Considering the role has been around for over twenty years, there is still a lot of mystery surrounding ecommerce and what digital teams do all day. Because there is such a reliance on technology, conversations about the role and its responsibilities include a lot of jargon, which can be confusing even for those already working in the industry.
One of the most common, generalist job titles you often see in small to medium-sized businesses, museums and charities, is ecommerce manager.
Let’s break down the role into five main areas...
Just as a retail manager entices customers to enter a store, the first priority in ecommerce is to attract visitors to the online store. This involves using a blend of digital marketing strategies such as search engine optimisation (SEO), pay-per-click (PPC) ads, social media marketing and content marketing to drive traffic to the website.
The next step is to create an engaging and user-friendly online shopping experience. This is akin to fitting out a physical store and putting out the products to entice people to buy. The ecommerce manager ensures that the website layout is clean, products are well-displayed and the navigation is intuitive. This also includes managing systems integrations to ensure orders flow to the fulfilment team.
The primary goal of an online store is to sell products or services. Ecommerce professionals need to ensure that the checkout process is seamless and user-friendly. They also handle customer service aspects, such as live chat with customers and managing returns and refunds. Pricing strategies, promotional campaigns and maintaining inventory levels are also crucial aspects of generating sales.
Keeping customers coming back is a vital part of the role. This involves using Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems to analyse customer data and segment them into different cohorts. Email marketing, loyalty programmes and personalised recommendations are common tools used to maintain customer engagement and loyalty.
Finally, an ecommerce manager needs to constantly analyse the store’s performance. This includes tracking website traffic, conversion rates and sales data using analytics tools. Regular reporting helps identify trends, issues and opportunities, which enables the manager to make informed decisions to improve the store’s performance.
The software used in ecommerce is constantly evolving and, thankfully, getting easier to use. Due to the broad and varied nature of the role, teams need to be ruthlessly organised and good at getting stuff done.
Managing an ecommerce store often involves overseeing simultaneous projects, from website updates to product marketing campaigns. Effective project management ensures that everything runs smoothly, everyone knows their role and deadlines can be met.
To attract and retain customers, ecommerce professionals rely on tools like marketing calendars, which help plan and schedule campaigns. Collaboration tools like monday.com, Notion or Slack are used for coordinating with designers, developers and internal team members.
A good grasp of the technical aspects of ecommerce platforms, SEO and marketing tech (martech) tools is essential. This helps ecommerce managers to troubleshoot issues and implement improvements effectively. They don't need to be able to write code, but they do need to understand its structure and use tools like Chrome DevTools to diagnose issues.
To effectively merchandise the storefront and understand what customers prefer to see, and more importantly click on, digital teams are constantly testing and refining based on the results. Martech also offers options to test, such as A/B testing for email subject lines, advert copy or content blocks.
Good data management ensures the data being worked with is high quality, consistent, accurate and accessible across the appropriate channels and platforms. This applies to product information, customer data and analytical data. They make sure good data goes in and the right information comes out. Compliance with data protection laws, such as the GDPR in the UK and Europe, is much easier with well managed data.
The role of an ecommerce manager is diverse, requiring a blend of creativity, analytical skills and customer empathy. It’s about balancing the art of attracting and engaging customers with the science of analysing data and optimising performance. Whether you are managing a small online shop or a large ecommerce storefront, these five key areas and their associated tasks define the core responsibilities of the role.
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