Richie Graham · Independent ecommerce consultant · Ireland & Europe
I work with owners and leadership teams at 7 and 8-figure brands on the decisions that shape the next few years: profit, platforms, AI, media and the team. Twenty years in ecommerce means I've usually seen your problem before, so we get to the answer faster.
Deloitte Digital: advised on it · Aldi UK: built it · Google: scaled it
I work with owners, CMOs, Ecomm Directors and boards of 7 and 8-figure ecommerce businesses across Europe. Usually because it's a decision nobody in the building has made before, and the stakes are too high to learn on the job.
Challenge is in the name for a reason. I'll tell you what I actually think, not what's easiest to hear, respectfully, but directly. That's the point of bringing in someone who's sat on every side of the table and has no stake in what you decide.
Most of my work starts with one of these sentences.
Revenue is up, cash doesn't feel like it. I get to the real unit economics by channel, product and customer, so you know what to scale, what to fix and what to stop. You end up with numbers you can put in front of the board.
Done it: owned the P&L across three launches at Aldi, Wines by the Case, Specialbuys and Hampers, not just the diagnosis, the actual numbers.
Replatforming, choosing an SI, a big tech bet. I give you an independent second opinion with no vendor relationship to protect, and a recommendation that stands up in the boardroom.
Done it: platform assessments for TK Maxx, Brown Thomas and Boden. Chose and integrated the full tech stack for Aldi's ecommerce launch.
Deadlines slipping, suppliers pointing at each other, nobody sure what's true. I sit on your side of the table, get a straight read on where delivery really stands, and get it back under control.
Done it: client-side assurance over multiple third parties delivering a new digital platform for a national energy supplier.
Skip the hype. I run every client through an Ecomm AI Assessment: a straight read on where AI actually saves time or money in your business, and where it's just noise dressed up as innovation. Then we leave the rest alone.
Done it: built the assessment, tested it on my own business first, and it's now part of every new client conversation.
Often the problem isn't the agency. It's what you're asking it to optimise for. I review the spend, the measurement and the agency, and tell you plainly which one is broken.
Done it: at Google I saw it firsthand, over 75% of ecommerce brands spending north of €500k a year on paid media had no real view of what that spend was doing to their bottom line. Six years working with hundreds of advertisers and their agencies, from independents to Dyson and Søstrene Grene.
A new function, a first ecommerce hire, the right agencies around it. I design the structure, hire the key people, appoint the partners, and hand over something that runs without me.
Done it: built Aldi UK's ecommerce team from a blank page. Designed and hired a new marketing function, and appointed its media agency, for a national energy supplier.
6 months, 1-2 days per week
Designed and hired a new marketing function, reviewed incumbent agencies and tech suppliers, appointed a new digital media agency. Ran client-side assurance over the third parties delivering a new digital platform.
6 months, 2 days a week
Fractional Chief Revenue Officer. Rebuilt messaging and pricing and moved the business up-market to larger deals.
Ongoing, 1-2 days per month
Full unit economics review, including where AI could genuinely cut cost and/or make life easier. Brought in a freelancer to get paid media up and running. Made the case for dropping the full range and moving to a subscription meal kit model instead. A smaller, easier-to-fulfil range, and more profit because of it.
I built my first ecommerce site in 2007, for my grandfather's toy shop. Losing money meant answering to him over Sunday dinner, not a board of directors. I've kept that focus on the bottom line ever since.
Weekends and holidays through school and college, then full-time. Launched the family business online before most retailers had a website.
Strategy, operating model and platform work for IKEA, John Lewis, Tesco, TK Maxx, Clarks and Diageo. Learned how big organisations actually make decisions, and where they get stuck.
Built Aldi's ecommerce business from nothing: strategy, tech stack and a team of 30-plus. Owned the P&L across three launches: Wines by the Case, Specialbuys and Hampers. Sat on the steering committee for Aldi's global digital transformation.
Head of Norway, then Head of Agency Nordics, then Head of Retail Nordics, with P&L responsibility for an eight-figure business in each role. Sat on the EMEA Retail Steering Committee. Founded the Profit Driven Marketing programme.
Up to six months, full or part-time. A defined problem, a clear finish line, and a handover at the end. This is how most of my work runs.
One or two days a week, owning a specific problem, for businesses that need senior ecommerce leadership before they're ready for a full-time hire. Some people call this fractional.
Either way, I'm independent, and I'll say so when something's not working. I'm not here to sell you media, software, or a bigger retainer next quarter.
Thirty minutes, no pitch. Tell me what's on the table and I'll tell you honestly whether I can help, and what I'd look at first.