Senior Digital On-Site Search & Personalization Analyst

General Summary:  The Senior Digital On-Site Search & Personalization Analyst will be responsible for delivering highly relevant & personalized on-site search and product recommendation results for customers at every touchpoint of their journey. The Sr. Analyst will serve as the strategy lead for DSW.com’s personalization tool & will focus on driving demand & conversion through the management of strategies, merchandising, analysis, A/B testing & actions.

Reports to: Senior Manager, Online Merchandising, Personalization & Future Initiatives 

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• On-Site Search & Personalization:
  • Business lead & decision maker on personalization roadmap & upcoming site enhancements (i.e.: visual search & personalized search pages)
  • Assist Associate analyst, if needed, on on-site search merchandising strategy development to increase conversion, demand, click thru rate, bounce rate and optimize the overall customer experience
  • Lead 3^rd party vendor communication on the implementation of personalization strategies to drive improvements in the of DSW.com browsing/shopping experience based on gender, purchase affinity, and geolocation
  • Oversee the strategy on advanced merchandising rules to cross-sell, up-sell and encourage new product discovery
  • Analyze & optimize the personalization rules to drive a relevant customer experience & report out on performance to cross-functional partners & leaders
  • Continuously enhance the experience by creating & directing A/B tests and communicating test performance to key stakeholders
  • Supervise the management of re-directs, thesaurus entries, type ahead search terms to ensure top silhouettes, brands, and collections are displayed
  • Assist Associate Analyst, when needed, in site BCOE & testing for new search & personalization functionality/enhancements
  • Key stakeholder in gaining alignment with product owner & personalization CRM team to create seamless customer journey & experience
  • Partner with UX designers & customer experience team to create compelling & engaging experiences to enhance the usability of the customers interacting with the site
  • Partner with the Digital Optimization Analyst to create new A/B tests & act as the business lead in the ideation of testing strategies
  • Develop and define recommendations for site enhancements to improve the customer experience through content presentation, navigation and merchandising features by partnering with the Customer Experience Team
• Reporting & Analysis:
  • Pro-actively provides in depth analysis of on-search & product recommendation performance, customer interactions, and shopping behaviors through analysis from multiple data systems
  • Responsible for guiding the Associate Analyst on weekly in-depth analysis of top on-site search terms, null searches, brands & silhouettes & KPIs (conversion, click thru rate, bounce rate) to ensure relevant product is returned, identify opportunities/actions
  • Present business insights for personalization to senior leadership on a weekly basis
  • Utilize digital reporting to understand .com business trends, identify opportunities & make recommendations to leadership & cross functional partners based on how customers are shopping
  • Provide complex digital data in a digestible way for cross-functional partners & senior leadership
  • Partner with Analytics team to develop new digital reporting

Required Skills and Competencies:

• Highly analytical & proficient in the utilization of site analysis tools (i.e.- Adobe Anablytics, Google Analytics, or similar tools)
• Strong understanding of search concepts: automatic phrasing, facets, stop words, sorting, relevance ranking, similar search, spell correction, and auto-suggest
• Strong prioritization skills & proven ability to successfully handle multiple tasks
• Strong analytical, oral & written communication skills
• Proven capability of developing, executing strategic plans & communicating to key stakeholders, cross functional partners & leadership
• Demonstrated ability to think strategically and creatively in order to solve problems
• Ability to work under pressure in a fast-paced environment and within a collaborative team environment
• Passion for the eCommerce business and a desire to contribute to the growth and evolution of DSW
• Uses business knowledge, critical thinking, and sound judgment in the solution of problems or the pursuit of business opportunities.
• Must be a self-starter with the ability to work autonomously and efficiently, with strong attention to detail

Experience:

• 3-5 years of merchandising or digital experience
• Experience with the ATG platform, Experience Manager, or equivlant ecommerce platforms
• Experience in Adobe Analytics a plus
• PC proficient in MS office suite – including MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook

Education:

• Bachelor’s Degree