What Does An Ecommerce Manager Do?

The rapid evolution of the ecommerce landscape has led to the arrival of a variety of new job opportunities for those with a strong knowledge of sales, marketing, and web development. 

If you already have a skill for managing online stores as a developer, and you’re accustomed to working with a range of ecommerce experts on a daily basis, you may consider a role as an ecommerce manager. 

Responsible for ensuring the continued success of an ecommerce venture, these managers are leaders in the digital landscape. They oversee the performance, design, and organization of a company’s online shopping outlets, to ensure they’re issue-free and user-friendly. What’s more, these experts also assist business leaders in developing data-driven plans for online success. 

Today, we’re going to define what ecommerce managers do on a day-to-day basis, the skills they need to thrive on their role, and how they help businesses to grow. 

What Does an Ecommerce Manager Do? Job Responsibilities

The demand for ecommerce managers has been gradually increasing in the last few years, as online shopping has continued to take the world by storm. 

There are an estimated 9.1 million online retailers on the web today. Many of the executives who own these companies may have a good knowledge of how to operate a business or lead a team, but they may not know exactly what it takes to create a successful shop online. This is where ecommerce managers come in. Ecommerce managers are executives in the business space, responsible for ensuring an online store delivers consistent revenue for a business. 

While the job responsibilities of an ecommerce manager can vary, some of the most common tasks these professionals undertake include:

1. Market Research

Ecommerce managers are responsible for optimizing the UX and performance of an online store to increase sales and delight customers. In order to do their job effectively, they need to be able to research their company’s target audience, the trends of the marketplace, and the competition. 

Extensive market research allows ecommerce marketers to understand the major pain points and requirements of a specific audience when building and managing a website. Most decisions made by an ecommerce manager are based on large amounts of industry data and analytics.

2. Store Design and Optimization

While not every ecommerce manager also needs to be a coding or programming expert, they should have a deep knowledge of web design principles. An ecommerce manager needs to understand how changes to a store’s design can influence the buying journey and subsequent business revenue. 

Ecommerce managers with experience in Shopify website design and development, can help with content layouts and planning. They can assist business leaders in creating the perfect customized checkout to enhance sales, or choosing a theme that captures the attention of a specific audience. 

Ecommerce managers with a good knowledge of web design can also help to optimize the performance of a website by making changes to layout, or application choices. 

3. Strategy Development

Most ecommerce managers are experts in strategy. Thanks to extensive research and analytics, they know exactly what it takes to convert a low-performing store into a great source of revenue. They also know how to create policies and plans to guide the rest of the team towards the right results. 

Ecommerce managers spend a significant amount of their time creating projects and plans to help grow the business. This could mean they assist marketers and sales professionals with sales and promotions. It could also mean they determine where to spend the business budget on making changes to website design or performance. 

4. Testing and analysis

The ecommerce world is constantly evolving, along with buyer trends and new technology. For a business leader to stay ahead of the competition in this space, it’s important to constantly update and improve an ecommerce store’s design, with a focus on increasing revenue. 

Ecommerce managers can use their extensive research, alongside insights and analytics taken directly from Shopify, Google Analytics, and other resources to boost optimization strategies. Many ecommerce managers even spend significant time A/B testing different designs and projects, to determine which strategy will generate the best results for the business. 

Ecommerce managers also frequently create reports and presentations to share with business leaders, employees, and stakeholders. 

5. Overseeing the ecommerce department

As mentioned above, an ecommerce manager is a leader in the modern business team, which means they oversee other employees, projects, and strategies. Ecommerce managers might work with website designers and creative professionals to determine which development trends a business should be taking advantage of. 

These professionals also frequently collaborate with sales and marketing teams, guiding them on which strategies to implement to increase revenue, and collecting insights about the target audience. 

In some cases, an ecommerce manager might also be responsible for monitoring the security, performance, and compliance of an ecommerce store. This would involve frequently checking for any performance issues in the code, or security oversights. 

What Skills Does an Ecommerce Manager Need?

The role of the ecommerce manager is constantly evolving as the art of running an online store becomes more complex. These employees frequently deal with a wide variety tasks on a daily basis, from applying updates to Shopify sites, to tracking sales results. 

While there are a number of skills which can be beneficial to ecommerce managers, some of the most common characteristics clients and employers search for include:

• Ecommerce platform knowledge: To offer advice and guidance on how to improve the performance of an ecommerce store, a manager first needs a good knowledge of how these platforms work. This is why many ecommerce managers have a background in web development, or Shopify store creation. 
• Sales skills: Ecommerce managers focus heavily on increasing conversions and sales for an ecommerce store. As such, they need a basic knowledge of common online selling tactics, and how customers navigate the buyer journey online.
• Analytics skills: Ecommerce managers regularly use data and market insights to make decisions on how to improve the performance of online stores. They also use testing methods like A/B testing to compare the performance of one campaign to another. 
• Collaboration skills: As mentioned above, ecommerce managers often spend a lot of time working with other members of the team on sales, marketing, and design initiatives. As such, they need to be able to work well with other employees. 
• Communication skills: As experts in their field, ecommerce managers are often a source of guidance and inspiration for other employees. However, in order to convey the right information to different groups of people, these team members need strong communication skills. 
• Problem solving skills: Online stores can fall victim to a number of common issues, from data breaches to problems with user experience. A good ecommerce manager will be able to analyze these issues objectively, and come up with creative solutions. 
• Leadership skills: Often responsible for managing a number of other business professionals, ecommerce managers need to be effective leaders. They should understand how to effectively motivate, guide, and inspire other members of the team. 
• Web design and development skills: While not every ecommerce manager will also need to be a web development expert, they will need a basic knowledge of how to build and optimize an online store. Development and design skills can be extremely useful. 

Most ecommerce managers will also need to have excellent customer service skills, so they can connect with clients from time to time, and fantastic decision-making abilities, so they can work in a fast-paced and agile environment.

Do you think you could be an excellent ecommerce manager?