E-commerce has evolved from an adventurous secondary revenue channel in the 1990s to the current mainstay of the retail market. Strategies that worked a few years ago do not yield the same results today. E-commerce upskilling is not an optional task—learning and skill-building are required to remain competitive and thrive.
Where, though, should you focus your efforts in an industry akin to a moving target? What endeavors will give you the most return? In this guide, we’ll examine why upskilling is so crucial now. Then, we’ll discuss effective e-commerce upskilling strategies, focusing on the tools, tech, and knowledge you’ll need to succeed.
E-Commerce Upskilling: Why It’s Urgent
There was a time when all it took was a little relevant work experience to obtain and excel at a retail job. Today, however, many businesses and their employees must deal with more than in-store shoppers and mail orders. They also have to take on the vast, uncharted territory of online shopping.
The e-commerce landscape is constantly shifting, changing rapidly. New tools, marketplaces, and expectations from customers arise regularly. In addition to managing multiple platforms—many sellers find themselves on Amazon, eBay, Etsy, and Shopify, among others—technical knowledge isn’t the end of it. You also must refine your business acumen to understand big data and make smarter business decisions.
What are the benefits of upskilling? Among others, you may notice that you:
- Increase sales and profits
- Reduce costs
- Improve customer relations
- Outperform your competitors
Next, we’ll break down different types of upskilling into bite-sized chunks. You can choose the one that is most needed by your business and get started today. When you’ve mastered that new skill set, move on to another.
Skill No. 1: Know Your Platforms
Data and trends—as opposed to hunches—drive today’s economy. In order to make data-driven decisions, you need to have a way to collect, analyze, and visualize data. Fortunately, most e-commerce platforms gift-wrap these tools in the form of seller analytics tools.
For example, let’s take a deep dive into the seller analytics tools available on Etsy, a common e-commerce platform. When you click into your Shop Manager, you will see a Stats option on the left-hand toolbar. You can view statistics such as total visits, orders, conversion rate, revenue, abandoned carts, reviews, repeat buyers, and a percentage comparison to the same period last year.
You can visualize stats from today, yesterday, the past week, past month, past year, or life of your shop using the line graph. There are also some platform-specific stats, such as item favorites, shop follows, and the number of different cities you’ve had orders from. You can also click “Customer service stats” on the toolbar to view your message response rate, on-time shipping and tracking, and average review rating.
This example gives a good snapshot of what a platform may offer. Generally, good analytics tools will track statistics like the following:
- Product performance
- Cart abandonment rates
- Conversion rates
- Customer lifetime value (CLV)
- Return rates
- Advertising return on investment (ROI)
If your platform doesn’t offer all the tools you need, you can consider integrating a third-party service like Google Analytics (GA4) to collect and analyze customer data.
Skill No. 2: The Right Tools for the Job
Above, we talked about seller analytics tools provided by e-commerce platforms. There are additional tech tools, however, that can benefit your e-commerce business. These tools can automate repetitive tasks, increase your productivity, and bring in and retain more customers. What are they?
Various tools that can automate mundane tasks include:
- Email marketing workflows like Mailchimp or Constant Contact. You can create automatic emails that are triggered by certain customer behaviors, like entering their email or leaving unpurchased items in their online cart. You can also schedule emails and social media posts weeks or months in advance.
- Order fulfillment and shipping tools like ShipStation or Easyship. Some platforms such as Amazon have order fulfillment tools built right in; once your products are in-warehouse, you don’t have to touch them again since Amazon handles the shipping. Various print-on-demand services such as Amazon Kindle and Printify also ship directly to consumers following an order.
- Customer service chatbots like Zendesk or even Facebook Messenger can be programmed to answer common questions and handle easy requests. They can also direct tougher complaints to you. The swiftness of their responses can greatly improve the customer service experience.
Beyond these are productivity tools. These are especially useful if you manage or are part of a team, large or small. Trello and Asana are popular project management platform options. Slack is frequently used for team communications, and customer relationship management (CRM) platforms like HubSpot can help you keep track of your customers and keep them happy.
