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HARRY’S COMMENTS: We are working with Chemical Guys in their search for a Director of Ecommerce based in Metro Los Angeles, CA. This is a super cool search, and we are thrilled to have an exclusive on it.

Chemical Guys is a worldwide provider of the highest quality car care chemicals, carwash accessories, buffing pads, machines and most importantly – knowledge about automotive care.

Since its founding in 2003, Chemical Guys has offered environmentally-conscious detailing chemicals. Additionally, the firm manufactures a full selection of the waterless environmentally safe products that are 100% biodegradable.

Think of CG as a “Seventh Generation” for car care.

CG sells products across dozens of categories, does a VERY brisk business on Amazon and its Facebook page has 241K followers. It also markets to what one might call a “rabid subculture” of car enthusiasts.

The company is aligned with 25 independently operated Detail Garage Showrooms. (Like so). These showrooms are a destination auto detailing supplies, equipment, accessories and training — because a fella shouldn’t just haul off and detail a car. There’s a “right” way and a “wrong” way to detail a car — and there are many ways to mess up a car’s finish. Hence the need for training, a great thing about this business.

Plus: Given that the average cost to “detail” a car can run between $20 (for a simple carwash) and $2-5K (for a full-on showroom quality paint correction), there’s plenty of financial incentive for car buffs to do the job themselves.

But there’s even more to it than that.

My partner Allan Seibert (who’s managing this search) drives a Dodge Hellcat and details his car every month. Allan’s got 4-figures worth of detailing stuff in his garage. That’s not unheard of. For guys like Allan, detailing his car is an escape. It’s a unique market — similar in some ways to petcare.

How big is the market?

The exact size of the car detailing market is tricky to estimate, but according to IBIS World the $11 billion car wash / detailing industry has experienced steady growth over the five years to 2018.

Since the 2008 recession, rising employment and lower fuel prices have goosed new car sales. As a result, consumers have been much more likely to purchase discretionary services, such as car washes and auto detailing.

Demand for detailing services is expected to reach $13 billion by 2023, as rising per capita disposable income will drive consumers’ spending on discretionary services. Meanwhile, environmental awareness of water usage will increase demand for professional car washing because such services use less than one-third of the water used by residential car washing.

To be sure, Chemical Guys has all the makings of a great company: A growing market, a starving crowd, continuity / subscription potential, a charismatic brand, and content marketing so good its customer would pay for it …

 

About the Role:

As CG’s new Sr Director of Ecommerce, your job will be to manage the entire ecommerce business and deliver sales for the firm – which includes its international partner sites, as well as any third-party brick-and-mortar etail (excluding Amazon).

You’ll be responsible for leading the implementation and integration of the firm’s new ecommerce platform while developing/implementing best in class online marketing, merchandising, UX, and site operations functions.

You’ll lead the team responsible for day-to-day ecommerce operations, and we will look to your team to drive all leading and lagging KPIs for the site, including conversion, traffic, growth in file, repeat order rate, average order value, and SKUs per order.

YOU will run CG’s ecommerce business.

CG takes its brand VERY seriously, and we will expect you to create a branded online experience that not only represents the customers off-line experience — but takes engagement to the next level by exceeding the highest expectations of its customers across every customer touchpoint.

Meaning, you will work with CG’s Product Team to understand which innovations and services can be integrated thoughtfully into the CG customer experience such that CG’s customers feel better about themselves (smarter, hipper, more edgy, etc) because of their relationship with the brand.

You won’t believe how much we know about this search …

Allan and I spent a nutty amount of time 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 I can share with highly qualified candidates include …

1. The “real” background requirements for this position, along with the top five things all resumes MUST have to be considered for the role.
2. The top five problems that exist due to this position being open. These are the little brush fires you will be expected to put out during your first month on the job. All ecommerce jobs have these — and this one’s no different.
3. 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.
4. The leading and lagging KPI’s that will determine your success in this role. In a nutshell: How you keep score.
5. 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 ecommerce job.

As usual, 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 Allan Seibert at (706) 318-1196 for this info. Or simply use the email link when you apply for the role below.

View Harry Joiner’s profile

Key Deliverables:

Strategy and Sales Goals

• Lead re-platforming of the existing e-commerce site and define the customer experience
• Build seasonal ecommerce strategy and ensure all projects support the brand strategy and contribute to revenue growth
• Lead business analysis of all programs and establish programs to drive continuous improvement
• Research industry trends, seeking opportunities to bridge gaps in business objectives and push business forward.
• Initiate strategic enhancements/upgrades with business systems and workflow that will improve process and efficiency.

P/L Management

• Oversee budget for key programs (Program development, Promotions, Retailers sites, Email, and Marketing, Search and Affiliate) to maximize opportunities and ROI.
• Manage daily sales calendar and monthly sales forecasting.
• Analyze the key business metrics and site performance.
• Calculate ROI for each program and make recommendations based on results to increase sales, opt-ins, Average Order Size (AOS), Average Unit Sale (AUS), and repeat purchases.
• Communicate reporting and analysis with key stakeholders to share pertinent leanings.
• Onsite Marketing & Promotions
• Develop and implement seasonal online marketing calendars to marry offline marketing initiatives. Liaise with Social Media team to create online-only content and events throughout the seasons which enable a best of breed experience for the consumer while meeting/exceeding the weekly sales plan. Develop and manage the advertising and promotions budget for all such programs. Lead team in executing seasonal vision from concept to launch.
• Promote and execute best of breed online user experience methodologies that drive engagement and conversion.
• Promote and execute quality assurance testing in order to minimize customer service issues and time to market.

Retention and Acquisition Marketing

• Oversee email marketing and acquisition marketing programs and communication strategy.
• Ensure online marketing strategy supports overall brand strategy.
• Approve email calendar and segmentation.
• Responsible for SEM, SEO, Affiliate, and re-messaging programs.
• Develop new acquisition programs to drive awareness, engagement, and new customers to Chemicalguys.com.
• Forecast and deliver on volume, costs, and revenue targets for all acquisition programs.

Qualifications

• Must have a proven track record of 10+ years of database, direct and online marketing including at least 5-7 years in a commercially minded role. eCommerce experience strongly preferred.
• Must have a proven track record in running a successful ecommerce business that demonstrated significant year over year growth.
• Must be able to translate offline brand vision to the online channel and execute strategies that lead the company consistently towards that vision.
• Strong skills in strategy and planning, budget and P&L management, merchandising and marketing, and vendor selection and management.
• Proven leadership and team management skills derived from having direct responsibility for building and managing a cohesive, high-performing team.
• Ability to define and communicate a next-generation ecommerce experience to dramatically grow the business, and be able to work through tough issues and overcome challenges while maintaining good relationships.
• Needs to be a creative thinker and problem solver, thrive in fast-paced environment, prioritize and oversee multiple projects at once, have attention to detail and work well with cross-functional teams.
• Big-picture thinker and experience in a dynamic, high-growth environment.
• Strong analytical and project management skills with the ability to handle multiple priorities.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills. Ability to communicate complex ideas and processes in a simplified manner.
• Highly proficient in Microsoft Word, Powerpoint and Excel.
• BA/BS required, MBA a plus

UPDATE: THIS SEARCH IS CLOSED.