Strategy and leadership
- Digital strategy and roadmap planning
- Stakeholder management
- Project management
- Team leadership and mentoring
- Cross functional digital delivery
- Data analysis and business insight
Digital CV
Benjamin Lake
Head of Digital
Ecommerce, Digital Strategy, Paid Media, Web Development
- Location
- Canvey Island, Essex
- ben.lake1@gmail.com
- Phone
- 07528 236 774
- /in/benjaminlake1991/
Impact
Measurable outcomes at Korda
Commercial results delivered through digital strategy and hands on execution.
£850k
'First Year'Ecommerce revenue delivered
Against a £200k target
425%
Of forecast achieved
Exceeded target by £650k
6%
Ecommerce conversion rate
Customer journey, merchandising and campaign optimisation
40%
Customer retention rate
Driven by customer journey and retention strategy
Full
B2C website suite launched
Planned, developed and launched within 12 months
Profile
Professional profile
Strategic and hands on digital leader with experience across ecommerce, digital marketing, paid advertising, SEO, CRM, analytics, web development, customer journey optimisation and creative production.
Currently Head of Digital at Korda Developments, leading digital strategy and delivery across ecommerce platforms, product launches, content, reporting, email marketing, Shopify development, customer experience and digital growth.
For the first three years at Korda, operated as the sole member of the digital team, responsible for both planning the digital direction and delivering the work day to day across multiple brands, websites and campaigns.
Experienced in turning commercial goals into practical digital projects, balancing strategy with execution, and working closely with marketing, sales, IT, customer service, content and senior stakeholders to deliver measurable improvements.
Current role
Head of Digital, Korda Developments
Leading digital strategy and hands on delivery across ecommerce, content, CRM and Shopify development.
Korda Developments
Head of Digital
November 2022 to Present
Lead the digital strategy, ecommerce direction and hands on delivery of Korda's digital platforms, covering Korda Clothing, Korda Tackle and wider brand activity across the carp fishing market.
For the first three years, worked as the sole member of the digital team, owning both the strategic planning and practical execution of digital projects. Responsible for identifying growth opportunities, setting priorities, building campaigns, improving ecommerce journeys, managing content, briefing technical work, supporting product launches and keeping digital activity moving across multiple areas of the business.
Shape the online customer journey and ecommerce experience while ensuring digital activity supports both direct to consumer growth and Korda's wider position within the retail and tackle trade.
Key achievements
- Delivered £850k ecommerce revenue against a £200k target, achieving 425% of forecast and exceeding target by £650k
- Increased ecommerce conversion rate to 6% through improvements to customer journeys, product discovery, onsite merchandising, campaign landing pages and promotional mechanics
- Planned, developed and launched a full suite of B2C websites within 12 months, creating the digital infrastructure needed to support direct to consumer growth across the business
- Developed a complete customer journey and retention strategy, increasing customer retention to 40% through email marketing, post purchase journeys, onsite experience improvements and repeat purchase campaigns
- Operated as the sole member of the digital team for three years, owning both the strategic direction and day to day delivery of ecommerce, websites, SEO, CRM, reporting and digital campaigns
Responsibilities
- Defined and delivered the digital roadmap across ecommerce, website content, SEO, email marketing, product launches, promotions, reporting and onsite improvements
- Acted as both digital strategist and hands on operator, taking projects from initial idea and commercial objective through to execution, testing and refinement
- Managed and optimised Korda Clothing's Shopify platform, including homepage trading, product launches, collection structure, landing pages, promotions, onsite merchandising and customer journey improvements
- Planned and delivered digital launch activity for key ranges including Drykore waterproof clothing, insulated clothing, waterproof trainers, Kaizen products and seasonal campaigns
- Led customer email marketing across Klaviyo and Mailchimp, including campaign planning, customer facing copy, promotional mechanics, product storytelling and customer service communications
- Built SEO focused content across collection pages, product descriptions, meta titles and meta descriptions to improve organic visibility and make product discovery clearer for customers
