4 Essential eCommerce Roles and Responsibilities

1) eCommerce manager

The eCommerce Manager is responsible for executing strategic planning and overseeing all aspects of online business operations. They play a pivotal role in creating a sustainable, scalable business overcoming common growing pains that eCommerce companies face due to rapid expansion.

eCommerce Managers are quite strategic and help improve customer experience by optimizing your presence and choosing the proper sales channels to find your customers, including your website, marketplaces, and social media platforms.

They create a consistent online presence, improving brand awareness and building customer trust. However, they also champion eCommerce technology and present compelling arguments to deploy systems that facilitate enterprise-wide efficiencies.

As a result, your business:

• Improves product management and workflows using technology such as a PIM/DAM to enhance content, optimize product descriptions, and improve customer engagement
• Gains marketing expertise with strategic digital marketing campaigns based on marketing strategy, analysis, and focused messaging
• Improves inventory management to meet customer demand based on sales trends
• Reduces cart abandonment through a streamlined buyer journey free of barriers such as poor product information, confusing pricing or shipping policies, poor security, etc.
• Improves sales through personalization based on customer behavior
• Increases efficiency using technology such as a PIM/DAM to reduce time to market, increase average order value, and seamlessly reach new markets

2) Digital marketing specialist

As the ‘navigator of the eCommerce ship,’ the Digital Marketing Specialist uses data-driven strategies to drive brand visibility, engagement, and conversions.

In effect, they craft and implement digital marketing campaigns across various channels (SEO, SEM, social media, email, etc.) under the watchful eye of the eCommerce Manager. Digital marketing specialists are analytic whizzes, analyzing website data and tracking user behavior to optimize marketing efforts.

They create targeted, compelling content, including blog posts, social media updates, and email campaigns. Basically, these attract the right customers and encourage conversions.

As a result, your business:

• Maintains focus on increasing conversions through effective marketing and content-building
• Saves time and money with an expert who understands how to stretch your marketing budget and leverage free marketing tactics such as social media, SEO-driven enriched product data, AI-generated product descriptions, etc.
• Gains expertise to help acquire new customers and meet your marketing goals
• Cultivates a solid social following

3) Director of eCommerce

A Director of eCommerce is a strategic thinker who can help you develop your brand as a leader in the eCommerce landscape. In effect, the role is usually a senior executive developing and overseeing your online/digital sales and marketing strategies, providing focus for your team, and keeping your business on track to meet your goals.

Directors of eCommerce are forward-looking, identifying target markets, optimizing product offerings, and constantly evaluating all business opportunities to meet business objectives or identify new ones. They provide leadership to team members such as your eCommerce Manager, Digital Marketing Specialist, and Customer Experience Manager. Mainly, the person in this role ensures their strategy is carried out.  This person makes sure that all customer-facing engagements and touch points are consistent with your brand.

They oversee your entire online presence, leaving hands-on execution to the managers and specialists. In addition, they develop comprehensive eCommerce strategies across the entire enterprise aligned explicitly with your goals, ensuring they are implemented. Also, directors of eCommerce set performance metrics and measure the team’s success against clearly defined benchmarks. They make the big-picture decisions and ensure those decisions are carried out.

As a result, your business:

• Becomes more strategic and focused
• Has accountability throughout the ranks
• Creates a cohesive brand ideal for omnichannel strategies
• Follows a chain of command across the enterprise
• Improves collaboration through focused leadership
• Improves efficiency through accountability

4) Customer experience manager

The customer experience manager is your brand ambassador, ensuring customer satisfaction and executing flawless customer journeys. The person in this role monitors and improves the user experience on your eCommerce platform and look for gaps and barriers that interfere with customer satisfaction. They consider the level and types of customer complaints and successes to identify opportunities for constant improvement.

As customer support specialists, they address inquiries, resolve complaints, and collect feedback. Through their efforts, your marketing team can develop personalization strategies to enhance customer engagement and loyalty. Your Customer Experience Manager can improve each step of the customer’s journey.

As a result, your business:

• Creates memorable, branded customer experiences
• Increases conversions through ongoing customer contact and positive brand interactions
• Becomes a trusted brand with responsive customer support
• Increases average cart value
• Reduces customer returns
• Increases customer lifetime value and loyalty

Your team of experts provides clear leadership, improves efficiency, and helps you develop effective online strategies that keep your business scalable and sustainable.