Running an ecommerce business involves a lot of spinning plates. There’s product research, shipping, supply chain optimization, marketing, website design, content marketing, and social media marketing—and that’s just a small selection of the essential building blocks.
It’s impossible to do it all by yourself. Luckily, there are a wealth of ecommerce experts out there with specialist skills that can help you take your business to the next level. Whether you need support with search engine optimization, inventory issues, or customer experience, there’s help on hand.
We’ll explore what an ecommerce expert is, how they can take a load off your plate, and how to choose the right expert for your business needs.
What is an ecommerce expert?
An ecommerce expert is someone who specializes in online sales and optimization strategies for digital stores. This includes day-to-day activities, like monitoring visits, tracking purchases, and measuring the overall performance of a website. It also includes coming up with and implementing big-picture strategies to generate more sales and develop brand loyalty.
Shopify’s Partners program is made up of ecommerce experts with diverse skills—everything from developing ecommerce websites and user interface design to data analysts and digital marketing.
Why hire an ecommerce expert?
It can be tempting to juggle all the plates yourself, especially if you’re just starting. But hiring an ecommerce expert gives you access to specialist skills and knowledge that can get you to your sales goals quicker. Partnering with an expert takes some of the trickier tasks off your plate so you can spend more time doing what you love.
Key skills of ecommerce experts
- Digital marketing knowledge
- Deep understanding of ecommerce platforms
- The ability to interpret data
- Excellent customer relationship management
- Up-to-date knowledge of ecommerce trends and technology
The skills an ecommerce expert has will depend on their specialization. They’ll need good technical skills and a decent understanding of search engine optimization (SEO), excellent communication skills, and the ability to work well in a team.
As well as these core skills, seek out experts that also have the following capabilities:
Digital marketing knowledge
Ecommerce experts should know their digital marketing strategies inside out. This includes search engine optimization (SEO), search engine marketing (SEM), social media marketing, and content marketing. While you might not need all of these straight away, it helps to hire someone who understands how to put together and act on an ecommerce marketing strategy.
Deep understanding of ecommerce platforms
Your chosen ecommerce expert should be proficient at using popular ecommerce platforms (especially the one your store is hosted with) and have deep knowledge of their features and customization options.
The ability to interpret data
A large part of an ecommerce expert’s job is to make data-driven decisions, whether that’s optimizing product pages based on visitor heat maps or tweaking Instagram campaigns based on impressions and click-throughs.
Your chosen ecommerce expert should be able to easily interpret key ecommerce metrics and use their findings to make quick decisions that improve sales, conversions, and customer experience.
Excellent customer relationship management
Customer experience plays a huge role in a store’s success. The best ecommerce experts understand how customer relationships work and can put strategies in place to manage interactions and improve customer satisfaction levels.
Up-to-date knowledge of ecommerce trends and technology
The ecommerce world is fast-moving and things can change in an instant. Ecommerce experts should have their finger on the pulse of the latest trends, ecommerce tools, and up-and-coming technologies. This includes mobile commerce, voice commerce, AI chatbots, and contemporary personalization techniques.
How to hire an ecommerce expert in 5 steps
- Identify what you need help with
- Decide on your budget
- Find the right person or team
- Interview potential experts
- Set the project scope
1. Identify what you need help with
Ecommerce experts excel in different areas. Some are digital marketing pros and others are better at website design and optimization. Before you start looking for the right ecommerce expert, it’s important to know what you need help with.
Look at your own ecommerce business, as well as your daily and weekly routines, with a critical eye to identify opportunities to get help with what you consider to be your biggest problem areas.
If you spend 80% of your day shipping orders, that’s a strong indicator you need to hire someone to optimize your shipping process or work with a third-party fulfillment service.
According to Chase Clymer, co-founder of Electric Eye, before consulting an ecommerce expert you need to identify your problem rather than trying to prescribe your own solution—that’s their job.
“You should go into the conversation with an open mind,” says Chase. “Think of them like a doctor. You go into a doctor and you say, ’This hurts.’ You don’t go to a doctor and say, ’I need painkillers.’ Remember, the expert is there to help you identify the problems in your business and solve them, as opposed to just putting on a Band-Aid.”
2. Decide on your budget
How much do you have to spend? If you’re just starting, you might be working with a very tight budget, which will influence what kind of experts you can work with.
Rates for experts are dependent on many factors, including the type of work you outsource to them, the scope of the project, value-adds like fast turnaround, their years of experience and area of expertise, location, and current market conditions. When evaluating candidates, read the two- and three-star reviews, not only the five-star ones, to get a detailed picture of their strengths and weaknesses.
A quick look at the Shopify Partners program shows qualified ecommerce help is available starting at $50 per project and up to more than $5,000 for higher-end specialists.
For example:
- An ecommerce store redesign can cost around $5,000 for a custom-built and fully branded storefront from a team with many years of experience.
