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16 Essential Roles in eCommerce That Are Here to Stay

Shiva Kumaar
February 20, 2024 |
iPaaS benefits and use cases.

A successful ecommerce business provides easy navigation and the best customer experience, is engaging, and has core brand values that make it stand out from the crowd. All the great things that make an eCommerce store successful are backed by the people behind them. An eCommerce store is not as great as the product, design, or functionality, it’s only as good as its people.

And I’ll be talking about with you in this blog: the roles in eCommerce that are imperative for a successful eCommerce business.

flowchart1. Director of eCommerce (aka VP of eCommerce, Head of eCommerce)

The job title of the Director of eCommerce has endless names just like his/her responsibilities. They are people who have a strategic vision for the company’s future. They identify market growth and opportunities and set goals. They are responsible for the overall functioning and progress of all ecommerce channels.

The average salary for a Director of eCommerce in the United States is $1,21,000 per year.

2. Digital Marketing Manager

A Digital Marketing Manager oversees the online marketing operations of the company. He leads a team of SEO and content specialists, Graphic and UX designers, and product marketers. A person in this ecommerce job role is responsible for the brand image, positioning, and online presence of the company.

The average salary of this ecommerce role ranges between $40,000- $1,40,000 per year in the US.

3. Project Manager

A project manager strategizes and executes projects within specific timelines. Sourcing the team, assigning tasks, managing deadlines, and ensuring that the clients are happy and the team isn’t overburdened are the major roles and responsibilities of an ecommerce project manager.

The responsibilities of a Project Manager include having a clear understanding of the client requirements, translating them into project tasks, and leading the team members to deliver the project on time. 

The average salary for Project Manager roles in ecommerce in the US is between $63,000- $1,50,000. 

4. Supply Chain Manager

A Supply Chain Manager develops and oversees the supply chain strategy. He maintains good relationships with the vendors and ensures that the supply chain operations run smoothly within specific timelines. 

An SCM’s eCommerce job responsibilities demand leadership in ensuring that the quality and safety standards are met, inventory is well managed and the deliveries happen in a timely manner. He is expected to have good knowledge of supply chain and logistics processes and have and technical know-how of related software like ERPs.

The average salary for a Supply Chain Manager role in ecommerce in the US is between $86,000- $1,40,000.

5. Customer Service Manager

A customer Service manager is responsible for customer satisfaction by means of solving their problems, creating helpful resources for their queries, and overseeing the operations of the Customer service department in the company. 

You are also expected to recruit and coach new employees, have a problem-solving attitude and suggest operational improvements that comply with the company policies. 

The average salary for a Customer Service Manager role in ecommerce in the US is between $64,000- $95,000.

6. Financial Manager

An ecommerce financial manager’s core job responsibility is to analyze the business, plan a budget and allocate them to different areas of the business. You are expected to interact with all team heads and plan the budget accordingly. 

You will be responsible to carry out a financial risk assessment and know about sales, supply chain, marketing, inventory management, their budget spends, and accordingly make additions or cuts to them.

The average salary for a Customer Service Manager role in ecommerce in the US is between $58,000- $1,39,000.

Suggested reading: 8 Best, Most Useful eCommerce Integrations

7. Merchandising manager

A merchandising manager oversees the creation and quality of online content for the ecommerce store. You are responsible for leading a team of content writers, SEO specialists, and graphic/UX designers to ensure high-quality content and proper categorization of products and supporting content on the front-end.

Sometimes, as a secondary ecommerce job responsibility, you will also take care of the social media presence of the company’s brand. You are a tech-savvy person aware of the next best trend on social media and formulate the company’s content strategy to align with it. 

The average salary for Financial Manager roles in ecommerce in the US is between $50,000- $1,16,000.

8. Business Analysts

An eCommerce Business Analyst increases the efficiency of online sales through research on market trends, consumer behavior, and cost-benefit analysis. They provide data-driven suggestions to develop the business. They take requirements from the clients, stakeholders, project managers and align the site design and functionality to suit them.

eCommerce business analysts are good communicators and have good organizational skills. They translate complex business requirements into actionable functions to develop systems to benefit the consumer and the business.

The average salary for Business Analyst roles in ecommerce in the US is between $55,000- $1,04,000 per annum.

9. IT specialists

IT specialists make sure that the hardware and software systems of an organization are up and working. They set up and enhance networks and servers, install programs, store databases, maintain the security of the systems and help the employees as well as the end-users with any IT glitches in the systems.

IT is the heart of any organization because with no systems setup or no interconnection between departments there would be no work possible. 

The IT specialist role in ecommerce in the US is can earn up to $88,000 per year.

