Ecommerce & Retail — Founder-Led to PE-Backed

Make ecommerce growth make sense.

Most growth advice is theory borrowed from someone else’s business. This isn’t. Ecomm Jigsaw is built by an operator who has held the P&L — as CEO, COO and GM — across multiple ecommerce brands, and rebuilt the playbook from scratch each time, because no two businesses break in the same place.

Get in touch

Founder-led to PE-backed / scale without losing the plot

20+

— Years in commercial & ecommerce leadership, UK & Australia

— Senior commercial & P&L roles, five different businesses

3×

— Online Retailer of the Year, ORIAS

What We Fix

The problems that actually stall growth past $5M

“Every decision still runs through the founder.”

Team Structure

Org design and role clarity so the business can scale past the founder’s own bandwidth.

“Every decision still runs through the founder.”

Team Structure

Org design and role clarity so the business can scale past the founder’s own bandwidth.

“The team’s busy — but not all pulling toward the same number.”

Team Alignment

One shared, profit-linked goal to row toward, instead of six departments optimising six different metrics.

“The team’s busy — but not all pulling toward the same number.”

Team Alignment

One shared, profit-linked goal to row toward, instead of six departments optimising six different metrics.

“The P&L’s leaking somewhere, and the short-term fix isn’t the long-term one.”

P&L & Trade-off Discipline

The trade-off between what the business wants now and what it needs to stay profitable made explicit, not avoided.

“The P&L’s leaking somewhere, and the short-term fix isn’t the long-term one.”

P&L & Trade-off Discipline

The trade-off between what the business wants now and what it needs to stay profitable made explicit, not avoided.

“The systems are held together by duct tape.”

Ecommerce Operations

The unglamorous backbone — and the platform under it — fixed before it becomes a hard ceiling on volume.

“The systems are held together by duct tape.”

Ecommerce Operations

The unglamorous backbone — and the platform under it — fixed before it becomes a hard ceiling on volume.

“Cash is tied up in stock that isn’t moving.”

Working Capital & Inventory

Inventory and cash conversion reviewed together, not as two spreadsheets nobody reconciles.

“Cash is tied up in stock that isn’t moving.”

Working Capital & Inventory

Inventory and cash conversion reviewed together, not as two spreadsheets nobody reconciles.

“Trading calls are made on gut feel, not cadence.”

Trading & Conversion

Margin, merchandising and conversion reviewed with operator discipline — weekly, and against cash.

“Trading calls are made on gut feel, not cadence.”

Trading & Conversion

Margin, merchandising and conversion reviewed with operator discipline — weekly, and against cash.

“Fulfilment breaks down every time volume spikes.”

Supply Chain & 3PL

Logistics and 3PL moves planned before peak, not renegotiated mid-crisis.

“Fulfilment breaks down every time volume spikes.”

Supply Chain & 3PL

Logistics and 3PL moves planned before peak, not renegotiated mid-crisis.

“Spend keeps climbing, and so does CAC.”

Acquisition & Retention

Media and lifecycle judged on payback and repeat rate, not reach or last-click credit.

“Spend keeps climbing, and so does CAC.”

Acquisition & Retention

Media and lifecycle judged on payback and repeat rate, not reach or last-click credit.

“Every new tool looks like the answer — telling signal from shiny object is the hard part.”

Innovation & Tech Filtering

One test applied to every new tool: does it change the operating rhythm or the customer experience, or just the demo?

“Every new tool looks like the answer — telling signal from shiny object is the hard part.”

Innovation & Tech Filtering

One test applied to every new tool: does it change the operating rhythm or the customer experience, or just the demo?

“Everyone’s talking about AI. Almost no one’s actually shipped it.”

AI & Productivity Systems

Practical AI-enabled workflows built and used day to day, not a slide about “exploring AI.”

“Everyone’s talking about AI. Almost no one’s actually shipped it.”

AI & Productivity Systems

Practical AI-enabled workflows built and used day to day, not a slide about “exploring AI.”

“Growth has stalled and no one agrees why.”

Growth Strategy

We find the real constraint — product, channel or team — and build a plan built for this business, not a template.

“Growth has stalled and no one agrees why.”

Growth Strategy

We find the real constraint — product, channel or team — and build a plan built for this business, not a template.

“You need a peer, not another vendor.”

Founder & CEO Support

A senior sounding board who has actually run the business you’re running.

“You need a peer, not another vendor.”

Founder & CEO Support

A senior sounding board who has actually run the business you’re running.

Track Record

Built by someone who’s done it — more than once.

Commercial Director, Maggie Beer

Gourmet food & retail

Commercial leadership across a heritage food brand’s retail and wholesale channels.

CEO, Zala

2.5 years, PE-owned ecommerce brand

Full P&L ownership of a private-equity-backed ecommerce business.

COO, Showpo

3 years, DTC fashion

Operating leadership through a fast-scaling, founder-led fashion brand.

GM, THE ICONIC

6 years, Fashion marketplace

General management inside one of Australia’s largest fashion & lifestyle marketplaces.

Buying, Planning & Strategy, AO.com

United Kingdom, Multi-category online retail

Senior commercial roles across buying, planning and strategy at one of the UK’s largest online retailers.

Delivered

Strategy & Growth

Growth strategy & indicative prioritisation
Playbook build-outs
Product strategy

People & Organisation

Short, mid & long-term org design
Values definition & implementation
Founder partnership

Platform & Operations

Web re-platforms & re-themes
3PL & logistics moves
Supply chain rebuilds
AI-enabled design & workflow systems (led at Maggie Beer, and in current operating work)

Corporate & Structural

Tax efficiency
Audit readiness
Global structure set-up
PE-backed & ATO-listed contexts

Selected experience. Ecomm Jigsaw’s current advisory work sits alongside — and separate from — other operating commitments, and is scoped case by case.

The operator / 04

The right perspective is earned in the room.

Sam Reece is an ecommerce and retail operator-advisor. He brings commercial rigour to high-stakes decisions — from sharpening a trading model to helping investors and founders align around the next chapter.

Clarity
→ cadence
→ compounding

A simple operating sequence

Good Fit

This works best with ecommerce & retail businesses who…

— Are doing meaningful revenue already, and have outgrown gut-feel decision making

— Want a senior operator in the room, not a junior account manager relaying advice

— Are doing meaningful revenue already, and have outgrown gut-feel decision making

— Want a senior operator in the room, not a junior account manager relaying advice

— Are open to being told the uncomfortable thing, not just the encouraging thing

— Need structure and cadence as much as they need new ideas — whether that’s a founder’s first org chart or a PE board pack

— Are open to being told the uncomfortable thing, not just the encouraging thing

— Need structure and cadence as much as they need new ideas — whether that’s a founder’s first org chart or a PE board pack

How We Work

A simple working model

Diagnose

Get under the numbers and the org to find what’s actually holding growth back.

Prioritise

Rank the fixes by commercial impact and what the business can realistically execute.

Execute

Work alongside the team to ship the changes, not just recommend them.

Build Capability

Leave the team better equipped to run it without us, on purpose.

A Note On Availability

The shape of an engagement follows the problem, not a fixed retainer — advisory, fractional (part-time, ongoing), short intensive sprints, or full-time interim, scoped to what’s actually needed and what’s realistic given current capacity.

Contact

Tell me about the business, and where growth is stalling.

A couple of lines on the business, revenue range and the problem you’re trying to solve is plenty — use the form, or email directly.

Email sam@ecommjigsaw.com.au

Sam Reece

Founder, Ecomm Jigsaw

Based in NSW, Australia · working with brands globally

sam@ecommjigsaw.com.au