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One of the coolest ecommerce jobs around!

HARRY’S COMMENTS: I’m working with a well-established Luxury Watch Retailer in its search for a VP of Marketing and Ecommerce. Let me just say that I’m thrilled to be managing this search.

Why, you ask?

Because I own some really nice watches. And it’s not about my subconscious need to be seen as a baller. I work from home and rarely leave my house. (And even if I did, my next-door neighbor is a horse — and he doesn’t care what I’m rocking. Neither does my wife of 28 years.) No.

NOTE: For competitive intelligence / SEO reasons, I’m going to deliberately misspell the word “r0lex” with a zero for the rest of this posting. Sorry.

Now then, I got sucked into the Haute horology vortex easily enough:

For my 25th anniversary, my wife gave me a 2008 R0lex Milg@uss with a green, coke bottle crystal. It was reassuringly heavy. I could feel the quality. And it had an ultra boss orange seconds hand in the shape of a lightning bolt, R0lex’s nod to the original 1950s Milg@uss. Oh. My. Gosh.

Honestly, it was the first outrageously nice thing I had ever owned.

Which is a little weird, because at the time I was crushing it as a recruiter and had been for several years. But sending six kids to private school will decimate one’s bank balance, so you can imagine the thrill when I opened the box. I adore really nice things; luxury goods that are so over-the-top nice that they actually stupify their owners on receipt.

Perhaps my love of the Milg@uss is rooted in my love of world-class industrial design. Or maybe it’s because I’m a recovering perfectionist and it’s nice to know a company can produce tens of thousands of something perfect each and every year (until they discontinue it next year!). Or maybe after my stroke in 2016, I realized that life is just too short to drink bad beer and wear a crappy watch.

Whatever the case, I’m a watch nerd now.

So here we are: You, the ecommerce marketing exec, and me, the lover of all things marketing and watches. What on earth shall we talk about?

Let’s talk about the luxury watch industry!

Worldwide, the luxury watch industry is ~$40 billion, while the pre-owned market is ~$8 billion. And while some brands were down last year due to Covid, several brands had their best year ever and may end up crushing it in the coming decade.

Ever heard the expression “People BUY products and JOIN brands?”

In no place is that more true than the watch industry. Watch nuts follow their favorite brands like sports teams and wear their pride on their sleeves. Some watch resellers have ESPN Sport Center-like weekly recaps, and the level of “rabidity” among fans is insane.

Usually smart and business-oriented, watch fans understand the industry and themselves, and they pay very close attention to company health and brand positioning as leading indicators of watch resale value. It’s the darndest thing I’ve ever seen, and the opportunities for content development are endless …

About the Company

My client specializes in pre-owned R0lex watches including modern, vintage, and antique timepieces, and it prides itself on obtaining the very best results possible for its customers.

The firm’s business philosophy is built on trust and integrity, and in a very short time, it has become the leading online destination for pre-owned R0lex watches and vintage R0lex expertise. The company carries an actual inventory of R0lex watches, and everything listed on the site is in stock and ready for sale.

Its strategy has worked like a charm.

Which brings me to what this posting is all about: YOU. You’re a world-class ecommerce marketer who truly relates to everything I’ve said up to this point and cannot wait to take my client’s business to the next level. This is by no means a small business. High 8-figures. The industry’s average order value is estimated to be $3.5-5K, while my client’s AOV is more than twice that with a return rate in the very low single digits.

We’re not playing small ball.

And the stakes are high. Many have tried to tame the gray market, and few have succeeded. So far, my client is one of them. But this market is going to explode, and the company is poised for growth …

• Growth is new customers.
• Growth in transaction size and customer share-of-wallet.
• Growth in order frequency.

And possibly growth into new lines of business, both organically and via acquisitions.

HOWEVER: Because all selling is the transfer of confidence, and confidence is a function of trust and credibility, it is absolutely essential that you take the lead on ensuring that the firm’s CX is absolutely first-rate. Why? Because you will be marketing to a rabid subculture of watch enthusiasts for whom social media is KING.

These people love to BUY and they hate to be SOLD.

This company is in fantastic shape. The culture is not a dumpster fire. The job is totally doable. The client has the resources for you to win in the role. But the expectations are high because the industry is poised for growth and there’s a window of opportunity here to make shit happen.

And why is that?

Because brands are going direct and the surviving trade shows (like Watches and Wonders) are now doing a fantastic job online. Perhaps the biggest brands are secretly supporting the gray market. The fact is, brands are LISTENING to Clubhouse rooms, and they are paying attention to what people are saying.

Brands are deliberately factoring social media into their product design and development decisions, and resellers / platforms like this one, this one, this one and this one, and my client are all having an impact.

The time is NOW.

The watch industry NEEDS the biggest and most trustworthy secondary market sellers. In addition to frankenwatches, there are now more than one MILLION fakes and super-fakes coming from China each year — which is why the old saying goes, “Buy the seller, not the watch.”

Have you seen how much VC interest niche marketplaces are attracting? Hint: LOTS!

There’s just not enough new product to go around. Can you imagine being in an industry like that? And P@tek Philipe’s (sp.) CEO Therry Stern (sp.) says his firm has no intention of closing the supply / demand gap because that’s bad for the brand.

P@tek is cool mostly because the average millionaire can’t get one, and the company has stated that it will limit the number of watches-per-client to TWO per year. Obviously, that’s only going to add firmness to the resale market.

To be considered for this game-changing role, please email the following to Harry.Joiner@EcommerceRecruiter.com:

1. Your latest resume (with as many DTC ecommerce KPI’s you can share).
2. A link to your Linkedin profile.
3. A link to your firm’s CURRENT ecommerce site.
4. A link to your firm’s CURRENT Amazon store.
5. A link to your firm’s CURRENT YouTube channel.
6. A link to your firm’s CURRENT Instagram page.
7. A link to your firm’s CURRENT email sign-up page.
8. MAJOR BONUS: A photo of your CURRENT watch collection. Do not be surprised if during our Zoom interview I holler out “Wrist watch check!”

Please also include a short (less than 100 words) overview of your CURRENT responsibilities. We are not looking for consultants or vendor-side executives. Nor are we looking for people who ran an ecommerce business three or more years ago.

We are looking for proven, smart, modern, driven, highly creative, omnichannel DTC executives who are CURRENTLY responsible for their firm’s DTC ecommerce P&L and have a playbook for building a LUXURY brand.

PS – If you choose to apply with one of the “apply” buttons above or below, we will contact you by email for your YouTube, Instagram, Amazon etc links. Thanks for reading all the way to the end of this posting!