If you’ve ever purchased something online, you know how valuable a great user experience is. And if you’ve ever returned to that site to make another purchase, you know how valuable branding is.
The often-overlooked professionals who put their names on those experiences are e-commerce managers. They have fun jobs, get paid well, and you could be one of them.
If you’re not sure about what career path to take, and you have an interest in e-commerce, marketing and management, then e-commerce management might be right up your alley.
Education You’ll Need
To become an e-commerce manager, you’ll need to have skills in business and marketing, as well as working knowledge of the technology used for generating online sales.
Because of this, having an associate’s or bachelor’s degree in a field related to business, marketing, e-commerce, or a closely related field is very suitable for this role.
It is of course, possible to enter this field without relevant education, provided you have the work experience to prove you'd be competent in this field.
Experience You’ll Need
To qualify for most e-commerce management jobs, you'll need relevant education (as per above), relevant work experience, or a combination of the two.
Relevant experience would include work wherein you gained skills, knowledge and competencies (as per the “Skills You'll Need” section below) that are relevant to the work you will be doing as an e-commerce manager.
Ideally, you will have an education in business with a focus on e-commerce, combined with a few years worth of experience working in the field. This combo may be ideal, but it isn’t necessarily a requirement.
Success Tip: If you have management experience, but no experience with e-commerce (or vice-versa), you should consider pursuing an education related to e-commerce to fill in the gaps in your skill set.
Skills You'll Need
A focus on user experience: You’ll need to have an understanding of how to create a well designed site with proper branding and flawless functionality.
Brand development/cohesion: You need to be able to adhere to, and reinforce, the brand standards set by your company, while adapting campaigns to online media (if applicable).
Marketing: You need to be mindful of brand engagement while not overlooking sales targets. You should aim to develop a website that accomplishes both objectives.
Prioritization: You, your team, and executive management will have more ideas than you can possibly implement. The importance of choosing ideas that acquire shoppers, convert sales, and create loyal customers, over those that are exciting for the sake of design or technology, cannot be understated.
Personnel Management: The ability to recruit, train, supervise, motivate and discipline staff members will be paramount to your success. The strength of your team will be a direct reflection of your management abilities.
Project Management: You will have to operate under timeline, budgetary and other restrictions. You also have to be able to effectively communicate progress with executive management, as well as any suggestions to improve efficiency.
General Job Description
As an e-commerce manager, your primary responsibility would be to oversee the operation of your company’s e-commerce website to ensure it makes the maximum financial return.
One of your main responsibilities would be to supervise the employees who create and maintain the website and related web systems. These employees may include marketing coordinators, web designers, software engineers, sales representatives and other specialists.
Typical Job Duties
Although the functions you would perform could vary from job to job, you would generally be responsible for performing the following duties as an e-commerce manager:
• Determining what web platform and content management system to use
• Sourcing and negotiating with suppliers
• Keep an eye on metrics such as traffic levels and conversion rates
• Reducing supply chain and logistical costs
• Implementing online security
• Supervising the work employees
• Coordinating sales and marketing efforts
• Developing affiliate marketing programs
• Maintaining company’s initial strategic plan
• Providing executive management with suggestions for improvement
• Oversee web maintenance and troubleshooting
Who Employs Them?
As an e-commerce manager, you could potentially be employed by many different types of organizations, including:
• Online retailers
• Other types of websites (information websites, magazines, etc.) with an e-commerce element
• 'Brick and mortar’ retailers with both offline and online storefronts
Salary Level Typical to This Field
The salary level you could earn as an e-commerce manager can vary, typically depending on the following factors:
• Your professional qualifications (education, experience, etc.)
• The size and budget of your employer
• The region in which you work
• The scope of your job duties
• Whether or not you are self-employed
Unfortunately, there is no salary information available from reliable sources for e-commerce managers. We can however, get a good idea of what you could earn as one by looking at the salary level of workers in closely related occupations.
E-Commerce Manager Salary - United States: According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median salary level of Americans working in the Advertising, Promotions, and Marketing Managers occupational group is $123,450 per year.
Current Job Opportunities
Our job board below has postings in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia, when available:
Helpful Traits to Have
To survive the ups and downs of this career field, and enjoy yourself along the way, it helps to have certain personal traits, characteristics and interests, including:
• A creative, outgoing and energetic personality
• The motivation required to succeed in a competitive environment
• The ability to deal effectively with stress
• An interest in managing budgets, projects and personnel
• You enjoy leading and motivating others
• You enjoy coordinating information, directing the work of others and negotiating business contracts
• You have an interest in e-commerce and creating an excellent user experience
• A keen interest in the industry in which you operate is of tremendous value
Career Advancement Opportunities
Displaying competence and a good work ethic can afford you plenty of career advancement options, including:
• Getting a raise in pay or bonuses
• Moving into an executive management position, such as V.P. of Sales and Marketing
• Getting partnership or ownership opportunities
• Becoming self-employed as a consultant, freelancer, or e-commerce website owner
Similar Occupational Profiles in Our Database
Listed below are occupations in our database that have similar responsibilities, and/or require similar skills, or be in the same sector of industry, as E-Commerce Manager:
• Blogger
• Business Development Officer
• Online Marketing Coordinator
• Sales and Marketing Director
References
Salary information for this career guide, as well as other information, was retrieved from the websites listed below. Some information has also been compiled from actual job postings from various organizations.
Occupations in Alberta: “Marketing Manager.” (March 31, 2018). ALIS website - Alberta Learning Information Service. Retrieved November 11, 2019.
Management: “Advertising, Promotions, and Marketing Managers.” (September 4, 2019). Occupational Outlook Handbook - United States Bureau of Labor Statistics website. Retrieved November 11, 2019.
Marketing Channels: “What qualifications should companies look for in an e-commerce manager?.” Andy Lloyd (n.d.). DMN website. Retrieved November 11, 2019.
Please Note: Much of the information for this career guide was gathered from actual job postings, which due to the brief nature of their online presence, are not listed here as sources.
Scholarships for Becoming an E-Commerce Manager
The “Relevant Fields of Study” section below shows fields of study relevant to a career as an e-commerce manager. You can search for scholarships matched to those fields of study on our All Scholarships by Major page.
Success Tip: Be sure to apply for any scholarships that you even barely qualify for, as there are millions of dollars of scholarships that go unused every year due to a lack of applicants!
Relevant Fields of Study
Studying one of the college/university majors listed below can be helpful (or are necessary) for becoming an e-commerce manager. Click on the links to find out what else you can do with these majors!
