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One of the coolest ecommerce jobs around!

HARRY’S COMMENTS: I’m looking for a world-class VP of Ecommerce for my client — a very well-established designer, manufacturer, importer and marketer of ceiling fans, lighting, and other products targeted at the U.S. home furnishings and home improvement markets.

Before you go any further, please note …

For the first 24 months, this mostly wholesale online job will be equal parts retail account management and online marketplace marketing, and if you’ve never held such a position, this ain’t the place to start.

In this mostly 1P ecom role, you’ll be visiting retailers from time to time, and retail buyers will expect you to have a game plan for growth. (THEIR growth.)

Now then: If you’re a serious candidate for this role but you’ve never worked in the home improvement stores category, I’m going to ask that you spend a few minutes watching the following CNBC story, How Lowe’s Is Competing With Home Depot — the world’s largest home-improvement retailer.

(Lowe’s is the second largest.)

There are a coupla three reasons why this story is relevant: 1/ The home-improvement retail space isn’t getting any smaller, 2/ Homes are now used for work, education, and entertainment, and 3/ For omnichannel home improvement retailers, the importance of integrated online cannot be understated.

Here we go …

Here’s what caught my attention:

• During Covid, during the decline in restaurants, airlines, and hotels, consumers reallocated much of that $500b spend to home improvement.
• US homes are getting older, and are in a state of disrepair. This bodes well for vendor categories like HVAC.
• With home values increasing over the last three years, homeowners are now more confident to use home equity lines of credit to find these improvements.
• New homeowners spend 35% more on home repairs/upgrades than homeowners who have owned their homes for more than three years. The median home age is 40 years, up from 29 years in 1999.

And get this: Between 2017-2019, Lowe’s saw serious growth in the DIY segment. During that period, US consumers spent $522 billion on home-improvement projects, including $50 billion on kitchen improvements and $49 billion on HVAC improvements. Of the 115 million projects started during that period, 37% were started by DIY’ers.

That’s fantastic news for my client, which not only sells through Lowe’s — but through Amazon (100% 1P), Overstock, Wayfair, Houzz, Build.com, and Walmart.com

About the Role

As my client’s new VP of Ecommerce, you’ll be selling the company’s branded, proprietary products through each of these channels — which will be one helluva balancing act, because they’ll ALL want their share of that pie.

Today, my client’s ecom business is $65 million, but there’s no reason it can’t grow like crazy. YOU get to make that happen.

The firm was founded in 2009 to pursue the private label ceiling fan and lighting categories at major U.S. home centers. With a focus on innovation and design as well as quality manufacturing, the company has become one of the largest vertically integrated ceiling fan and lighting suppliers in the industry.

The client’s team is rocking 300+ collective years of experience, and its in-house experts deliver a 1:1 product development experience. From inspiration, engineering, and development to logistics, marketing, and lifetime management, my client offers best-in-class retail partnerships that are built to last. Online is a HUGE part of that value prop.

About the Role

First and foremost, winning in this role requires that you be an EXPERT on all things Amazon. That means understanding the trade-offs between Amazon models (1P vs 3P vs blended 1P/3P, etc) as they pertain to …

• Control over pricing,
• Cost of selling,
• Velocity and margins,
• Impact of discounts,
• Control over branding,
• Staying in stock,
• Ratings and reviews,
• Cannibalization,
• Storage and fulfillment,

… and more.

Very early on, you’ll be involved in critical Amazon decisions regarding launching new products, managing pricing, inventory management and forecasting, listing creation and SEO optimization, catalog cleanup of existing listings, and online advertising program management.

If you know what you doing — it’s totally doable.

You’ll have a team of four to assist with your etail accounts, but you might need to do some reorganizing, training, and development. Each account has its own specific needs, and each one has made DTC ecommerce a strategic priority.

For context, consider this: Lowe’s operates nearly 2000 stores, and 90% of the US population lives within 20 miles of one of them. In its most recent earnings call, Lowe’s Management called out the importance of an integrated CX that allows Lowe’s customers to seamlessly start anywhere and finish anywhere in their shopping journey.

Your job is not only to help Lowe’s fulfill its ecom objectives — but also do the same for Amazon, Overstock, Wayfair, Houzz, Build.com, and Walmart.com. That’s not gonna happen if you’re not a business-oriented problem solver who has done that before. After all, you can’t grow YOUR etail business if your clients aren’t growing THEIRS.

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

I spent a ton of time on the phone with the 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. Every ecommerce job has 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 ecommerce job posting … then there’s reality. We’ve got the reality.
4. The leading and lagging KPIs that will determine your success in this role. In a nutshell: How you’ll 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.

I have a massive amount of proprietary intel to share with qualified candidates. My industry research for this assignment exceeds 100 pages! Be sure to TEXT me, Harry Joiner, at (404) 281-2025 for this info. Or simply use the email link when you apply for the role below.

View Harry Joiner’s profile

Responsibilities:

• Run P&L for the business
• Work with the Executive Management team to define the corporate ecommerce strategy
• Analyze and assess the effectiveness of all existing products and programs and current needs based on market trends and competitive environment
• Work with the Business Units to improve, develop and advocate new promotional opportunities for the firm’s ecommerce products and services
• Develop business plan and annual budget for ecommerce function. Supervise development efforts including content design and updates
• Develop high level relationships with all key channel management stakeholders
• Develop 5-year plan for existing DTC website using third party vendor to manage and enhance sales and customer acquisition
• Oversee the day-to-day ecommerce operations, maintenance, and performance measurement of the company website (internet and intranet).
• Evaluate all departmental roles and employees relative to efficiency of structure and alignment for growth
• Carry out supervisory responsibilities in accordance with company policies including planning, assigning, and directing work; appraising performance, rewarding and disciplining employees; and addressing complaints and resolving problems
• Interact with other key departments in a collaborative manner to ensure all departments are well informed and in sync on ecommerce operations
• Support the supply chain department on forecasting of products
• Negotiate terms and programs with all channels
• Analyze performance and optimize all aspects of site experience to improve results (including SEO, Search, Desktop & Mobile UX, Comparison Shopping Engines, Retargeting, Reviews)
• Drive test & learn mindset for continuous improvement and innovation

Qualifications:

To perform this job successfully, the individual should have a comprehensive understanding of:

• Ecommerce terminology and growth strategies
• Business planning and ecommerce strategy development
• Ecommerce business models and financial services industry (trends, competitors, distribution channels, customer base, promotion, and products)
• Keyword searches, optimized web content, competitive tracking software, customer data analytics, web page design/layout, and web site performance measurement
• College degree in computer science or a related field
• 7-10 years of ecommerce experience
• Proven ability to develop/implement a successful ecommerce strategy in the financial services industry
• Track record of successfully managing and sales of consumer products via B2B as well as B2C environments
• B.S./ B.A. with 5+ years of experience in product management roles building and launching successful web and/or mobile products
• Success in retail, omni-channel merchandising, and distribution
• Experienced in analyzing data to draw business-relevant conclusions and in data visualization technique
• Ability to lead by influencing others, especially in cross-functional and executive settings
• Strong consensus and relationship-building skills balanced with ability to drive initiatives forward
• Ability to craft clear, compelling recommendations supported by strong analysis and business logic, and articulate them to the organization to gain support for recommendation
• Comfort with change and ability to wear multiple hats as part of an evolving organization
• Experience with consumer products which are imported from other countries