There is no better time for Irish businesses to break into the eCommerce space because we are a nation that simply loves to shop online! According to PwC, Irish consumers spent over €5 billion online in 2018. However, almost two-thirds of that went to overseas retailers. There is a golden opportunity here for Irish businesses to take a larger slice of the pie for themselves, but to do this they need to be able to compete with the slick and streamlined user experience these shoppers are used to with international retailers.
The only way to ensure your ecommerce website is performing to the best of its ability is
There is no better time for Irish businesses to break into the e-commerce space because we are a nation that simply loves to shop online! According to PwC, Irish consumers spent over €5 billion online in 2018. However, almost two-thirds of that went to overseas retailers. There is a golden opportunity here for Irish businesses to take a larger slice of the pie for themselves, but to do this they need to be able to compete with the slick and streamlined user experience these shoppers are used to with international retailers.
The only way to ensure your ecommerce website is performing to the best of its ability is to hire the right people for the job. In this blog, we’re going to clue you into exactly who should be on your e-commerce dream team!
4 key employees you need on your e-commerce team
1. Web Developer
These days, anyone can throw up a WordPress website and start selling online, but only a skilled Web Developer can tailor your e-commerce website to you and your target audience’s needs. The usability of an e-commerce website is hugely influential when it comes to whether people choose to shop with you or not. If customers get stuck at any stage of the process, whether it is searching for a specific product, inputting their contact details, applying a discount code, calculating shipping costs or accessing a payment gateway, they will simply abandon their virtual shopping cart.
In fact, the Baymard Institute found that the average cart abandonment rate comes to a whopping 67.91%! It pays to make the user experience on your e-commerce website as good as it can be. To make sure you’re satisfying customer expectations, it is important to do your research and sit down with your Web Developer to decide how your online shop will function and what it will look like. Creating a fully optimised e-commerce website is not simply a one time job, rather you will keep an ongoing relationship with your Web Developer as you tweak your online shop, ensure everything is kept up to date and refine the user journey with the data you collect.
All this applies to both the mobile and desktop version of your e-commerce website. After all, 29% of Irish consumers purchase online via mobile on a monthly basis and this number is rapidly increasing year-on-year (PwC).
2. Marketing Manager
Your Web Developer’s best buddy should be the Marketing Manager. These two roles heavily rely on each other for e-commerce success. There are all kinds of digital marketers out there, but to build your dream team you would want to find a marketer who has direct experience with e-commerce. These are the individuals with the right skills to promote your type of business, not only to make sure people know that your shop exists but so that when they discover it, they can’t help but come back again and again!
Marketing Managers have specialist skills in all areas of digital, including content creation, social media, PPC, SEO, email marketing, copywriting, affiliate marketing, display advertising, etc. By carefully studying customer online behaviour, your marketing manager will use these skills to deliver effective strategic campaigns. These campaigns will include actions taken on third party channels, for example on social media, Google and in your customers’ inboxes, as well as on the website itself. By targeting your ideal customers in this variety of ways, they can increase traffic to your online shop, convert that traffic into leads and, ultimately, drive sales.
3. Customer Service
The face of online customer service has changed a lot over the years. It used to be that if a customer had a query or a complaint, they would simply ring up the support desk or send an email. Today you can still do that, or you can use WhatsApp, social media messaging, chatbots and/or live chats. These innovative ways to connect with customers can either be fantastic opportunities to nurture positive, long-lasting customer relationships or a quick way to burn a bad experience forever into a customer’s memory! To avoid the latter, you need to make some smart choices as to what features you will use for your customer support as well as hiring the right people to oversee them.
Deciding what communication channel to use to provide a high standard of customer service should start with knowing your capabilities and limitations. The worst thing you can do is overpromise and underdeliver; after all, customer service is primarily used for handling complaints so you don’t want to exacerbate the problem! Once you decide which channel suits your business best, then ensure that whoever the customer is put in contact with is not only personable, informative and helpful, but also is fully trained up on the communication technology they are using.
4. Supply Chain Manager
There is no point in having a snazzy e-commerce website up and running if you don’t have the means of sending products out to buyers! Your Supply Chain Manager is responsible for ensuring that the behind the scenes processing of sales runs smoothly. They handle shipping and logistics while staying on top of procurement and overseeing the management of stock in the warehouse. They are what many would describe as the backbone of e-commerce.
A Supply Chain Manager needs to be well versed in customs, tax and duty requirements for shipping. They also should be good at negotiating pricing and contracts. With delivery times being such a crucial factor in whether customers purchase or not, your Supply Chain Manager should be able to work with performance metrics while also having an active interest in continuously improving lead times.
These are the key roles you will need to get your e-commerce team off the ground. However, to fully flesh out your team you might also employ a Digital Operations Manager, a Business Analyst and a Director of eCommerce to keep everyone on track.
Ready to start building your e-commerce team? At Connexus Recruitment, we connect the dots between great companies and talented candidates.Get in contact with us today!