Finally, you should invest some time in building a website optimization toolkit and understanding the tech involved. A grasp of user experience and user interface (UX/UI) design principles will help you mold your website and apps for the best customer experience possible. Basic programming languages like HTML and CSS will help you institute website changes. Using SEO tools will drive more traffic—and hopefully more customers—to your website.
Skill No. 3: Business Finance
Accounting and bookkeeping are important skills when you operate your own business. According to a study by U.S. Bank’s Jessie Hagen, “poor cash flow management or poor understanding of cash flow” contributed to the failure of small businesses 82 percent of the time.
If your e-commerce operation is struggling to be profitable, it might be time to sit down and rework your budget. Concentrate on understanding the following aspects:
- Your current cash flow
- Inventory costs
- Advertising ROI
- Profit margins
- Tax obligations
What resources can you use to learn? Many platforms have powerful money management tools and step-by-step instructions on how to use them. You could also take an online course, such as Universal Class’s “Accounting & Bookkeeping 101 for Everyone” or “QuickBooks 101.”
Of course, sometimes the best option is to outsource your bookkeeping. This is especially true if your business’s tax obligations are complex. Your bookkeeper or tax preparer will inform you what information they need (expenses, receipts, mileage, etc.) and handle the hard parts for you. Of course, you will still be responsible for creating and sticking to a workable business budget.
Skill No. 4: Leadership
As you learn and implement the skills above, your business may grow. You’ll likely need to hire your first team members, expand your team, or outsource certain tasks. When you upskill in leadership and management, you’ll be able to scale without feeling like you’re losing control.
There are several areas of leadership you can focus on:
- Delegate. As a leader, you should never “hoard” your responsibilities. Train your team how to perform vital tasks, then delegate those tasks to them. Ample training will give you the confidence to let others run with their tasks, and your relationship with your team will improve as they recognize your trust in them.
- Communicate. Clear communication is vital for training, disseminating tasks and information, and making sure each team member’s and the business’s goals align. Work on clearly communicating meaning, whether you are speaking or writing a message.
- Make decisions. Practice making decisions quickly and confidently. Analyze past decisions, looking for areas of improvement and lessons learned. Lean into data sources to make data-driven decisions.
- Seek a mentor. Reach out to other professionals who are willing to offer guidance and impart the wisdom of their experiences.
Skill No. 5: Social Media
Social media marketing is an exciting skill to master, especially if you already enjoy using social media recreationally. First, you’ll want to analyze any existing social media representing your company and decide on the branding you will use moving forward. This can involve a consistent message and similar visuals (i.e., using the same filter or color scheme).
You should also tap into social media as a way to learn about your customers. Focus on what they post about, what pain points you could solve, and what they say about your products.
Finally, consider using influencer marketing. Identify a few popular users that mesh well with your brand values. Let them experience your product for free and share that experience with their viewers. Such authentic experiences can go a long way as a form of word-of-mouth advertising.
What Is EcomBalance?
EcomBalance is a monthly bookkeeping service specialized for eCommerce companies selling on Amazon, Shopify, eBay, Etsy, WooCommerce, & other eCommerce channels.
We take monthly bookkeeping off your plate and deliver you your financial statements by the 15th or 20th of each month.
You’ll have your Profit and Loss Statement, Balance Sheet, and Cash Flow Statement ready for analysis each month so you and your business partners can make better business decisions.
Interested in learning more? Schedule a call with our CEO, Nathan Hirsch.
And here’s some free resources:
- Monthly Finance Meeting Agenda
- 9 Steps to Master Your Ecommerce Bookkeeping Checklist
- The Ultimate Guide on Finding an Ecommerce Virtual Bookkeeping Service
- What Is a Profit and Loss Statement?
- How to Read & Interpret a Cash Flow Statement
- How to Read a Balance Sheet & Truly Understand It
Key Takeaways
While there is no one-size-fits-all approach to upping your e-commerce game, you can make great strides by learning more about your e-commerce platforms and relevant tools, giving attention to your business finances, and focusing on providing good leadership.
In addition to the steps discussed above, you can continue to learn and upskill by attending e-commerce and business-focused conferences, webinars, and other industry events. Keep an eye on respected business journals for emerging trends. Finally, don’t forget to engage with your community via social media. When you do these things, you will see your e-commerce business grow and thrive.
