Who is an eCommerce manager and what is his role in the organization? I will try to answer these questions in the following post. Along with the dynamic development of online sales over the years, a lot of new positions have been created which are responsible for the marketing activities of the online store. The ever-changing eCommerce market and the constantly growing competition have resulted in the growing demand for specialized people responsible for increasingly specialized subdivisions of marketing. Currently, for the effective handling of marketing in an online store, people are needed for: paid campaigns Facebook Ads, Google Ads, SEO, Copywriting, Social media, graphics, e-mail marketing or eCommerce manager, a person responsible for team management.
Some activities can and should be performed inside the organization (inhouse), while specialized marketing activities should be delegated to specialists outside the organization (outhouse), e.g. SEO, PPC campaigns, graphic support. Of course, with the appropriate scale of the enterprise, you should think about building a specialized team within the company. Regardless of the choice of the team (external or internal marketing team), the final person responsible for the coordination of specialists and the implementation of activities is the eCommerce manager.
The role of eCommerce manager in the organization
The role of eCommerce manager in the organization is wide and covers such issues as marketing, analytics, strategy, technology, management and motivation. Therefore, a person in this position should have interdisciplinary knowledge, learn quickly, react quickly, draw conclusions, not be afraid to introduce changes and allow for the team to adapt to changes.
Key eCommerce manager responsibilities
- Creating a long-term marketing strategy
- Ongoing analysis of eCommerce and industry trends
- Managing a team of specialists
- Planning and enforcement of brand promotional campaigns
- Close cooperation with the company’s management
- Achieving the business goals of the organization
- Optimization of both costs and company expenses
- Managing the budget of the eCommerce department
- Collaboration with people responsible for store technology
- Constant monitoring of work progress, setting and enforcinggoals
- Adapting the organization’s resources to current goals
The impact of eCommerce manager on the development of an online store
When I talk to clients from a variety of industries, often the actions they take are the result of chance or the style of work of the agency to which the marketing is outsourced.
Everything takes place in monthly cycles (sprints), all without a previously carefully selected plan and defined goals. It seems that marketing activities within the company are flowing in a random direction without anyone at the helm. 🙂 To the point where sales have been standing or falling for months due to the actions of the competition.
This is one of the reasons why the eCommerce manager profession was created, which determines the direction of development in the first place. In turn, they select a team of specialists, and finally take care of all marketing activities. Along the way, he analyses and draws conclusions which he implements directly. It often requires changes, in the form of reducing resources in the organization, hiring new people or choosing a new agency for performance activities.
Factors influencing the choice of eCommerce manager
It is worth remembering that an eCommerce manager is only one piece of the puzzle and cannot be fully responsible for the success or failure of the project. On the other hand, thanks to appropriate experience and character traits, this risk can be minimized and the chance for an enterprise to grow in the online channel can be increased.
The main reasons why we should consider choosing an eCommerce manager are:
- The lack of a sense of achievement of goals and direction of development.
- Poor or no contact with the agency providing marketing services
- Low sales results.
With a dynamically developing organization, these are:
- No time to implement and delegate tasks.
- Dynamic growth requires the employment of inhouse specialists.
- The feeling that the potential of the store is not used 100%
Summary
In this article, I presented the most important areas for which an eCommerce manager is responsible. In a nutshell, it is the preparation of strategies, implementation and execution of business goals, managing a team of specialists, working on the company’s budget, selecting advertising budgets, optimizing the cost of acquiring customers, selecting appropriate advertising channels, managing resources in the company responsible for online sales.
With a smaller scale of operation or an inconvenient location, the best option is to outsource eCommerce manager services. In the case of mature organizations and internal marketing departments, it is worth considering hiring an eCommerce manager full-time. When choosing, it is worth paying attention to the experience, industry and projects that have been implemented so far.
I hope that the article was helpful for you. 🙂 Don’t forget to subscribe to the newsletter and follow me on social media in which I share my practical knowledge in the field of eCommerce.