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The best eCommerce business in America

Aritzia

Head of Digital Experience

2013-02-25

—

2023-03-07

Image of phone showing Aritzia's website

Aritzia evolved from the back of a department store in the west side of Vancouver into a multinational design house and retailer. The company's Everyday Luxury™ approach sits it below the luxury market and above fast fashion, giving it a unique market position, and appealing to women ages 15 - 50.

I was one of the first to join their eCommerce team in 2013.

Ambition

Build the best eCommerce website in the world.

Results

Annual eCommerce revenue consistently grew 30% YoY since going public, 20x increase in revenue since I started. Total eCommerce net revenue for 2023 was over $740M.
Consistent increases to conversion rates despite massive increases in traffic.
Ranked as the #1 Women’s Fashion site in Newseek's Best Online Shops 2023, 14th overall.
Ranked in the top 40th percentile for usability of eCommerce website by The Baymard Institute.

Role

I was responsible for the digital experience of Aritzia.com. We continuously improved the eCommerce platform through modern software development practices.
I built a world class design department, inclusive of UX / product design, UX research, design systems, and experience strategy.
Grew the department from 1 to 18 staff, including directors, managers, designers, researchers, and design system specialists.
Played a key role in establishing Aritzia as a digital leader, shifting the mindset of a 40 year old brick and mortar retailer.
Drove revenue growth by influencing all eCommerce departments as key member of the eCommerce management team.
Primary contributor to each eCommerce strategy.

Team

Over my tenure I had the great pleasure of managing:

Ty Husband, Eric Krtinic, Alee Furman, Trixie Calaquian, Hannah Marshall, Jackie Huang, Christabelle Fu, Kim Harris, Spencer Marsh, Anna Care, Jason Jajalla, Phuong Tran, Kevin Duffy, Micah Carrol, Mrinmoyee Ghose, Zahra Rajabi, Kiki Lansdell, Emma Pan, Ross Papa, Kiks Chua, Siya Mishra, Kelin Kardaal, Trevor Storey, Elsa Wong, Max Kaplun, Hugh Knapp, Steph Cruz, and Queenie Wu

Ty Husband

Lead Digital Experience Designer, Aritzia

Connor’s leadership is defined by his profound, passionate, persistent patterns of caring.

He is relentlessly comprehensive in his work. More than anyone I know, Connor poetically and appropriately infuses even the smallest details with big ideas, past insights, future ambitions, business objectives and user needs.

He cares deeply about producing quality work, he is always paying attention, and he never misses a consideration.

This deep consideration translates to his relationship with his clients and companies. He balances business acumen, creative innovation, and user empathy when he works, but he always puts people before places or projects. He takes the time to listen, deeply understand things, and respond with curiosity and open-mindedness. I had the pleasure of being directly managed by Connor for 6 years, and I can confidently say that he is the most committed, inspiring, thoughtful and caring mentor I have ever had.