The Director, Site Merchandising owns site merchandising, brand content and overall site experience management for the Floral Brands, FTD.com and ProFlowers. They are responsible for developing a strategy based on data, customer insights and the brand promise that results in a highly effective shopping experience that drives engagement, reduces friction and ultimately improves conversion. Site merchandising involves the representation of products on the site, from navigation to filters and facets to categorization to search results and product data. Brand content is the management of the homepage(s), landing pages and branding on the site(s) to represent brand messaging and value proposition, and leadership more broadly with marketing channels to ensure a consistent brand experience. Overall site experience means the Director, Site Merchandising will serve as the primary contact for brand stakeholders to communicate how the site functionality is developing, while at the same time representing brand interests to the technical Product team.
Purpose of Position:
You are the authority when it comes to how to best merchandise FTD online. Responsible for merchandising the various versions of the website, including the homepage, category landing pages, list pages, navigation, and internal search.
Primary Duties & Responsibilities:
- Relentless focus on improving business results through constant optimization of the site experience.
- Responsible for managing the site enhancement and functionality list on behalf of the business team partnering with the IT function including weekly review and prioritization, identification of significant win opportunities, and support of build and execution including frequent site functionality audits to identify optimization opportunities to enhance the customer shopping experience.
- Responsible for site merchandising including the development of a weekly refresh calendar identifying key site campaigns to run with input from product development and partnering with marketing on content and asset development. Additionally, responsible for weekly site refreshes, digital content planning, and digital site metrics used to measure campaign success.
- Responsible for site merchandising across all devices including managing site refreshes and developing site content for the B2C websites, partnering cross-functionally with merchants/buyers, marketing, operations, creative, IT, etc. while maintaining an Omni-channel vision.
- Work with merchants and inventory team on a daily basis to maximize business performance.
- Partner with marketing teams to ensure a seamless experience from external advertising through the entire site experience.
- Actively merchandise product to ensure optimal presentation and sell through.
- Develop and maintain site refresh calendar, content strategy, wireframes and process for turning over/receiving assets, tracking against deadlines, and implementing new content on the website.
- Consider both seasonal and everyday occasions, speaking to customer base appropriately.
- Incorporate promotional calendar and assortment priorities as a critical input.
- Determine and communicate seasonal site photography priorities to marketing.
- Continuously look at trends in site experience, and site merchandising for outside inspiration, as well as across the floral/gifting industry to benchmark against competitors and identify key opportunities and gaps
- Develop and leverage website metrics dashboards to understand and inform all elements of site merchandising strategy. Maximize site metrics for click through, page views, product views, conversion rate, bounce rate, cart abandon rate — responsible for the growth of all metrics to support sales growth.
- Use customer feedback and NPS data to prioritize and address pain points in the online experience.
- Develop in-depth knowledge and understanding of the brand’s identity, consumer segments and value proposition to deliver compelling site content and experience.
- Develop product content strategy guidelines (descriptions, titles, images) to be used by partner teams to deliver high-quality launches of new product on the website with brand voice and tone.
- Partner with technical Product and UX teams to develop recommendations and priorities for site functionality and enhancements, providing requirements and input and partnering to validate launches.
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:
- 5-years of e-commerce site merchandising management
- At least 5+ years of experience building out complex E-commerce functionality & enhancement projects as well as managing ongoing E-commerce Sprint Cycles and development work from a business perspective partnering with IT teams.
- Bachelor’s degree, likely in marketing or business management, MBA preferred
- Passion for e-commerce and customer experience and driving innovation
- Leadership experience and comfortable with project management
- Familiarity with basic E-commerce functionality including but not limited to onsite personalization, ratings and reviews, gift finders and guided
- Recently led a full site redesign including functionality across homepage, detail page, listing page, and
- Willingness to travel between the Chicago and San Diego offices
- Ability to work in a fast-paced environment
- Experience working in and/or basic understanding of a customer-facing business
- Ability to develop key business strategies and execute on them resulting in an impact to the business.
- Strong communication skills, the ability to represent the interests of a broad group of stakeholders
- Proven experience leveraging quantitative data analytics within web analytics platforms to solve business problems, uncover opportunities and develop strategies
- Capacity to work well in a team environment
- Highly Proficient in MS Excel, Word, Outlook and web analytics platforms (preferably Adobe Analytics)
- Exceptional data-analysis skills and ability to communicate findings effectively in a non-technical manner
- Self-motivated, resourceful and creative mindset
- Experience in a gifting business a plus
- MBA a plus
Digital Team Compass and Beliefs:
- Customer. The customer – including florists – is at the center of our ecosystem.
- Respect. Listening is a pre-condition to successful relationships; listen, speak-up and speak-out!
- Selflessness. The success of FTD is the ultimate goal. We will prioritize, spend and bend as one team.
- Trust. We must be willing to admit vulnerabilities and be comfortable discussing hard topics openly and candidly. It starts with integrity – of self and within the business.
- Positive Urgency. We will maintain a positive attitude in the midst of challenges – which require urgent and direct actions. Speed is of the essence, so efficiency and alignment of direction are key
- Calculated risk-taking is good business. The greater the investment, the greater the required calculations.