What does an E-Commerce Manager do?

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E-Commerce is booming. The past few years have seen a sharp rise in the number of e-commerce manager positions. These managers are responsible for a retailer’s online sales presence and take on tasks ranging from selecting the product range to returns management.


What’s E-commerce? The role of the E-Commerce Manager

E-Commerce Manager Role

An E-Commerce or online store is a place online (a website) where customers can buy products or services. Gone are the days of retail companies expanding via physical stores. Today, it’s all about connecting with your customers in the quickest way possible.

So, how can we do this? That would be online!

Most brands today have an online presence and sell their products online supplementing or sometimes replacing, the traditional store. This new sales channel is also changing the requirements placed on the sales staff. Now, you don’t just need to consult the client that gets into the shop but you need to bring customers to the website.

With E-Commerce growing at an unprecedented rate all over the world a new role has arisen: The e-commerce manager.

Looking for an E-Commerce Manager?

E-commerce Manager Responsibilities: What do they do?

E-commerce managers are responsible for managing the entire e-commerce presence of retail companies. They manage the assortment, select products for sale and take over the management of returns.

In their day-to-day work, they mainly deal with the planning and further development of the shop appearance and act as an interface between various specialist departments. These include agencies for web design, the marketing department within the company, development, IT and PR agencies.

In addition, e-commerce managers are entrusted with the administration of incoming payments and returns and analyze the sales statistics in order to optimize the product range and to be able to place targeted advertising.

Ultimately, the main goal of an e-commerce manager is to improve conversion rates, i.e. the rate of purchases resulting from the shop visitors.

Basically, e-commerce managers are active in an industry that has a product to sell. They are mainly active in the retail and B2C industry. 

The best physical products to sell online are:

  • Fashion products – clothes, shoes, and accessories
  • Electronics and tech products
  • Books and music

What tasks does an E-Commerce Manager have?

  • Define company objectives
  • Review sales data and stock levels
  • Optimization of sales and increase conversion rates
  • Analyze internal data and web analytics
  • Develop pricing strategies for the e-commerce store
  • Returns management
  • Plan promotional campaigns such as contests or giveaways
  • Plan advertising campaigns, including deciding on media channels
  • Develop SEO and SEM strategies
  • Evaluate website design and discuss plans to improve
  • Initiate market research studies
  • Provide marketing or technical advice to clients
  • Direct the hiring of advertising, promotions, and marketing staff and oversee their daily activities

What skills does an E-Commerce Manager need?

E-Commerce Manager Skills

E-commerce managers have expertise in the field of business administration, are project-driven and know about strategies to increase sales.

They also have extensive knowledge of the product range and the industry in which they operate. Soft skills include verbal and written communication and teamwork skills in dealing with affiliated departments and agencies as well as assertiveness.

Also, adaptability is really important because the digital world changes daily. A tweak in Google’s algorithm can change the game completely for your online store and also new competitors can easily enter the market.

What does an e-commerce manager need to know?

  • Business management know-how
  • Knowledge of strategies for increasing sales
  • Affiliate marketing
  • Knowledge of SEO
  • Digital Advertising: Google Ads, Facebook Ads
  • Market research and analytical skills
  • Expertise in the industry and product
  • Strong communication skills and ability to work in a team
  • Developing and designing online and email marketing campaigns

So what does it take to become an E-commerce Manager?

In terms of education, e-commerce managers usually have a business management background or hold a degree in marketing, communications or computer science.

All these are common ways of getting into the profession. However, as this is a pretty new field, the probable best way to become an e-commerce manager is by learning on the job and through experience.

Google offers several online courses that can be used as basics to learn about digital marketing and can get you started as an online marketing specialist. e.g: How to enhance and protect your online campaign or their certification of Digital Marketing Start on a new freelance project now.

Salary

The starting salary for an e-commerce manager can be as low as $20,000 depending on the retail business. This number can rise significantly for a manager with a few years of experience and fall in the range of $63,000.

Senior managers can expect to pull in almost $160,000 a year. This number can, of course, be significantly higher under certain circumstances and depends on factors such as the industry and the company, but also on professional experience.

How much do E-Commerce Managers do?

Junior $ 20,000
Average $ 63,000
Senior $ 160,000
Average rate E-Commerce Managers (2022) $72/hr

On average, freelance E-Commerce Managers charge $72/hour (freelancermap’s price and rate index in September 2022).

Freelance rates in E-Commerce range between $60 and $91 for the majority of freelancers.

Considering a freelance rate of $72/hour, a freelancer would charge $576/day for an 8-hour working day.


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Natalia Campana

Natalia is part of the international team at freelancermap. She loves the digital world, social media and meeting different cultures. Before she moved to Germany and joined the freelancermap team she worked in the US, UK and her home country Spain. Now she focuses on helping freelancers and IT professionals to find jobs and clients worldwide at www.freelancermap.com

By Natalia Campana

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