- Created reporting structures to track ecommerce performance against monthly and yearly targets, with focus on revenue, target progress, paid media spend, attributed revenue, ROAS, conversion rate, average order value and customer quality
- Identified gaps in digital systems and processes, then scoped practical solutions across stock allocation, clearance management, product feeds, free gift mechanics, newsletter acquisition, landing pages and onsite functionality
- Worked closely with IT, sales, marketing, customer service and content teams to turn commercial needs into clear digital briefs and deliverable projects
- Balanced direct to consumer ecommerce growth with Korda's wider retail model, ensuring digital activity supported the brand while respecting relationships with trade customers
- Improved site navigation and product discovery through collection planning, mega menu structure, shop by condition journeys and product grouping strategies
- Briefed photo and video teams on digital asset requirements for ecommerce launches, homepage banners, email campaigns, product pages and social content
- Used AI and development tools to accelerate digital delivery, including scoping Shopify improvements, landing pages, editable theme sections, internal dashboards and customer facing features
- Maintained high quality digital output across multiple workstreams while operating without a wider dedicated digital team for the first three years
Skills
Core capabilities
Cross functional experience spanning strategy, growth and marketing.
Ecommerce and growth
- Ecommerce trading and optimisation
- Shopify management
- Conversion rate optimisation
- Customer journey analysis
- Product launches and digital merchandising
- Landing page planning and delivery
Marketing
- Paid media strategy and performance reporting
- SEO content planning and optimisation
- Email marketing and CRM campaigns
- Campaign planning and execution
- Web analytics and dashboard reporting
- Creative design and brand execution
Tools
Platforms and tooling
- Shopify
- Klaviyo
- Mailchimp
- Google Analytics
- Google Ads
- Google Looker Studio
- Meta advertising platforms
- Microsoft Ads
- Amazon Advertising
- eBay Advertising
- Adobe Photoshop
- Adobe Illustrator
- Adobe InDesign
- Microsoft Office
- SQL and internal data reporting
- Multiple development stacks
- CMS platforms
- AI assisted development tools
Experience
Previous experience
A career progression from creative production into ecommerce, analytics, paid media and digital leadership.
Led marketing activity across digital and offline channels for an ecommerce business, creating strategy and growth roadmaps with a focus on brand building, increasing non paid revenue and improving profitability. Also managed ecommerce site technology and third party selling channels.
- Led the marketing function across ecommerce, digital campaigns, offline activity and third party channels
- Created a marketing roadmap focused on business growth, brand building and improved profitability
- Managed ecommerce site technology, supporting improvements to customer experience, onsite performance and internal processes
- Worked across paid and non paid revenue channels to identify opportunities for growth and efficiency
- Supported wider marketing activity with commercial planning, campaign execution and performance review
- Trained and managed a marketing apprentice, supporting development in core marketing principles and business activity
Career
Career achievements
- Progressed from creative production into ecommerce, analytics, paid media, marketing leadership and digital strategy
- Built experience across the full digital journey, from brand and creative through to trading, paid media, reporting, web development, CRM and customer experience
- Successfully operated as the sole digital lead at Korda for three years, combining senior planning with practical hands on delivery
- Delivered £850k revenue against a £200k target at Korda, achieving 425% of forecast and exceeding target by £650k
- Increased ecommerce conversion rate to 6% and customer retention to 40% through customer journey, retention and onsite optimisation strategies
- Planned, developed and launched a full suite of B2C websites within 12 months
- Delivered paid advertising performance across multiple platforms, consistently achieving 3 to 4x ROAS at Suregreen
- Led ecommerce and digital projects from discovery and strategy through to implementation, performance measurement and reporting
- Built strong cross functional experience, working with IT, marketing, sales, product, supply chain, customer service, category management and senior leadership teams
Qualifications
Qualifications and training
- ILM Management Level 2
- First Aid Trained
- Fire Marshall Trained