Solving ecommerce growth problems and challenges for businesses large & small

clients hire me as their ecommerce consultant for 1 of 4 reasons;

  • FOUNDATIONS: to deliver go-to-marketing and operational strategy for dtc startups, retailers or b2b and advise on new ecommerce launches within larger organisations
  • NEXT-STAGE GROWTH: review, recommend and level up the operational, marketing and optimisation strategies that fuel next stage ecommerce growth for 6-7 figure brands
  • BUILDING GENUINE COMMUNITY: Most brands believe they're building community. They're not. They're building an email list to sell to. My job is to figure out what community actually means, what it looks like and how you build relationships and partnerships unique to your brand.
  • RETHINK: ecommerce turnaround for brands struggling to convert visitors into shoppers. Is it a conversion issue or a market-fit problem? Let's reposition your brand, bring clarity to your message and get your products into the right people's hands


Ecommerce Consultant

"14 Conversion Experts You Should Be Following"
CrazyEgg.com

"32 CRO Influencers That Rule Optimization"
UsabilityTools.com

"One of the world’s Top 25 Most Influential Conversion Rate Experts"
PPC Hero

"45 best CRO Experts to Skyrocket your website conversion"
GrowthFunnel

What do I bring to your ecommerce business?

  • 25 years in ecommerce as an employee, startup founder and ecommerce consultant
  • Former European Marketing Director for the world's largest online travel company
  • Bootstrapped my own ecommerce business from 0 - £2m in 3 years
  • 14 years running Ecommerce Growth Co. as an independent ecommerce consultant working with over 250+ brands, running audits and consulting in a wide variety of markets
  • Spoken at 20+ conferences around the world on the customer-first strategies that drive real ecommerce growth

I help answer the question 'how should we be growing our ecommerce business?'

the strategy. the tools. the process

Defining 'growth'...

Growth takes on a different meaning for pretty much every brand I work with. Sure, we all have the desire for profit and consistency, but your growth strategy, that's unique to you. Your products. Your brand. Your customers. Your margins. They are all components of your own definition of 'growth'. And then there's the discussion on customer lifetime value and how you define profit... but we won't go down that rabbit hole right now.

Achieving your 'growth' requires change in how you market, how you operate and how you perform. It’s how you adapt.

Growth strategy is all about bringing purpose and process to your work and to operate marketing in a way that delivers the growth you desire. To figure out what changes need making and to action them in a way that is measurable on the P&L. The reason you entered this crazy world of ecommerce in the first place. To build a thriving, valuable business. Nobody does this stuff for pleasure 🙂

I'm not hired to take a role you may be able to hire for in-house or through an agency. I'm probably not your best bet when you simply want to fill a skills gap. Instead I'm brought in to figure out what needs changing, what needs evolving, and to lead that process.

What needs to happen before you add another penny to your ad budgets...

Working with the largest brands through to startups, I'm here to ensure you're growing your ecommerce business on solid foundations. Having consulted directly with over 250 UK-based ecommerce brands you recognise patterns, growth roadblocks and know what good growth looks like. My job is to make sure your time, money and energies are being invested wisely. That way you can grow with confidence knowing you are driving the right kind of growth for your business at the right time. Working together I will help you;

  • understand business health deciphering analytics data and unit economics so we can roadmap the channels, products and marketing activity that brings healthier growth to your business
  • optimising processes across operations and marketing making best use of technology to fuel learning, work quicker, act leaner and deliver better results
  • scale with confidence as you gain insights into customer behaviour and start working from key customer lifetime value metrics
  • deliver next-level shopping experience advancing the use of technology across the customer buying journey
  • convert more visitors into buyers as you gain customer insights that help bring emotive and logical context to your ads, product pages and communications
  • drive profitable repeat business understanding lifetime value and then using customer insights to learn how people are using your products to then prioritise post-purchase communications
  • grow your AOV without sacrificing conversion rate looking for potential ways to bundle existing products and introduce new products
  • bolster social proof acquiring better product reviews and customer testimonials
  • bring the human touch as useful as tech has become, ecommerce success is still about people buying from people. Common ground. Common language.
  • achieve better ad results and reduce guesswork introducing a process of continual testing and creative iteration
  • plan ecommerce b2b, wholesale and bulk purchasing operations and logistics for manufacturers and distributors

All key variables in driving profitable product sales, no matter what stage of growth your business is currently at.

My clients, a small group of ambitious brands, hire me to roadmap ecommerce growth and to provide advice and guidance each step of the journey to scale ecommerce growth confidently and profitably.

1.) Early stage growth. Our focus is on profitability and scaling. Working directly with founders and in-house marketing teams.  Brand owners that require senior level expertise to advise and deliver strategic guidance for their business as they begin the process of scaling up for next stage growth. A business mentor as well as a trusted ecommerce expert. A partner to plan and execute upon a strategy that focuses on customer-centred business growth.

2.) Traditional retailers, B2B manufacturers looking to launch direct-to-consumer wary of market and technology advancements that require an honest, external review of current performance, opportunities and a strategic roadmap. This way we will modernise ecommerce operations and bring the often-missed human touch to your marketing and brand.

3.) Larger organisations where smaller in-house teams are working on new ecommerce launches and projects requiring external expertise, a fresh pair of eyes, to ensure GTM strategy is finessed, growth is achievable and targets are met.