10. Web developers

Web developers are tech-savvy, creative, and detail-oriented professionals responsible for developing ecommerce sites and their functions using computer programming languages.

You will be working with project managers, Quality testers, creative and art directors, designers to ensure a solid product roadmap with impeccable code quality.

The average salary for Web developer roles in ecommerce in the US is between $36,000-$100,000 per year.

11. Quality Assurance Analyst (QA)

A quality assurance analyst verifies and validates the functioning of features developed by the coders and raises any issues faced for resolution. The day-to-day tasks involve creating test cases, detecting bugs and errors, executing business scenarios, and documenting test results accurately. 

You will be closely working with the development team to provide QA assistance during new feature releases or bug fixes. 

The average salary for QA analyst roles in ecommerce in the US is between $42,000-$175,000 per year. 

12. Graphic designer

A graphic designer is responsible for creating designs used for promotions, magazines, articles, social media, print media, and other marketing activities. You will work either directly with customers or take requirements from the marketing head. 

You will have expertise in color schemes, fonts, layouts, and customer behavior of consuming content. You will create ideas for different projects and suggest styles and concepts to different clients. You will work closely with copywriters and content writers and come up with full-fledged creatives.

The average salary for a Graphic Designer role in ecommerce in the US is between $30,300-$67,000 per year. 

13. UI-UX designer

There can be some overlap between the work of a Graphic designer and a UI UX designer. A UI UX designer is responsible for conceptualizing and designing a product-centric intuitive design whereas a graphic designer works mainly on visual concepts.

A UI UX designer implements designs within a product/software that enhances the user experience. You will interact with clients to understand their business requirements and deliver a technically sound yet intuitive experience. You will be expected to create product prototypes and test them. Simply put, you will be a techno-creative person for an ecommerce website.

The average salary for a UI-UX designer role in ecommerce in the US is between $52,000-$1,25,000 per year.

14. Customer Service Representative (CSR)

CSRs cater to customer queries and resolve them promptly. You will be addressing customer issues over calls, emails, chat, or social media channels. As a CSR in ecommerce, you will be coordinating with other departments to resolve customer issues. 

You will be required to document the support provided to customers for creating a knowledge base for future CSRs. You are expected to be technically sound, a good listener, and a communicator.

The average salary for Customer Service Representative roles in ecommerce in the US is between $30,651-$47,000 per year.

15. SEO content writer

An SEO content writer creates SEO-focused content for an ecommerce website to be found organically through search engines. They write product descriptions, blogs, webpages, articles, eBooks, and so on to help generate traffic to the website. They carry out research to come up with content that attracts high-quality backlinks and increases the authority of a site.

The average salary for Content Writing roles in ecommerce in the US is between $31,200 -$74,600 per year.

 16. Warehouse Manager

Warehouse managers are responsible for receiving, unloading, packing, arranging, and dispatching goods to and from the warehouse. You will be responsible for keeping track of inventory and the organization of the storage area. You will take care of the warehouse operations and day-to-day functions of warehouse personnel.

You will also be expected to hire and train new employees for the warehouse.

The average salary for a Warehouse Manager in ecommerce in the US is between $58,000 -$96,600 per year.

eCommerce Integration: Vital for All Key Job Roles

eCommerce integration involves syncing data flow between a business’ ecommerce platform to other business and web application used by them. It acts primarily to automate this flow of data, cut down on errors and operational inefficiencies and improve customer experiences with the business.

But it’s not just the customer who has a better experience. Integration can help multiple teams in the business perform better and while cutting out boring and error prone processes. For example, integrating your ecommerce and CRM tool can help sales and customer success teams get real-time access to customer updates. Connecting ecommerce and ERP platforms can ensure details from order information to payment details.

For distributors, DCKAP Integrator can help achieve these, and more, with ease. It helps get your applications talking, and helps team refocus their efforts towards more profitable activities.

To Conclude

The organizational structure varies depending on the size and the needs of the business. If you are a B2B who is into engineering products you are likely to have a separate engineering division along with the ecommerce division. For a B2C the organizational structure would have a VP of Digital Marketing instead of the Director of ecommerce. If you’re a distributor you’d have a procurement team additionally. The ecommerce job descriptions you’ve seen in this blog are sought out irrespective of the nature of the business if you have the skills needed for ecommerce. 

All the best finding each other – job providers and seekers!

Shiva Kumaar

Shiva is the Head of Strategy (Products) at DCKAP. With over 12 years of diversified experience in sales, product marketing and brand strategy, he currently leads DCKAP's approach to its brand and products. He is passionate about marketing, growth and especially loves supporting innovative startups. Shiva is also an avid gadget lover and technology enthusiast.

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