Who Should I Hire for My Ecommerce Site?
By Penny Morey
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Who are the major types of employees that one should hire to run a successful ecommerce website? Why?
Without knowing more about your business (e.g., what you are selling on your ecommerce site), I am at a disadvantage to advise you precisely on whom you should hire to support your endeavors. But I can give you some general insight. Most ecommerce businesses have the following departments, which need the types of individuals outlined below:
Marketing/Business Development
- Specialists to strategize how to best design and position the website and attract customers
- Sales professionals to follow up on leads and drive business to the website
- Detail-oriented individuals to make sure that orders go to the right place
Technology
- Experts to make sure that the internal IT needs are constantly kept up to date and running smoothly
- Experts to make sure that the website is constantly up and meeting the needs of the customers
Logistics/Shipping
- People to ensure proper packaging and prompt delivery of products sold
- People to deal with returned items, if necessary
In addition, you'll need customer-service professionals -- outgoing, friendly people to take incoming calls from customers and answer questions cordially -- and accounting staff.
Everyone will need to have strong computer proficiency, a head for sales and a desire to please customers. At the outset, some of these jobs may be combined; with startups, people often wear more than one hat. But overall -- again, depending on what you are selling in your ecommerce business -- these are the kinds of people you will need to hire.
