Sarah Perez

eCommerce leader with 10 years in beauty, fashion, and lifestyle brands, owning DTC growth across site conversion, paid media (up to $10M a year), retention, and merchandising on Shopify Plus. Grew DTC revenue 31% and portfolio revenue 65%, raised conversion and AOV through structured testing and lifecycle programs, and expanded brands into new markets, including retail launches in New Zealand and Mexico and campaigns in the UK, South Korea, Japan, and Italy. Leads RFPs and manages agencies and vendors to CAC, ROAS, AOV, and contribution-margin targets.

Early career work with Nike, Moda Operandi, and Bluemercury built a foundation in premium brand standards. Builds the business case and budget with Finance and presents results to founders, CEOs, and C-suite leaders.

Founder / Head of E-commerce & Digital Growth at Costera Studios (2024 – Present)

• Own digital growth strategy, revenue targets, and budgets across DTC and marketplaces, presenting results directly to founders and CEOs
• Lead RFPs for clients seeking new agencies and evaluate existing agency relationships to determine future partnerships
• Set CAC, ROAS, MER, and AOV benchmarks across Meta, TikTok, Google, and Amazon; direct agency and freelance media plans and own-vs-rent channel decisions
• Design retention programs in Klaviyo, Yotpo, and HubSpot that grow repeat purchase rate, and lead a cross-functional team across paid media, CRO, design, and lifecycle
• Designed channel architecture so marketplaces add incremental revenue without eroding DTC: protected DTC exclusives, promo governance, and loyalty and gift-with-purchase programs
• Grew Amazon revenue for CPG brand Ruvi from $52M to $60M (+15%) in 18 months, and a personal care brand from $31M to $43M (+38%) in 24 months

Director, eCommerce & Digital Growth at Toy Box Brands (Polite Society Beauty / Diamond Drunk) (2023 – 2024)

• Led growth strategy that grew brand portfolio revenue 65% ($5.5M → $9.1M), protecting DTC through exclusive products, everyday free shipping, loyalty points, and gift-with-purchase perks
• Led global retail expansion into New Zealand (Mecca) and Mexico (Blush Bar); oversaw go-to-market launches and evergreen geo-targeted campaigns, including copy translations and inventory operations
• Led the RFP process for advertising and PR agencies
• Owned the $9M paid media budget across Meta, Google, and YouTube; served as primary strategic partner to the external agency, holding it accountable to CAC, ROAS, and contribution margin
• Owned the testing roadmap across creative, landing pages, and merchandising; improved CVR 11% (1.8 → 2.0) with weekly concept briefs and layout, offer, and conversion-path tests
• Raised repeat purchase rate 20% through segmented lifecycle flows, affiliate, and creative testing
• Launched TikTok Shop and affiliate from zero ($1.75M GMV, a 300-affiliate network, and a viral product that sold 30K+ units), and cut brand CAC 14%
• Led a team of 5 across retention, customer service, content, and affiliate, plus agency partners; presented strategy and results to the CEO and C-suite

Sr. Manager, eCommerce & Performance Marketing at EM Cosmetics (2022 – 2023)

• Grew DTC revenue 31% ($7.8M → $10.2M) while launching new channels, using channel-specific offers and exclusive launches to avoid conflict
• Managed global marketing campaigns and branding in key geographies, including the UK, South Korea, Japan, and Italy
• Led UX redesign across PDPs and checkout (+12% add-to-cart rate, +20% CRM list growth) on Shopify Plus; grew Email/SMS to 20% of revenue
• Owned $4M in paid media across Meta, Google, and Programmatic, holding the agency to CAC, ROAS, and MER targets
• Partnered with Finance to build the business case and budget for new channels, balancing ROI potential and cost, and presented strategy and results to the founders and C-suite
• Launched the company's marketplace strategy: Amazon from $0 to $500K in 15 months and Whatnot from $0 to $150K
• Led a team of 4 across customer service, design, and marketing, plus agency partners eCommerce & Performance Marketing Manager at John Paul Mitchell Systems (2021 – 2022)
• Grew DTC Professional Tools category revenue 30% through upsell testing and Afterpay/BNPL integration; improved Units-Per-Transaction from 1.8 to 2.2 and increased site AOV through lifecycle email flows
• Directed channel strategy across Meta, Google, Amazon, and Ulta with $10M+ in annual spend, accountable to CAC, ROAS, and contribution margin
• Partnered with Finance to align paid media investment with revenue and margin targets, reallocating budget based on performance
• Led alignment across 6 brand teams (Paul Mitchell, Tea Tree, Awapuhi, Neuro, Mitch, Tools) to keep web and Amazon product content current and marketing calendars on track
• Led Amazon strategy for a $57M business, growing revenue to $61M (+7%) with A+ content, review strategy, and a tiered keyword strategy that delivered 3:1 ROAS

Sr. Digital Strategist at Los Angeles Times (2017 – 2021)

Led channel portfolio and lifecycle strategy for fashion and retail clients, building segmentation programs that increased repeat purchase frequency and delivering executive-level reporting on performance and budget.

Enterprise Account Manager at Steelhouse (MNTN) (2015 – 2017)

Owned performance marketing strategy for premium fashion, beauty, and lifestyle brands including Nike, Moda Operandi, Rifle Paper Co., and Bluemercury, managing international campaigns for DTC clients and driving 25% traffic growth through lifecycle-aligned audience segmentation.

BS in Marketing Managment & International Business – California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (2011 – 2014)