If there’s one thing we know by now, it’s that ecommerce is a team sport. When you consider all of the moving pieces that need to come together to deliver sales and conversions online, it makes sense to imagine a group of people working cross-functionally to make it all happen, but in today’s increasingly ecommerce-oriented world, winning brands have started to hire people with the sole purpose and focus of growing ecommerce as an online retailer. In order to be successful online, brands need a solid team of ecommerce professionals that are experienced in crafting the right message and can deliver superior shopping experiences for consumers.
Some of the team members brands should consider having are outlined below:
A FEARLESS LEADER
Without industry experience, market knowledge and superior leadership skills, an ecommerce team can quickly evolve into an expensive and unsuccessful experiment in online retailing. This person, often the Director of Ecommerce, is tasked with the overall execution of a brand’s ecommerce strategy. This includes but is not limited to: analyzing the market to make tactical decisions, setting ambitious but attainable goals, identifying new business opportunities and, putting together a team that can support all of the brand’s ecommerce initiatives.
A PROJECT MANAGER
Because it takes a village to reach ecommerce success, it only makes sense for a team to have a project manager who acts as the glue that holds it all together, acting as a liaison between teams and ensuring timely delivery of product information and assets. This person needs to be a very efficient and process-oriented individual who is not afraid to point out process inefficiencies, team laggards or bottlenecks in productivity - all while keeping project schedules on track.
A CONTENT CREATOR
As is already expected in ecommerce, having visually appealing product content and compelling copy is crucial to driving conversions, which means it is imperative for teams to have content creators on deck to make sure that product stories are being conveyed in the best way. Usually, this category includes more than one person, usually content marketers, designers, copywriters, photo and video editors, etc. that are in charge of ideating and executing a brand’s content strategy, which may include coming up with imagery, video, copy and any other product collateral - both above and below the fold.
A DATA & NUMBERS PERSON
If you’re not measuring performance in ecommerce then there really is no way for you to know how well your tactics are performing, and because the market is constantly evolving and rapidly expanding, it is vital for teams to have someone that can objectively measure performance. In an ecommerce team that can manifest in the form of a data analyst, who will quickly become the go-to metrics and KPIs expert. This person should be able to transform any set of information and data into actionable insights, and will usually be in charge of judging product performance, suggesting strategic changes to make in order to improve and being the objective eye-in-the-sky for the team as a whole.
A TECHNICAL WHIZ
Finally, as ecommerce is mainly a technology-driven retail practice, it only makes sense for teams to have someone onboard that can support all of the brand’s efforts. This person will execute the technological strategy behind an ecommerce operation, which includes software purchases, platform integrations, retailer partnerships and general digital support. As a more generalized role, this person has the ability to create a digital ecosystem that best fits the brand’s needs, all while still maintaining an appealing product purchase journey for consumers on a variety of online retailers.
Ecommerce teams come in all shapes and sizes, what works best for one brand really depends on a variety of factors like size, annual revenue, product diversity and many others. One thing does remain clear, if a brand wants to succeed online, it really does need to have a group of people supporting the development of the channel as a serious retail space. To learn more about how your brand can start forming or growing its ecommerce team, click here.