8 Key Roles to Consider for Your e-Commerce Business Success
Is your eCommerce team primed for success? Here are some tips to help you in building your eCommerce team.
The popularity of eCommerce is soaring to unprecedented heights, and most entrepreneurs are trying to cash on this digital gold rush. While it is true that the eCommerce industry presents excellent opportunities for growth, it does present some unique requirements. Compared to traditional brick and mortar businesses, eCommerce calls for some very specific human resource strategies. And this all boils down to having an effective eCommerce team at the helm. Finding the right people can impact how you scale your operations, including what goods and services you can offer and your target market.
Yes, you may hire contractors to fill out the roles, especially on an as-need basis. However, problems can arise when their availability clashes with your current needs. Moreover, hiring and training an in-house team can be time-consuming, and a rapidly growing business may not have the luxury of time to fit these into their operations.
For organizations yet to build their eCommerce teams, knowing where to start can be challenging. That is why it is crucial to first identify the roles before diving deeper into the hiring process.
Your eCommerce Team: Building the Foundation for Success
As you slowly expand your eCommerce business, you should remember that these people should be at the core of your operations:
1. Director of eCommerce
A team cannot function well without a point person to oversee and manage operations, and this is what your Director of eCommerce will do. They will ensure that each team member is doing what they are supposed to do. As a manager, they will oversee web sales, manage partnerships, contribute strategy decisions, and finalize contracts.
For small startups, the Director of eCommerce will also carry out different site administration and digital marketing aspects.
2.Content Strategist
One of the most crucial roles that you need to have in your team is a content strategist. With all the noise in the digital market, it can be easy to get lost and overshadowed by big-name brands. And a content strategist will make sure that your brand can stand out above all that noise.
eCommerce marketing teams would often encounter problems when it comes to conversion. It is true that good content can get people flocking to a website. The challenge lies in converting these people from merely visitors to paying customers.
Attracting traffic to your shop is not enough to increase revenue, and selling products should be your top priority.
And this is what a content strategist can do for you. Aside from planning out your content plan, they will also be able to get a feel for the pulse of the market, listen to what people are talking about, and deliver on those expectations. More than that, they will also test and ensure that your webstore is optimized for conversion.
3.Web Developer
Your web store serves as your client-facing arm. As such, it is crucial to have a website that is not only aesthetically pleasing but also user-friendly. Besides, you want your customers to spend more time browsing your products rather than looking for icons and links on your website. They can get frustrated quickly, and every frustrated customer is revenue lost.
Your web developer must be well-versed in handling eCommerce stores. That said, they must know how to integrate payment options, connect inventory, and manage financial reports. On a marketing level, they should be able to connect your website to different sales funnels. This includes affiliate programs and social media content marketing.
While an in-house web developer may not be necessary, you may need someone who will be available to make both front and backend alterations as necessary.
4. Customer Service Representatives
Customer service in eCommerce should also be part of your marketing strategy. No matter how good your products are, people will not buy from your store if you have poor customer service. Your customer service representatives must be responsive in answering live chat queries, answering calls, and even deploying chatbots to converse with customers.
Your customer service representatives should be well-trained in managing returns and customer complaints through email and social media channels.
5. Social Media Manager
People’s buying experiences and practices have changed drastically in recent years, and social media has played a big role in ensuring that eCommerce stores can reach their target audience via different channels. With 3.6 billion social media users, it would be a sin not to leverage these platforms to gain revenue. However, this will not be possible if you don’t have a social media manager. The main person who can improve your online presence and visibility. They are critical in ensuring your eCommerce brand has a positive voice by responding to queries, comments, and creating relevant content.
6. Digital Media Buyer
If you want to ensure the success of your eCommerce store, you should have a good digital media buyer in your team. Someone who will be responsible for creating and implementing your advertising campaigns. However, their most important role is to identify which online media channels and what strategies will result in the furthest reach and help your organization achieve campaign goals.
More than that, digital media buyers will help you build your campaign roadmap and come up with strategies to drive it forward.
7. Project Manager
Project managers bring leadership and direction to your campaigns. They are responsible for developing the vision and removing any possible roadblocks that can delay or hinder tasks.
Project managers also decide what tools and channels are best used. They will guide the team in different strategies such as organic promotions and/or paid search engine optimization (SEO) campaigns. Project managers also have a crucial role in building partnerships and making technical changes to relevant websites to increase activity and sales conversions.
They also have a key role in motivating, inspiring, and coaching your team, while ensuring accountability.
8. Graphic Designer
Only a handful of eCommerce businesses will consider hiring a graphic designer for their team. Why? Simply because store owners don’t know how important graphic design is when it comes to their branding. Think about it—with 24 million eCommerce sites and growing, how do you make an impression? How you can engage them is what will set your eCommerce store apart from the competition. Often, it has a lot to do with how your website is designed.
Sure, you can choose from templates, but then you’ll just be another “generic” store out there. You only have 5 seconds to captivate your audience, and investing in a graphic designer can do the trick.
eCommerce stores must prepare for scaling their operations, particularly now that globalization is changing the retail industry. To achieve this, you need to be flexible in building your eCommerce marketing team. As you grow your global brand, you also need to scale your staff and their capabilities with the right techniques and strategies. This is where partnering with a full-service staffing solution like MultiplyMii can help.
How Can MultiplyMii Help?
Hiring, onboarding, training new people can take a substantial amount of time, money, and effort. Rushing the process can negatively impact your business, especially in eCommerce, where reliability is critical. You cannot risk dealing with uncertainty, and MultiplyMii understands this.
For this reason, the company created a bespoke staffing solution that will be there with you to analyze your day-to-day operations. Our team of experts can assess which areas of your business can benefit from outsourcing. Plus, ensure that each employee will be reliable and effective. This way, you can maintain business continuity while hiring the right people to complete growing your team. Learn how MultiplyMii can help you from the discovery call to onboarding, and even to payroll. Book a Demo now.