The Role of an Ecommerce Manager

What is an Ecommerce Manager?

As an

, you have the role and responsibility of looking after a website that focuses on the buying, trading and selling of products and services to the public or for business purposes.

Some key factors of the role involve the content, the design of the website and overseeing matters such as 

,

and team management. 

The main focus for an Ecommerce Manager, however, is conversion. Conversion is attracting visitors by using campaigns, effective

 and attractive content that can convert them into leads or sales. Ecommerce sales are very prominent in today’s market and have taken over the high street as the preferred method of purchasing items. This year has seen eCommerce retail account for 15.6 per cent of all retail sales revenue and shows no sign of slowing down. Some other responsibilities of an Ecommerce Manager are:

• Overseeing the design and development of the website

• Monitor web analytics and internal data sources

• Design and execute roadmaps

• Incorporate best practices

• Budget effectively

• Supervise all activities and product development

• Work closely with web development and technical teams

• Prepare reports and analyse conversion numbers

• Developing SEO/PPC strategy/marketing plans

• Team management and progress monitoring

• Quality control and sssurance

• Developing schedules and timescales

Managing web development as an Ecommerce Manager

The user interface of your website and overall

are very important in the completion of an online transaction. An Ecommerce manager will oversee the look, feel and design of a website, working closely with any web design agencies or in-house development teams to get the right interface and structure which will suit the customer journey best. The aim is to make the online e-commerce system easy to use, speedy and secure. This can mean where to place the call of action to purchase an item to how the listings are organised.  It can also be to enhance the website with additional content such as product videos, social media integration and anything that can further improve the user experience.

Managing a team as an Ecommerce Manager

Not only does the website require management but so does the team that helps keep every other aspect of the website running. A typical Ecommerce team may consist of the following:

• [content-jobs title="Project Managers" limit="5" keywords="project-manager"/]

• [content-jobs title="Content Editors" limit="5" keywords="content-editor"/]

• [content-jobs title="Copywriters" limit="5" keywords="copywriter"/]

• [content-jobs title="Web Designers" limit="5" keywords="web-designer"/]

• [content-jobs title="PPC" limit="5" keywords="ppc"/]/

Larger companies will have Web Development teams and Backend Development teams to maintain and improve the website’s functionality and design. Many businesses tend to rely on contractors for any new projects or redesigns. Smaller companies may have an agency that maintains the design, functionality and hosting of the website with access for content writers to update text and imagery on the website.

Managing campaigns and strategy as an Ecommerce Manager

Another key factor in ecommerce is planning ahead and having a full digital marketing plan for the year and ahead. This plan can identify areas that they need to develop including introducing sales campaigns, exclusive offers and most importantly SEO and PPC campaigns. An Ecommerce Manager may have a dedicated in-house SEO team or use an agency to suggest keyword strategy techniques and provide the copy or descriptive content that could possibly increase page ranking and traffic.

Managing security and maintenance as an Ecommerce Manager

Websites could be subject to cyber-attacks, compromisation or even technical issues that will require quick action to resolve any problems that may happen. Ecommerce Managers can’t be viewing the website 24 hours a day but can have email or text alerts sent straight to them if an issue was to occur. The most important factor is protecting customers’ sensitive data from cyber criminals so implementing a high level of security is necessary in order to prevent a PR disaster for your company as well as letting loyal customers down. Over recent years many company databases have been compromised so protecting classified and sensitive details is a priority.

They may also encounter glitches and errors, especially when it comes to pricing errors. A recent online store encountered a pricing error causing a usually expensive item to be less than 50p causing customers to make several orders due to its remarkable and unbelievable price. It’s the company's discretion if they honour the price or not but either way, this can cause a PR disaster and may detract visitors. It can take years to build up the reputation of a website but only days to bring it down.

Managing conversions as an Ecommerce Manager

Monitoring web traffic statistics and generating reports is usually an everyday responsibility for eCommerce managers. By using analytical tools like Google Analytics or Comscore the performance of a website can be analysed and evaluated to see whether any particular campaign or major site changes were successful or not. Analytic tools can analyse all sorts of behaviours and patterns such as bounce rates, time on page and referrals to give detailed insight and in-depth analysis. Companies can make important business decisions by analysing web data and observing the results. A/B Testing is also another way of analysing and comparing different online strategies by sending different versions of the website to different site visitors and determining which version was the most successful. 

If the percentage of visitors to the website that makes a transaction is high, then the better the conversion which is, overall, the key objective of an eCommerce manager.

What is the average salary of an Ecommerce Manager?

According to Technojobs data, salaries vary between £40,000 to £85,000. The amount is dependent upon a number of factors, one of which is location. It is not uncommon for Ecommerce Managers in London to be paid more.

• The average entry-level salary for an Ecommerce Manager is £40,000

• The average mid-level salary for an Ecommerce Manager is £67,500

• The average senior-level salary for an Ecommerce Manager is £85,000

Conclusion

An eCommerce Manager is responsible for overseeing a website's performance in online sales, focusing on design, marketing strategies, security, and team management. Key responsibilities include managing website development, implementing SEO/PPC campaigns, analyzing conversions, and ensuring data security. The role is vital in optimizing user experience, driving sales, and managing both the technical and creative teams involved. Salaries vary from £40,000 to £85,000 based on experience and location.