Coach: Building non-linear customer journeys & immersive ecommerce experiences

[00:00:00] Jennifer Martinez-Velazquez: One of the big unlocks that we've had is understanding that a customer journey is not linear. Like, you don't see something external, you don't click through and buy. Sometimes it takes our consumers up to three or four visits before they actually, ultimately transact.

[00:00:16] Kailin Noivo: Hey, folks. Super excited for the podcast that you're about to listen to with Jennifer. We touched on a whole bunch of topics, including what it means to have an outlet brand. Does that dilute your primary brand? Do you have two different online experiences? Do customers think of it as one? In addition to that, you can get some really, really good insights from an industry vet who spent more than 10 years in ecomm and is still very much on the cutting-edge of technology. So super excited for that.

[00:00:46] Kailin Noivo: Welcome to another episode of The Ecommerce Toolbox Expert's Perspective. Joining us today, we have Jennifer. Jennifer is the Senior Director of Global Marketing, Digital Experience at Coach. So welcome.

[00:00:59] Jennifer Martinez-Velazquez: Thank you. Thanks so much for having me.

[00:01:03] Kailin Noivo: Awesome. I'm really excited for this podcast. We're gonna get into a whole bunch of things. Obviously, you've been with Coach for a little bit. You've managed some of the outlets. We're gonna get into some of kind of the topics of commodity ecomm versus experiential ecomm today. So maybe talk us through your career journey and where you started, and kind of the parts of the business you look at today.

[00:01:34] Jennifer Martinez-Velazquez: Yeah. Of course. So I started my career over a decade ago, and I actually started ecommerce merchandising—doing things like site uploads, photography, curating our shops, etcetera. From there, I moved into site operations, site content, and eventually worked my way up to oversee the entire business. Those early roles really set the foundation for understanding how the business actually works. It allowed me to deepen my knowledge of ecommerce and the importance of building a website. There’s so much work behind the scenes. Now, in my current role, I focus on global marketing—scaling to global markets while ensuring we maintain that emotional tie back to the consumer.

[00:03:00] Kailin Noivo: Talk to us about businesses that have an outlet model versus the core business. How do you think about building those digital experiences?

[00:03:15] Jennifer Martinez-Velazquez: Sometimes they don’t have to be different. Customers think of Coach as one brand, not retail versus outlet. We’ve worked to remove noise from the outlet experience—less promotion-led messaging and more cohesive brand storytelling. Regardless of where a customer enters, they should feel the same brand value.

[00:04:34] Kailin Noivo: What mindsets dictate outlet versus core shopping if it’s not just price?

[00:04:50] Jennifer Martinez-Velazquez: Proximity plays a big role. For many consumers, the outlet store is their first exposure to Coach. Product quality is consistent across channels, so budget and accessibility often matter more than anything else.

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[00:06:06] Kailin Noivo: How do businesses shift from transactional ecommerce to immersive brand experiences while still being measured on conversion?

[00:06:39] Jennifer Martinez-Velazquez: Storytelling and conversion aren’t at odds. One cannot succeed without the other. The biggest unlock is realizing the journey isn’t linear. We focus on emotional connection on first visits and optimize conversion on subsequent visits. We also track micro-conversions—wishlist adds, SMS signups, time on page—as leading indicators of future purchase intent.

[00:08:52] Kailin Noivo: Have you run experiments that may hurt short-term conversion but increase long-term revenue?

[00:09:11] Jennifer Martinez-Velazquez: Yes. We tested content-led PLPs instead of PDPs from paid media. While first-visit conversion dropped, bounce rate decreased and second-visit conversion increased. The key was defining the right KPIs and iterating multiple times.

[00:10:43] Kailin Noivo: Coach has seen strong traction with younger demographics. How do you think about storytelling, organic discovery, and LLMs?

[00:11:52] Jennifer Martinez-Velazquez: Authenticity drives organic buzz. If the experience is good, people talk about it. LLM discovery is still small, but we’re preparing by ensuring our content is crawlable and relevant. Similar to TikTok early days, it’ll grow faster than we expect.

[00:14:05] Kailin Noivo: Do you think LLM data will shape onsite experiences?

[00:14:43] Jennifer Martinez-Velazquez: It’s mostly guesswork right now. But if you’re not testing, you’re behind. Brands need to trial theories now to understand future trends.

[00:15:13] Kailin Noivo: How do teams collaborate better across creative, digital, IT, and merchandising?

[00:15:42] Jennifer Martinez-Velazquez: Alignment comes from a shared goal. For us, it’s acquiring Gen Z female consumers. We’re also highly data-centric. When KPIs are aligned, collaboration becomes easier.

[00:17:20] Kailin Noivo: Data disagreements across teams are common. How do you address that?

[00:17:48] Jennifer Martinez-Velazquez: Open dialogue and shared dashboards help. Marketing and ecommerce KPIs differ, but understanding the “why” together is critical.

[00:18:57] Kailin Noivo: Biggest career learning?

[00:19:16] Jennifer Martinez-Velazquez: I wish I’d taken more risks earlier. Ecommerce allows for rapid A/B testing—use it. Also, stop optimizing pages in isolation. Customer journeys aren’t linear; value lies in understanding how pages work together.

[00:21:30] Kailin Noivo: Thanks so much, Jennifer.

[00:21:36] Jennifer Martinez-Velazquez: Of course. Thank you for having me.

[00:21:38] Outro: The Ecommerce Toolbox Expert’s Perspectives is brought to you by Noibu. To find out more about Noibu and how we can help you debug your ecommerce site and rocket your revenue, visit noibu.com.