Ecommerce growth advisory

Grow ecommerce revenue. Know where to focus next.

Win the click and the cart™.

No prep needed. If it’s not a fit, I’ll tell you.

Most recently Director of Ecommerce at NFM (Nebraska Furniture Mart), 2018 to 2026.

I’m Jeff Douglas. I spent 20+ years at NFM, one of America’s largest home furnishings retailers.

I help retailers and online businesses find customer friction, strengthen marketing and sales messages, and decide where to focus to improve conversion and revenue. I also help them make ecommerce technology decisions and prepare for AI-driven discovery.

For technology companies, I review products through the eyes of a retail ecommerce leader and technology buyer.

Across these services, I offer advisory support or fractional leadership to help move the work forward.

Services

Where do you need help?

Advisory for retailers and online businesses, with product reviews for technology companies.

20+ yearsEcommerce leadership
Team leadershipDigital Marketing, Product, UX, Site Merchandising, Analysis
No. 310North American online retailer ranking · Digital Commerce 360, 2023

SpeakingIRCE · Digital Commerce 360 · Home Furnishings Association

AuthorAgentic Commerce for Retail Leaders

Industry perspectiveFeatured in a LogRocket leadership interview

How to start

Know what is holding growth back, and what to do next.

The Ecommerce Growth Assessment answers three critical business questions.

  1. What should we fix first?

    Prioritize improvements by customer experience, conversion and revenue impact.

  2. What can wait?

    Identify lower priorities and where to stop spending.

  3. Where should we invest?

    Focus resources where they’re most likely to improve results.

Share your situation, get my perspective, decide the next step. If there isn’t a fit, I’ll say so.

Experience

Experience from running ecommerce at scale.

In this introduction, I explain how my ecommerce experience shapes the way I review customer journeys, find friction and help decide what to do next.

Jeff Douglas on customer experience, ecommerce growth and practical leadership.

Watch on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Problems I help solve

Questions retailers ask me

Why is ecommerce growth slowing?

Traffic quality, customer confidence or friction in the buying journey can limit growth. I look across the experience to identify where your attention will matter most.

Ecommerce Growth Assessment

Does our website deliver what the customer clicked for?

A clear connection between your message and the page helps customers take the next step. I compare what brought them in with what they find and what gets in their way.

Ecommerce Growth Assessment

Why are we paying for clicks that don’t convert?

The ad may be attracting the wrong visitor, or the page may not deliver on its promise. I review how your ads and on-site messages work together.

Digital Marketing Assessment

Does ChatGPT recommend our brand or products?

That depends on the buyer’s question and the information the system can retrieve and verify. I test agreed questions and show where you appear, how you’re described and which sources are cited.

AI Discovery Assessment

How should we prepare for agentic commerce?

Agentic commerce means AI assistants helping people discover, compare or buy products. I start with clear product information, policies and reliable customer handoffs, with scope matched to the capabilities relevant to your business.

AI Discovery Assessment

Are we getting enough value from Salesforce Commerce Cloud?

Platform work should support customer experience and business priorities. I connect capabilities, ownership and operating decisions to the outcomes you want to improve.

Salesforce Commerce Cloud Advisory

AI discovery: a second area of focus

Can AI find, understand and recommend your business?

I assess whether AI assistants can access your information, understand your business and verify what they find. AEO means answer engine optimization; GEO means generative engine optimization; ACO means agentic commerce optimization. See how I use these terms.

Experience

From launch to scale.

I spent more than 20 years at NFM, most recently Director of Ecommerce from 2018 to 2026.

I built and scaled NFM’s ecommerce channel to No. 310 among North America’s largest online retailers by web sales (Digital Commerce 360, 2023).

My responsibilities included ecommerce revenue, budgeting, forecasting and investment priorities, with regular updates to executive leadership.

  • Led the business side of an enterprise commerce-platform migration to Salesforce Commerce Cloud.
  • Led customer experience, digital merchandising, personalization and experimentation.
  • Connected ecommerce with inventory, pricing, financing, fulfillment and stores.
  • Turned customer behavior and performance information into clear priorities.

