E-Commerce Manager Skills: A Definition With Examples

Updated 22 August 2023

Managers of electronic commerce, or e-commerce, oversee many critical business functions, including sales, marketing, operations, delivery, customer service and team supervision. People with an interest in technology, marketing and management can become successful in this role. Learning the skills that help managers fulfil their responsibilities and knowing how to convey them when applying for jobs can increase your chances of getting hired. In this article, we define e-commerce manager skills, give examples, discuss how to improve them, explain their function in the workplace and share how to highlight them in your job application.

What Are E-Commerce Manager Skills?

E-commerce manager skills are the necessary abilities and competencies to perform an online sales management job effectively. These include a variety of technical capabilities, such as digital marketing and data analysis and soft communication and problem-solving proficiencies. E-commerce managers are usually responsible for the sales, shipment, delivery, return, customer engagement and inventory of products in an organisation. They typically supervise a team of product developers, web designers, supply chain experts, drivers and customer service representatives.

Examples Of E-Commerce Manager Competencies

Here are some e-commerce manager abilities that can help you progress in this job:

Leadership

E-commerce managers lead a team of people, including developers, marketers, data analysts and warehouse or delivery experts. They have leadership skills that can help them manage their team to ensure efficiency and customer satisfaction. In addition, by facilitating collaboration and cooperation between individuals and departments, they can become influential leaders. Other abilities include delegating tasks, sharing feedback, mentoring, encouraging team members, providing training and promoting flexibility within the team.

Customer service

Many roles in the e-commerce industry are customer-orientated and require excellent customer service and relationship management capabilities. Managers use these proficiencies to build positive customer relationships and personal engagement. Strong customer service skills include active listening, conflict resolution, persuasion, empathy, time management and flexibility. In addition, many organisations use digital tools to interact with customers and vendors, requiring strong written and communication skills.

Marketing

E-commerce managers design and implement marketing campaigns to engage customers and increase sales. Knowing how to identify and analyse the target audience, create user profiles, conceptualise promotional ideas and implement loyalty programmes and campaigns can help them engage customers effectively. Knowledge of sales and advertising can also be of benefit to them. Marketing now fully embraces digitalisation, with social media, search engine optimisation and location-based marketing being vital tools.

Project management

Managers are typically responsible for achieving business goals, coordinating with vendors, allocating tasks, following up and collaborating with intra-organisation teams. These accountabilities require strong project management and organisational skills, as it is crucial to complete time-sensitive tasks efficiently. Knowing how to segregate tasks within a project, delegate responsibilities, offer guidance, share feedback and document processes for later reference can help e-commerce managers prioritise several projects and functions effectively and so remain productive and focused.

Data analysis

Many e-commerce organisations use digital tools to analyse large sets of customer data to identify spending habits and shopping preferences. Customer engagement and query resolution or requests usually occur through sophisticated customer relationship management systems. E-commerce managers use these tools to create reports, allocate budgets, assess customer engagement levels and design data-driven solutions to business problems. These needs require excellent computer and analytical skills, such as research, data collection, problem-solving, attention to detail, diagnostics, forecasting and data organisation.

Communication

Communication skills are essential for managers to interact with their team, facilitate collaboration, engage customers and meet challenges. This crucial soft skill can help e-commerce managers hire suitable candidates, work with external vendors and conduct team meetings effectively. It can also enable managers to function transparently and motivate team members. These demands include writing and speaking with empathy, being confident, listening actively, negotiating, offering feedback, giving presentations and establishing interpersonal relationships.

How To Improve E-Commerce Manager Abilities And Skills?

Here are some ways in which you can enhance your skills as an e-commerce manager:

Identify your strengths and weaknesses. Assess your existing skills to determine the competencies that require improvement. You can refer to your most recent performance assessment report, consult your supervisor or complete an external test to identify areas needing improvement.
Complete short-term certification courses. Based on your findings, look for suitable short-term courses to improve your skills. Choose reputable learning platforms and academies to ensure you receive high-quality training with educational materials to provide you with recognisable and highly regarded certifications.
Seek mentorship and feedback. Request senior leaders in your company or other industry leaders to become your mentor and provide focused guidance. When seeking mentors, ensure you set clear expectations, have a predefined goal and approach like-minded individuals.
Learn new technologies. Using digital tools to simplify work-related tasks and automate processes may help you save time, resources and effort. Such tools can improve your performance and aid your promotions and other rewards eligibility.
Focus on enhancing soft skills. While improving your technical abilities, pay attention to enhancing soft skills, such as organisation, time management, communication, feedback and networking. Doing this can help improve your interpersonal communication and professional relationships.

E-Commerce Management Skills In The Workplace

Here are some ways you can demonstrate your e-commerce management skills in the workplace:

Ensure high customer satisfaction levels. By creating pleasant shopping experiences, e-commerce managers strive to sustain high levels of customer satisfaction. This endeavour includes personalised engagement, smooth returns, timely refunds and prompt responses to queries.
Hire and train team members. Managers often hire, interview and recruit new team members. As an e-commerce manager, after hiring, you may provide training along with regular mentoring and guidance for them as team members.
Manage budgets and vendors. E-commerce managers create budgets for different activities, such as marketing, advertisements and engagement. They also supervise vendor agreements and deliveries, necessitating strong organisation capabilities, attention to detail and problem-solving skills.
Improve productivity and motivation. As team leaders, e-commerce managers are typically responsible for ensuring team productivity and achieving targets. This skill requires a balance of feedback, motivation, rewards and guidance to sustain team motivation and promote healthy competition.
Solve conflicts. E-commerce managers may frequently encounter challenges in the form of dissatisfied customers, supply chain delays, internal team conflicts and vendor-related issues. Knowing how to analyse different aspects of a situation and formulate an effective solution through timely decision-making can be vital.

How To Highlight E-Commerce Manager Skills?

Here are some ways in which you can highlight your skills while applying for jobs:

E-commerce manager skills for resumes and cover letters

While writing your resume and cover letter, analyse the job description to look for specific keywords and skills the employer is seeking and mention them throughout your documentation. Within the resume's work experience section, ensure you focus on quantifiable achievements and include information about awards you may have acquired. Include feedback or testimonials from customers, supervisors and team members, as this is another effective way to demonstrate your managerial abilities. For the cover letter, identify two or three core skills and focus on describing your expertise in these areas.

E-commerce manager skills for job interviews

When interacting with hiring managers, it can be helpful to display your soft skills, such as communication, by speaking articulately and confidently. Maintain positive body language, listen attentively and answer all questions keenly by focusing on your professional accomplishments. To demonstrate your interpersonal qualities, build an engaging conversation with the interviewer and when answering questions about challenges in previous jobs, use the situation, task, action and result method to explain your approach and what the experience taught you.