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One of the coolest Director of Ecommerce jobs around!
HARRY’S COMMENTS: We are working with REEDS Jewelers in their search for a world-class Director of Ecommerce based in beautiful, beachy Wilmington, NC.
Let me start out by saying that we have an absolutely INSANE amount of information on this position. Our market research includes a 2015 diamond industry report from DeBeers (US sales up 7% last year), plus we have reports from First Research and IBIS World as well.
On top of that, the notes from my two-hour kickoff call with this role’s hiring manager exceed 10 pages! Applying for this role without this information will be like bringing a knife to a gunfight.
If you are a qualified candidate, this information is yours for the asking.
Now then: REEDS Jewelers is the largest family-owned retail jewelry chain in North America. The firm sells diamonds, watches, and a large selection of fine jewelry from top designers in over 65 retail stores across 18 states as well as online at Reeds.com. Headquartered in the coastal city of Wilmington, REEDS is a 70-year old company that started selling on the web in 1996, and today accepts accepts freaking Bitcoin (!!) online and in-store.
Amazingly, REEDS co-developed the world’s first luxury Android smartwatch with LG Electronics, the LG Urbane Luxe.
While the world is shifting under the feet of luxury marketers, diamond jewelry still represents an $80 billion global market annually. In fact, online jewelry growth in the US is twice that of retail stores. Roughly 10% of all US diamond jewelry (by value) is sold online and 40% of all US jewelry purchases are researched online.
And here’s the thing:
Established brands like REEDS can do very well online because diamonds are nature-made and therefore extremely difficult to standardize. Diamond consumers don’t really know who’s certifying their diamonds: It could be a legitimate high-standard laboratory -OR- a lab with lax standards.
Fact is, all labs use the same terminology for color, cut, and clarity — so it’s critical that consumers rely on trusted brands to help them buy the stones that will commemorate the most important decisions of their lives.
We are looking for a Director of Ecommerce for Reeds.com
In this role, you’ll direct Reeds’ ecommerce business. You’ll be responsible for the ecommerce strategy, the digital website product, and all aspects of the customer experience before, during and after the buy. Reeds.com P&L and core KPIs will be the measurements for your success.
Additionally, you’ll oversee Reeds.com’s customer identification and acquisition efforts, and the ecommerce merchandising function, including forecasting, planning, pricing, replenishment, promotion, product administration, photography and video.
Once the consumer is on the site, your team will be responsible for the customer experience. You’ll personally act as the head of customer experience and product management – developing feature, functionality and business roadmaps, in addition to UI/UX optimization – while overseeing daily site production (UI, UX, graphic design, and all website copy). You’ll be supported by project management and IT, brand marketing, and other multi-channel sales and company-wide departments.
Your first day on the job …
You will have a team of 10 to manage including 3 direct reports across three divisions: Analytics; Merchandising; and Production. Your job is to develop and execute upon the strategy to grow Reeds.com’s KPI’s and online jewelry business, getting after both low hanging fruit and big new opportunities. Reeds recognizes the tremendous opportunity to grow an integrated online business and the firm is investing in infrastructure and headcount to make hay whilst the sun shines.
How will you do that?
First, by getting inside the mind of your customer — then by developing an operating cadence that will bring together Marketing, Merchandising and Site Operations.
To optimize the site’s performance, you’ll want to validate and queue up new habit forming features and functionality to better tell the story of Reeds’ brands, products, and experience in a way that make customers feel better about THEMSELVES because of their relationship with Reeds throughout their life cycle.
That means asking great questions like …
- Where does the data tell us there are opportunities to do better?
- What new site products, features and technologies should we bring on board?
- What strategies and technologies should we use to optimize our attracting new customers and retaining existing ones?
- How should we evolve the customer experience?
- How should we elevate customer service levels?
- How can we innovate, differentiate, and perform at a high level while managing risk levels appropriately?
- How do we build this business in a future oriented way?