My deepest experience is in high-consideration categories where customers need confidence before a significant purchase. I have spoken at IRCE, Digital Commerce 360 and Home Furnishings Association events, and wrote Agentic Commerce for Retail Leaders.

Tools I work with

Salesforce Commerce CloudAdobe AnalyticsAdobe Customer Journey Analytics (CJA)Google AnalyticsPower BIQuantum MetricTableau

Writing and insights

Recent writing

Original analysis written for retail leaders, grounded in ecommerce leadership experience and linked to cited sources. View all insights

Frequently asked questions

Clear answers about ecommerce, digital marketing and AI discovery.

Do you only work with retailers, or can you help a non-retail business?

My deepest experience is in retail ecommerce, especially high-consideration purchases. The questions I ask apply to any business that depends on its website to win customers: Is the message that brings people to your site the right one? Does the landing page deliver on it? What gets in the way of someone submitting a form? If you generate leads online instead of selling through a cart, I can review your digital marketing and on-site conversion. If your situation is outside what I can help with, I’ll tell you on the first call. Explore the Digital Marketing Assessment

Is our marketing sending the right message to bring customers to our site?

I look at your ads, search listings, emails and other entry points the way a customer sees them, and compare what you promise with what the visitor is trying to do. The goal is to find messages that attract the wrong visitors or fail to attract the right ones, and to decide what to change first. Explore the Digital Marketing Assessment

Does our landing page live up to the click?

I follow the path a visitor takes from the ad or link to the page and check whether the page confirms what they were promised, answers their first questions and makes the next step obvious. A mismatch between the click and the page can get in the way of conversion. Explore the Ecommerce Growth Assessment

How do we remove friction so more visitors submit a form and become solid leads?

I review each step between the click and the form: what the page asks for, how much it asks, which doubts it leaves unanswered and where visitors drop off. Together, we rank fixes by likely impact and effort, and look at lead quality, not just form volume. Explore the Digital Marketing Assessment

What are AEO, GEO, and ACO?

I use AEO for answer engine optimization and GEO for generative engine optimization: work that helps AI systems retrieve and describe a business accurately. I use ACO, agentic commerce optimization, as working vocabulary for product information and shopping handoffs. These are related disciplines, not guarantees of inclusion or settled rules for every platform.

Who is this work best for?

I help retailers and online businesses with customer friction, marketing and sales messages, conversion, ecommerce technology decisions and AI discovery. For technology companies, I review products from a retail ecommerce leader and technology buyer’s perspective, including customer experience and the questions retail buyers need answered. Across these services, I offer advisory support or fractional leadership to help move the work forward. If you run a non-retail business that generates leads online, see my answer above about non-retail businesses. Read about non-retail businesses

What makes your experience different?

I spent more than 20 years at NFM, most recently Director of Ecommerce from 2018 to 2026. I guided a Salesforce Commerce Cloud migration and connected the online experience with stores, delivery, financing and operations. I bring that practical perspective to the decisions we work through together.

How do you protect our data and confidential information?

Protecting your confidential information starts before the work begins. A mutual non-disclosure agreement (NDA) is the first step before any engagement, establishing confidentiality obligations for both parties. I work within your existing analytics tools using access you authorize, and I do not download sensitive client data. Access is limited to what is necessary for the agreed scope and follows your security and access requirements. The engagement agreement documents the scope of work and permitted use of information, so expectations are clear from the outset.

Start a conversation

Let’s decide what to fix first.

Bring a conversion problem, ads that aren’t producing the right response, a product you want feedback on or a technology decision you need to make.

What happens on the 30-minute call

  1. Share your situation

    You share what’s happening in your business, the results, and what you’ve tried.

  2. Get an experienced perspective

    I ask questions informed by 20+ years of ecommerce leadership and share initial observations.

  3. Discuss the next step

    We discuss whether an assessment, advisory engagement, or fractional leadership would help. If there isn’t a fit, I’ll say so.

Your first 30-minute call is free. If we agree on hourly advisory, the starting commitment is three hours ($900). Booking the free call creates no paid commitment.

On the record

Public coverage of my experience.