Newly appointed MyDeal CMO Ryan Gracie has revealed the key opportunities and challenges he is ready to face in his new role.
Speaking to Ragtrader, Gracie said that a key priority for him in the immediate term involves building and enhancing the customer value proposition.
"We need to solidify what the brand stands for, build some personality and get that tone of voice into it, reach out to look in the field, and then get a campaign into market.
"But first things first, and that means getting the customer value proposition in order, making sure that the customers love what they see and love the products they buy, from the pricing, the marketplace sellers and the delivery times.
"We don't want to go and advertise, and then find that we're disappointing customers.
"So that'll be the first thing, build the brand and then slowly wean us off the performance marketing.
"I've seen the power of building the brand and how that can lead to greater efficiencies in performance marketing," he said.
Through his experience at Catch, Gracie understands the impacts that a strong brand can have on performance marketing and aims to strike a balance between the two at MyDeal.
"I never want to eradicate performance marketing because it will always be there and should always be there.
"It's always going to be the channel that drives customer acquisition, but driving efficiency on those channels is the game – so that we're getting a higher ROAS from them and our conversion rate increases because we build trust.
"You build fame, and therefore you build credibility with customers.
"Then when they see you in a Google ad or they see you on Facebook or Instagram, wherever it may be, then they instantly recognise you and they're more willing to shop with you," he said.
However, Gracie's new role doesn't come without its challenges, with the post-COVID eCommerce market peppered with obstacles.
"There is of course the headwind eCommerce now faces as opposed to a tailwind that we all had last year, when eCommerce became a necessity for many people who were forced to shop online," Gracie said.
"But MyDeal is in a very fortunate position at the moment where we are comping positively on the figures that we saw last year.
"Another challenge we're facing is just trying to acquire customers in a very crowded field.
"There are so many heavyweights in the business at the moment, so the size of the pie is very large.
"And I still see that there's opportunities as well.
"I've come to a much smaller player, so if we can take even just a slightly bigger slither of that pie, it is a huge upside," he said.
Gracie began his role at MyDeal yesterday and joined the retailer after five years at Catch.