- Product photography might be $500 for a day shoot if it includes unlimited shots in a premium studio, full-service photo editing, and fast turnaround.
- Copywriting for short product descriptions can be $8 each when bundled into a larger package.
- SEO content writing services from a blogger may cost $80 for a 300-word article, depending on the industry and whether you require subject matter expertise.
- A detailed conversion rate optimization audit could be more than $1,000. If it reveals leaks across your marketing to your ecommerce store to your email marketing campaigns, the audit will outline your next steps.
3. Find the right person or team
You can now start researching the right experts for your business needs.
Here are three effective ways to find them:
Ask for referrals
Asking around is a good way to start finding talent within your network. This can be as simple as giving a brief description of your business’s needs and asking if anyone in your network can provide introductions to qualified candidates.
However, just because someone comes highly recommended doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do your due diligence, even if it’s just a peek through their website and online presence.
Search LinkedIn
The search function on LinkedIn makes it easy to find relevant ecommerce experts. Simply type “ecommerce expert” or drill down further and search for specialists with narrow skill sets (such as “ecommerce website optimization expert”).
Browse Shopify Partners
The Shopify Partners program is made up of ecommerce designers, developers, marketers, and affiliates who use the Shopify platform to build ecommerce websites and apps.
Shopify partners get access to training, documentation, and resources that help them improve their skills and grow their clients’ businesses. As such, there is a wealth of experts to tap into through the platform, whatever your needs.
You can use the detailed filters to find the type of experts you need.
4. Interview potential experts
Once you’ve decided to hire someone and have vetted potential candidates, always interview a few of them before making a decision. Ensure higher-priced ecommerce consultants understand your online business and can provide a legitimate solution to your problem.
When you do consult with a vendor or expert, always be wary of unrealistic guarantees. It’s fine for them to outline deliverables and deadlines, but grandiose promises around performance or results should be taken as a red flag.
“If they guarantee they’ll design you a new webpage, OK, that’s fine. But if they’re ‘guaranteeing’ you a 10 times ROI in two weeks, that’s sketchy,” says Shawn Khemsurov, co-founder of Electric Eye. “Internet marketing and ecommerce is such an agile thing that the tactics that work today are different tomorrow, and they’re different across all industries.”
5. Set the project scope
Once you’ve found a great person or team to work with, the next step is outlining what work they’re going to do and on what timeline. This is commonly known as setting the project’s scope.
Don’t worry if you’ve never outlined a project scope before. Optimizing a business strategy may look different for a small business compared to Amazon, but following a few simple frameworks can help clear any confusion about the process.
A detailed project scope will often include:
- Project objective and requirements, giving a high-level overview of your needs
- Project deliverables or the final outputs
- In-scope and out-of-scope tasks involved in producing the deliverables
- Project constraints like budget or time
- Approval process to know who signs off on what
- Timeline for when each milestone and the total project is expected to be completed
- Cost estimate breaking down the project’s pricing and potential out-of-scope costs
Moving forward with your ecommerce expert
Once you’ve agreed on the project scope with your ecommerce expert, it’s time to start doing it. You’ll be working closely with your chosen ecommerce specialist, so it’s important to maintain clear, consistent communication and ensure both parties know what to expect at each stage of the project.
“When you hire an expert, they should clearly explain, ‘This is what you should expect over the next weeks, months. This is what milestones look like, this is what the timeline looks like,’” says Shawn. “They should set expectations from day one around what the project will be and how it will be delivered.”
It’s a good idea to have regular check-ins with your ecommerce expert to understand where they’re at and what the next steps are. This also helps troubleshoot any issues and ensure the project is on the right trajectory.
Get started by exploring the experts already helping ecommerce brands like yours as part of the Shopify Partners program.
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Hire an ecommerce expert FAQ
How do you become an expert in commerce?
To become an ecommerce expert, you need to have experience working with ecommerce businesses to grow sales and streamline their processes. The Shopify Partners program is a great place to start. It includes resources about marketing, website design, optimization, and strategies that you can practice implementing on your own website. Once you’ve gained some practical experience, you can start offering your services to other ecommerce businesses.
Who is an ecommerce professional?
Ecommerce professionals are people with experience and knowledge about developing and maintaining online stores. They can specialize in different areas, including website design, digital marketing, and data analytics. Their goal is to grow sales, conversions, and brand loyalty for the businesses they work with.
How do you specialize in ecommerce?
You can specialize in ecommerce by learning and implementing strategies like digital marketing and website optimization on online stores. To gain a deep understanding of the ecommerce world, join the Shopify Partners program, where you can access resources, guides, and tutorials for growing an ecommerce business.
What are ecommerce skills?
- Good communication and critical thinking skills
- Knowledge of ecommerce platforms and their features
- An understanding of digital marketing in the commerce space
- The ability to analyze data to make decisions
- Practical knowledge of core ecommerce strategies, like email marketing, inventory optimization, and product development