Building a global luxury e-commerce operation from the ground up

01The situation

The brand had serious offline credibility, stocked in some of the most prestigious department stores in the world. But the e-commerce side hadn't kept up. The website, CRM, advertising, and analytics all operated in silos with no strategy connecting them. Every digital touchpoint had to reflect ultra-premium positioning, so discounting and mass-market tactics were off the table. They needed to serve customers across seven markets spanning North America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, each with different behaviours and cultural expectations. And there was nobody in-house who could own the full digital picture.

02What I did

I stepped in as the brand's outsourced Chief Digital Officer, owning strategy through daily execution. I built the global Shopify Plus store from scratch with multi-currency, multi-language, and subscription support for their multi-step skincare rituals. On CRM, I designed automated Klaviyo journeys around education rather than promotions, walking customers through the brand's skincare philosophy before asking for the sale. Exclusivity messaging consistently outperformed promotional copy, so I leaned into private access and members-only framing across every channel. On paid media, I ran campaigns across Meta, Google, and TikTok in all seven markets. Broad targeting with strong creative beat hyper-segmented audiences every time. I also identified markets where high-value customers were showing up organically with minimal ad spend, which reshaped the geographic expansion strategy entirely.

03What changed

E-commerce went from an underdeveloped channel to a real revenue driver, growing 3.4x. I run paid media across seven markets simultaneously, manage the full Klaviyo CRM with automated flows driving repeat purchases, and maintain the Shopify Plus multi-market store I built. The brand now has a cohesive digital ecosystem where acquisition, retention, and brand experience work together instead of in silos.