This isn't top level strategy telling you to spend more to sell more. I'll dive into each aspect of your ecommerce activity to bring you a structured approach and to recommend changes that will drive the growth you are looking for. Hopefully making the complex world of ecommerce simple.

You'll reduce costs where needed. You'll fund initiatives where justified. You'll understand what changes need making, why you need to make changes and what the impact will be on business. Together we'll ensure you are taking full advantage of today's ecommerce technology & tools to deliver true customer centricity across your entire ecommerce operation.


Ecommerce Consultant

IAN RHODES

ecommerce consultant


Ecommerce Consultant UK
"Ian was a huge help in supporting us with developing a best-in-class set-up of ecommerce tools, helping us plan strategically for optimising the site, and making informed decisions to improve how we support our customers with the right services for their needs, through a simplified streamlined platform."
Elliot brooks - nature.com

components of ecommerce growth

the levers that fuel real growth for your ecommerce business

Ecommerce technology recommendations

STRATEGY


Because it works for others, does not mean it will work for you. Is there an innovative way for you to re-think the way you're selling products online? Could your business model be your key differentiating strength? Let's play to your strengths and challenge the conventions of ecommerce within your market.


Is it better to use an agency or hire in-house?

WHO DOES WHAT?


Do you hire an agency, a freelancer, train internally or a hire a new staff member? And if so, who? I'm here to advise on recruitment and to help shape your team short- and long-term.


how do you scale an ecommerce business?

SCALE CONFIDENTLY


Ready to equip your business for next stage growth? Where do you invest? Ads? Do you need investment? Can you drive organic growth through a content-first approach? How you can minimise risk as you prepare to add an extra zero or two to your yearly revenues?


What is ecommerce unit economics?

UNIT ECONOMICS


Aside from revenues, what is the current health of your business? Are you spending too much on marketing? Where do you focus efforts to increase profitability? How do you ensure the data you're working with is accurate?

Advice on the right ecommerce marketing technology

ECOMMERCE TECH


When it's time to invest in new ecommerce technology, platforms and marketing apps the selection is vast. Let's ensure best fit for your brand now and in the future.

How to establish product-market-fit in ecommerce for a dtc brand

THE HUMAN TOUCH


Are you framing your products for the right people with the right message? Do you niche down or widen your audience? I'm here to figure out just exactly who you need to target and how. Ensuring everything you do focuses on the core principle that this is still about people buying from people



best shopify apps for ecommerce

PRICING STRATEGY


The elephant in the room for most ecommerce brands. Pricing is fundamental to your success. How do you achieve that sweet spot where price meets value in the eyes of your customer? Do you discount on first purchase? How does this impact profitability? Do you need to discount at all? Let's analyse the data, test ideas and see what can be learned.

how do I learn the customer lifetime value for my dtc business?

CUSTOMER LIFETIME VALUE


Understanding the true value of a new customer to your business will allow you to set precise customer acquisition costs and retention strategies that better optimise cashflow for your business. Get confident with your forecasting knowing just how much value a customer brings to you now and in the future.


which ecommerce strategies work best?

CHANNEL PERFORMANCE


Wary of escalating customer acquisition costs? Do you push organic or paid channel marketing to drive profitable growth? Can you make better use of email or affiliate marketing? Let's discover the right channel formula for your brand.




"The work we have done together has seen our online business go from strength to strength driving more traffic to our website and yet reducing our cost per conversion. "
David Winstanley - Managing Director at Pramworld


"He is an e-commerce professional with a depth of expertise and is a pleasure to do business with. I would not hesitate in seeking his consulting services again on another project."
Mathew Wade - Head of Digital at Gossard

MY ECOMMERCE BACKGROUND

Building and growing Ecommerce Brands For 25 Years

Wearing the hats of employee, director, ecommerce business owner & consultant.

1998. Straight off the back of graduating with an economics degree, I found my feet at a startup online magazine subscription retailer. When animated gifs first roamed the 'net and web browsers were at the version 1.0 stage... and SEO was a hell of a lot easier.

4 years on, I moved on to Priceline.com taking the role of European Marketing Director. Learning sustainable growth at a true market innovator who are now the world's largest travel company under the direct guidance of the, now CEO of Booking.com.

In 2004 I gave up my swanky Mayfair office and launched my own ecommerce business. From 0 to £2m. bootstrapped. Doing the things you've done. Balancing time and energy marketing my business and running my business.

For the past 14 years I've been building my ecommerce consulting business and teachings here at Ecommerce Growth Co. Working with management and in-house teams to lay the foundations for next stage ecommerce growth advising on operational efficiencies to help stabilise acquisition costs, scale growth and deliver your customer a better shopping experience.


"one of today’s leaders in Conversion Rate Optimization, people who don’t just talk the talk but put their theories to the test on a daily basis." - CrazyEgg
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WHY HIRE ME AS YOUR
ECOMMERCE CONSULTANT?

how we work together

Clients are in-house teams requiring senior level guidance and project management to take their ecommerce offering to the next level.

Businesses that value their customers. Know their customers. Businesses built on behalf of their customers. I have to believe in the products you're selling. Whether premium brands or innovative products. We have to share an understanding that there's a demand for what you sell.

I work alongside senior management to plan & in-house marketing teams to implement. You might also be transitioning from an outsourced agency who simply didn't perform and now you want to bring your marketing in-house?


BOOK YOUR INTRODUCTORY CALL

what are you looking to accomplish?