow store sales
- Support basic updates of site content through CMS tool
- Leverage tools to drive the SEO strategy for all global sites
- Manage regular, ongoing store performance updates
- Partner with relevant stakeholders to implement recommendations for catalog optimization
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:
- Knowledge of ecommerce business models, specifically how to drive ecommerce sales through innovative, effective and cost efficient marketing/merchandising programs and strategies.
- Knowledge of the digital ecosystem and how ecommerce, web, mobile, social, search and channels work together to optimize behavior and acquisition.
- Experience collaborating with multiple organizations including Marketing, Product, Technology, Finance, Legal, etc.
- An analytical, problem solving and results-driven approach to ecommerce challenges and opportunities
- Ability to interpret data, draw conclusions, and proactively identifying areas for improvement.
- Hands on practice using Google Analytics or similar web analytics tools.
- Knowledge of Content Management Systems and SEO tools
- Knowledge of digital marketing tactics (Affiliates, SEM, Email, Display, Social)
- Ability to own the onsite testing process end to end – including test plan development, test execution and measurement
- Ability to collaborate and influence cross functional teams without formal authority
- PC skills to include MS Office, particularly Excel & PowerPoint
Requirements
- Bachelors Degree
- 5 years experience working in digital marketing or ecommerce
- 3 years experience in digital merchandizing
- 3 years experience working in an analytical role (preferred)
Applications for this position are being coordinated by Kelley Newsome. To apply, CLICK HERE. Candidates, please be sure to email Kelley for additional information that will differentiate you in your candidacy. Due to the intensely competitive nature of this search, thorough preparation for these interviews with this proprietary material is strongly recommended.