We’re looking for an established A-player who can …
- Run and grow an ecommerce business in a high performing way to achieve short term, medium term and long term goals
- Make data-driven decisions
- Manage a business and team to budgets and take P&L responsibility
- Mentor and guide direct reports with a positive, collegial style
- Develop and execute against ecommerce strategy
- Build a world-class ecommerce product and team for luxury jewelry and watch e-tailing
Reeds is a 72-year-old company that acts like a startup in many ways. We want someone who has seen big success at a luxury or fashion brand. Meaning, you’ll need a voracious appetite for continuous change.
We’re looking for a high-performing, hands-on, entrepreneurial self-starter. Your supervisor will be asking for your 30, 60, and 90 day plans — and you’ll be accountable for driving results against those.
What if you don’t have jewelry experience? Is that a deal killer? Not necessarily, but you’ll need to understand the needs, values, aspirations, and fantasy lives of your customers and have a passion for learning what you won’t know on Day 1.
In the luxury business, you don’t find customers for your products. You find products for your customers. You’re in the relationship business. Your job is to constantly engage your clients’ fantasy lives.
Why would someone ever buy a $5,000 watch? No logical reason. It’s more important than that.
It’s about how such things make us feel about ourselves when we wear them. Your job is to help Reeds’ clients understand that the jewelry is a validation of their own significance. In the words of Frank Kern, “We all want a new life.”
As usual, we spent a ton of time on the phone with this client teasing out exactly what you’ll need to KNOW and DO to hit the ground running in this role. Some of the things we can share with highly qualified candidates include …
- The “real” background requirements for this position, along with the top five things all resumes MUST have to be considered for the role.
- The top five problems that exist due to this position being open. These are the little fires you will be expected to put out during your first month on the job. Every job has these — whether your recruiter wants you to know about them or not!
- What your average day / week will look like in this role. There’s what you read in the standard job posting … then there’s reality. We’ve got the reality.
- The top KPI’s that will determine your success in this role. In a nutshell: How you keep score.
- The major projects you’ll need to complete by Day 100 to be considered a home-run in this position. We’ve got the lowdown on how you can plug-and-play and drive REAL value in this job.
We have a massive amount of proprietary intel to share with qualified candidates. Our industry research for this assignment exceeds 100 pages! Be sure to TEXT me, Harry Joiner, for this info at (404) 281-2025.
Or simply use the email link when you apply for the role below.
View Harry Joiner’s profile
Primary Duties and Responsibilities:
- Develop and oversee the execution of all online marketing programs and initiatives to drive sales and profits from REED’s online efforts, as well as support the firm’s physical locations.
- Ensure consistent brand messaging and develop a compelling and seamless customer experience between offline and online interaction with the brand, especially with social media platforms.
- Develop and oversee the consumer experience on REEDS.com to increase engagement and conversion rates.
- Develop and oversee consumer acquisition strategy and programs to achieve revenue and profit growth targets.
- Develop measurements to track performance of all online marketing programs; design test strategies and refine creative assets to optimize results.
- Identify opportunities for improved business processes; create and implement process improvements focused on efficiencies and long term growth.
- Develop monthly, quarterly and annual budgets and forecasts for revenue, margin and expense.
Position Requirements:
- 7-10 years of direct to consumer ecommerce experience with cross channel retail experience.
- Transformational leader with a passion for ecommerce, product management and process innovation.
- Demonstrated ability to assemble, build and develop a team to support REED’s ecommerce and social media efforts.
- Ability to motivate a team to achieve REED’s goals.
- Demonstrated experience with creating and overseeing digital customer experiences, online merchandising and ecommerce operations.
- Ability to recognize and anticipate business trends and opportunities, and then respond quickly.
- Ability to leverage various analytic platforms and tools.
Applications for this position are being coordinated by Harry Joiner. To apply, CLICK HERE. Candidates, please be sure to email Harry for additional information that will differentiate you in your candidacy.
