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RHIAN GRIFFITHSE-Commerce and DigitalMarketingManager of Leekes department store group, headquartered at Llantrisant inWales


On theWeb


Imanage the day to day running and execution of all of our websites including digitalmarketing activity such as PPC (Pay Per Click) SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) and socialmedia.


We are a broad business - by which Imean we have a number of websites along with the main leekes.co.uk website. I have a teamof six staff, which includes web developers and digital marketing executives who also cover all our websites.


Tell us a bit about Leekes. What’s’s your background?


I started working at Leekes store in Llantrisant, which is about 15miles fromCardiff, in 2003. My first job was a part-time role in the coffee shop whilst studying formy GCSEs. Fromthere,


department and then the electrical department. whilst doingmy A-levels, Imoved to the sports


Aft fter completingmy A-Levels, Imoved from


years to become an assistant buyer and then a assistant. I then progressed over the next eight Llantrisant) in 2007 and joined as a buyer’s the store to Leekes head office (also in


category I worked in and probably the category Housewares was actually the first buying categorymanager.


I enjoyedmost, along with small electrical. It was then, as a categorymanager,


r, that I was


secondment to improve the user experience [of placed in ecommerce on a sixmonth


navigation and search functions as well as our website] including factors like the


The business saw the need to invest in digital product information.


as a category, and the benefit of having someone commercial - with extensive knowledge of the brand - to help drive online


Following a successful secondment Imade sales.


small amount of buying responsibility. I focused themove to ecommerce whilstmaintaining a


on the brands which I had worked closely with in the past, such as Dyson and Smeg, which


My role then developed further with a focus were key to driving our online sales.


site optimisations and content pages, to help on digitalmarketing as well as continuous on


Over the last 12months I have broadened encourage organic traffic to the website.


website functionality, which has led tomymost much better understanding of platforms and my ecommerce knowledge and now have a


recent promotion to ecommerce and digital marketingmanager.


28 | housewares evil .net Leekes is a fourth generation family run


business which is over 120 years old. It started out as an ironmongery business in theWelsh Valleys and has grown and diversified.


Leekes has four large department stores as well as concessions inWyevale garden centres and a buildersmerchants in Tonypandy. It also owns Park Furnishers in Bristol, the award- winning four-star hotel Vale Resort, and a 17th century Grade I listed castle which is a highly sought-after wedding venue and is being developed into a hotel and a gin distillery.


“Housewares is the third highest turnover


small electricals and us online after department for


garden furniture” Tell us about www.Leekes.co.uk.


Leekes.co.uk was launched around 2006/2007. We have re-platformed since launch toMagento 1 around 2014 and are currently looking to re- platformthe site toMagento 2 Cloud. As a business we recognise the importance of a robust e-commerce platformand a systemthat will allow for our growth.


We have around 22,000 lines on our website. Being a department store group, we cover a lot of skus overmultiple categories, and have also focused on some online exclusive products and drop ship ranges to extend our product catalogue.


In order to cater for this, we have developed • HousewaresLive.net re • twitter. r.com/H


systemintegrations with a select number of suppliers which include automated stock feeds and purchase orders. Our website also supports our installation departments, such as kitchens, and has lead generation functionality.


We split the website into ninemain shopping categories including 'cooking and dining’ which is where we place our housewares products. Housewares is the third highest turnover department for us online after small electricals


We break this category down further to: and garden furniture.


Tableware, Drinkware, Kitchen Storage & Accessories, Housekeeping & Bins, Cookware &


In addition to themain shopping elements, Bakeware, Kitchen Textiles, and Brands.


we also have dedicated recipe pages and a seasonal ‘Get Cooking’ page which is updated every quarter to reflect trending food topics and in demand ingredients. This provides great social content for us.


What do youmiss about buying?


elements of ne negotiating a b


Imiss the product selection and the trade shows and admittedly the buzz you get from ig deal! Thankfully I still get gotiation inmy new role.


What don’t youmiss?


There isn’t really anything I don’tmiss per se; it’smore [the case] that I enjoy elements of my new rolemore. Actually, I don’tmiss 3am flights to Frankfurt airport for Ambiente! Does that count?


How do you spend an average day?


It’s safe to say that in the world of ecommerce, no two days are the same. I try to plan outmy week in slots tomake sure I cover off every element and all things are looked at including sales performance. But it rarely goes to plan. As with anything technical, there are some things require urgent attention that can re day or week out of sync.


throw your enti that break and


What’s’s your working week like?


Busy and challenging - but that’s how I like it. Monday is usually the day formeetings, so we can plan the week ahead; that includes calls with our digital and development agencies. Just like the average day, no working week is exactly hat keeps it interesting. There’s ing new to learn.


always someth the same and t


What’s’s keeping you busy? A challenging economic environment for sales /Houseware resnews June/July 2019


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