How GNC Rebuilt Its E-Commerce Engine

When Vivian Chang stepped into the VP of E-commerce role at GNC, the mission was clear—but the structure wasn’t.

GNC, the 90-year-old health and wellness retailer, had digital capabilities in place: a loyalty program, online sales, performance marketing. But those components lived in silos, scattered across teams and goals. What Chang brought wasn’t just new strategy—it was cohesion.

At Shoptalk 2025, she laid out how GNC’s digital transformation is happening not through flashy reinvention, but through structural discipline—and a sharp focus on contribution margin.

From Tactics to Ownership

One of Chang’s first moves was to collapse fragmented digital functions into a unified ecommerce organization. Previously, performance marketing, site operations, lifecycle communications, and merchandising reported up through different lanes. Now, they sit under one digital P&L.

That shift enabled something subtle but powerful: agility. Campaigns could move faster, site updates aligned with promotions, and customer journeys became more intentional. More importantly, every digital lever—from an email to a PDP module—was evaluated for its financial impact.

“It’s not about traffic anymore,” Chang said. “It’s about margin.”

Profitability as a Filter

Chang has helped instill a margin-first mindset across her team. That means growth isn’t measured in raw clicks or ROAS alone—it’s filtered through net contribution.

Channels once considered high-performing were reevaluated. Discounting strategies were reshaped to preserve value. And bundling logic was reworked to drive higher AOV without damaging retention.

This orientation gave the team permission to be selective—on partnerships, campaigns, and product priorities. And it’s helped move ecommerce from being seen as a convenience channel to being a true driver of sustainable growth.

Making Loyalty Behavioral

GNC’s customer base has long been tied to its loyalty program. But for Chang, the opportunity wasn’t in enrollment—it was in behavior change.

Under her leadership, GNC is investing in tighter post-purchase loops: lifecycle messages that reflect not just what a customer bought, but what they’re trying to achieve. Subscription nudges, goal-based merchandising, and AI-led recommendations are all being tested not for novelty—but for impact.

The aim is to make wellness habitual—and ecommerce personal.

Rebuilding the Site to Think Like a Merchant

Another area of focus: elevating site experience to mirror GNC’s retail heritage. That means faster load times, cleaner PDPs, and merchandising logic that considers everything from product efficacy to seasonal relevance.

Site experimentation now runs in weekly cycles, where wins are measured in speed and incremental lift, not just anecdotal UX feedback. The team is testing how messaging changes based on goals—muscle gain versus metabolism, for example—can affect add-to-cart behavior.

It’s ecommerce built to reflect the complexity of health decisions.

Adopting with Intent

Despite industry pressure to go broader—more marketplaces, more channels—Chang is selective. GNC is expanding into third-party marketplaces and new checkout experiences (like Paze), but only when those platforms meet the brand’s standards on data access, brand control, and profitability.

The approach isn’t cautious. It’s disciplined.

What GNC Is Teaching the Market

Vivian Chang’s team isn’t chasing the next shiny object. They’re building a system. One where every test is tied to a P&L. Every feature is weighted by effort and return. And every customer interaction reflects what the brand actually stands for.

In an era where ecommerce is often reduced to tactics, GNC is showing what it looks like to lead with principle—and precision.

Disclaimer: The above podcast episode was generated using AI based on an interview transcript. While the content remains true to the original conversation, the voices, tone, and delivery were synthesized and do not represent actual recordings of the speakers. This AI-generated format is intended to enhance accessibility and provide an alternative way to engage with the discussion.

Independently Created. Not affiliated with Shoptalk.

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