E-Commerce Specialist: Your Path to a Thriving Career in Online Retail

Have you ever wondered who is behind this flawless (or imperfect!) experience when you are shopping online today, adding products to your cart or seeing the advertisement of the product you like right when you need it? This is where the invisible but very valuable hero of online stores comes into play: E-Commerce Specialist!

So what is this person called an E-Commerce Expert, what does he do, what does he do all day long in front of the computer? If you are also curious about this profession or need an E-Commerce Expert for your own business, you are in the right place. Let’s take a look together at what the experts sitting in the pilothouse of this dynamic world of e-commerce do. If you are ready, let’s get started!

What is an E-Commerce Specialist?

Think about it, you have a physical store. You need to organize the interior, display the products, and make the display attractive, right? The situation is no different in the online world! One of the first jobs of an e-commerce specialist is to ensure that this virtual store (i.e. website) is organized, neat, and welcoming. He has a hand in everything from the design of the site to the user experience (i.e., your ability to easily navigate the site.

The interior of the store is ready, but what about the products? This can be one of the most enjoyable but also the most detailed jobs of an E-Commerce Specialist. Adding new products to the site, writing eye-catching and informative descriptions for each product (SEO compatibility is very important!), uploading photos of products taken from the best angles, tracking stocks… It is all his responsibility. How a product looks and is presented in the online store directly affects its sales, so this is of vital importance.

He not only adds products, but also manages pricing, campaigns and discounts. He plays an active role in making or implementing decisions such as how much discount will be given to which product, between which dates it will be valid, and whether there will be an additional discount in the basket. He is expected to be familiar with the current situation in the market by conducting competitor analysis and determine the strategy accordingly.

He should also be somewhat prone to technical issues. Checking the speed of the site, making sure it is fully mobile compatible, checking if there are any glitches in payment systems are also frequently encountered. In other words, the site, products and basic technical health are the eyes and ears of the E-Commerce Specialist.

Boosting Sales: The Power of Digital Marketing

The job is not over with setting up a store, is it? There are people who pass by your physical store, but in the online world, no one comes to your store without knowing about its existence. This is where another huge role of the E-Commerce Specialist begins: Attracting traffic to the store and converting this traffic into sales! In other words, they are also a marketer of the online world. Organic traffic, that is, free visitors coming from search engines (like Google), is the dream of every e-commerce site.

The E-Commerce Specialist conducts Search Engine Optimization (SEO) studies to increase this traffic. He finds out which keywords are important, optimizes the site content and structure accordingly, adds value to the site by preparing blog posts or guides. His aim is to ensure that the site appears at the top when potential customers search.

He does not only settle for free traffic, he also uses paid advertising effectively. It is also his job to publish ads in search results or on other websites with Google Ads, and to create advertising campaigns aimed at the target audience on social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, etc.). It tries to achieve the best conversion (sales) by using these advertising budgets in the most efficient way.

Speaking of social media, managing the brand’s presence on social media or supporting these processes can also be included in the job description. It actively uses social media to interact with potential customers, increase brand awareness, and announce campaigns. It also reaches customers and encourages them to shop again by using other digital channels such as email marketing (such as sending newsletters) and SMS marketing. In short, it tries all digital ways to find the customer and bring them to the store.

Decision Making: Analysis and Reporting

The best part about e-commerce is that everything is measurable. Who came from where, how long they stayed on the site, which product they looked at, what they added to their cart but didn’t buy, which ad worked best… All of this data is the most powerful tools in the hands of an e-commerce specialist. They don’t just do the work, they also constantly analyse the results of the work they do. Tools like Google Analytics are their right arm.

They measure the performance of the site by tracking where the site traffic comes from (organic, advertising, social media, etc.), which pages visitors spend more time on, and bounce rates (the percentage of people who enter the site and leave immediately). With this data, they determine the weak points or areas that need to be improved on the site.

Sales data is also very important to them. They analyse information such as which products sell the most, which campaigns work, the average basket amount, and which customer segment is more valuable. Thanks to these analyses, they determine which products to focus on, which campaigns should be repeated, or which customer groups can be offered special offers.

They prepare regular reports by performing all these analyses and present them to the management. These reports play a key role in determining e-commerce strategy and making business decisions. The e-commerce expert deciphers the language of these numbers and finds answers to the questions “What happened?”, “Why did it happen?” and “What should we do next?” In other words, we can say that they are a bit like a detective!

Customers and Operation: The Perfect Experience Chain

Online shopping does not end with just entering the site and purchasing a product. The better the customer’s experience on the site, the higher the likelihood of returning. The E-Commerce Specialist works to ensure that the on-site experience (ease of use, payment steps, access to information, etc.) is problem-free. He/she follows up on critical steps such as adding to the cart and making payment, and detects any problems experienced there. The process after the order is placed is at least as important as the on-site experience. Packing and shipping the products on time, sending the cargo tracking number to the customer, and ensuring that the return and exchange processes work smoothly…

These may not be his/her job directly, but it is the E-Commerce Specialist’s responsibility to ensure that these operational processes are running correctly and to coordinate with the relevant departments (warehouse, logistics, customer service).

Customer service is one of the visible faces of e-commerce. He/she works in close contact with the team that deals with customers’ questions and problems. He/she collects feedback from customers, determines what the frequently asked questions or frequently experienced problems are, and uses this information to take steps to improve both the site and the operational processes.

Payment systems and site security are also sensitive issues. Making sure that the site has the necessary security certificates so that customers can shop safely, and checking that different payment options (credit card, money order, cash on delivery, etc.) work smoothly are also points that an E-Commerce Specialist should pay attention to. In short, they work to ensure that the entire chain from the order being placed to the product reaching the customer and even beyond runs smoothly.

E-Commerce Specialist is Crucial for Company!

As you can see, an e-commerce specialist is not just someone who sits at the computer and adds products. They are the brain, the heart and a large part of the visible face of the online store. They manage the site, attract customers, increase sales, analyse data, coordinate operations and try to keep customer satisfaction at the top. Like an orchestra conductor, they try to make all the different instruments of e-commerce play in harmony.

This profession is a dynamic field that requires continuous learning and development, where digital marketing, its tools, data analysis, some technical knowledge, operational talent and strong communication skills come together. If you want to enter this fast-paced world or are looking for such a ‘superhero’ for your business, now you have a much clearer idea of ​​what an e-commerce specialist can do!

Finally, if you ask how much e-commerce specialist salaries are, we can say that there is a wide range from 30 thousand USD for beginners to 100 thousand USD for experienced ones. Of course, this is just an estimate.

I hope this article helped you understand the E-Commerce Specialist profession better. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask!