Online Merchants

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$79,590 Median Wage (2023)
107,400 Projected job openings (2023-2033)
5.4% Projected growth (2023-2033)

Conduct retail activities of businesses operating exclusively online. May perform duties such as preparing business strategies, buying merchandise, managing inventory, implementing marketing activities, fulfilling and shipping online orders, and balancing financial records.

Experience Requirements Overview

  • Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed
  • A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
  • Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
  • Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.

Education, Training and Experience

Required Level of Education: Bachelor's Degree

Related Work Experience: Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years

On-Site or In-Plant Training: Over 3 months, up to and including 6 months

On-the-Job Training: Over 3 months, up to and including 6 months

Detailed Work Activities

  • Update professional knowledge.
  • Create marketing materials.
  • Purchase products or services.
  • Allocate physical resources within organizations.
  • Develop business or market strategies.

Work Values

Achievement

Occupations that satisfy this work value are results oriented and allow employees to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment. Corresponding needs are Ability Utilization and Achievement.

Working Conditions

Recognition

Relationships

Support

Independence

Tasks

  • Fill customer orders by packaging sold items and documentation for direct shipping or by transferring orders to manufacturers or third-party distributors.
  • Receive and process payments from customers, using electronic transaction services.
  • Create, manage, or automate orders or invoices, using order management or invoicing software.
  • Deliver e-mail confirmation of completed transactions and shipment.
  • Correspond with online customers via electronic mail, telephone, or other electronic messaging to address questions or complaints about products, policies, or shipping methods.
  • Purchase new or used items from online or physical sources for resale via retail or auction Web site.
  • Determine and set product prices.
  • Calculate purchase subtotals, taxes, and shipping costs for submission to customers.
  • Compose descriptions of merchandise for posting to online storefront, auction sites, or other shopping Web sites.
  • Compose images of products, using video or still cameras, lighting equipment, props, or photo or video editing software.
  • Upload digital media, such as photos, video, or scanned images to online storefront, auction sites, or other shopping Web sites.
  • Calculate revenue, sales, and expenses, using financial accounting or spreadsheet software.
  • Cancel orders based on customer requests or inventory or delivery problems.
  • Prepare or organize online storefront marketing material, including product descriptions or subject lines, optimizing content to search engine criteria.
  • Order or purchase merchandise to maintain optimal inventory levels.
  • Determine location for product listings to maximize exposure to online traffic.
  • Create or maintain database of customer accounts.
  • Promote products in online communities through weblog or discussion-forum postings, e-mail marketing programs, or online advertising.
  • Collaborate with search engine shopping specialists to place marketing content in desired online locations.
  • Investigate products or markets to determine areas for opportunity or viability for merchandising specific products, using online or offline sources.
  • Maintain inventory of shipping supplies, such as boxes, labels, tape, bubble wrap, loose packing materials, or tape guns.
  • Measure and analyze Web site usage data to maximize search engine returns or refine customer interfaces.
  • Develop or revise business plans for online business, emphasizing factors such as product line, pricing, inventory, or marketing strategy.
  • Disclose merchant information and terms and policies of transactions in online or offline materials.
  • Design customer interface of online storefront, using web programming or e-commerce software.
  • Select and purchase technical web services, such as web hosting services, online merchant accounts, shopping cart software, payment gateway software, or spyware.
  • Transfer digital media, such as music, video, or software, to customers via the Internet.
  • Devise, select, or purchase domain name and web address.
  • Initiate online auctions through auction hosting sites or auction management software.
  • Implement security practices to preserve assets, minimize liabilities, or ensure customer privacy, using parallel servers, hardware redundancy, fail-safe technology, information encryption, or firewalls.
  • Investigate sources, such as auctions, estate sales, liquidators, wholesalers, or trade shows for new items, used items, or collectibles.
  • Participate in online forums or conferences to stay abreast of online retailing trends, techniques, or security threats.
  • Integrate online retailing strategy with physical or catalogue retailing operations.
  • Create or distribute offline promotional material, such as brochures, pamphlets, business cards, stationary, or signage.

Work Styles

Achievement/Effort

Job requires establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks.

Persistence

Initiative

Leadership

Cooperation

Concern for Others

Social Orientation

Self-Control

Stress Tolerance

Adaptability/Flexibility

Dependability

Attention to Detail

Integrity

Independence

Innovation

Analytical Thinking

Data Source: This page includes information from the O*NET 28.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. This page includes Employment Projections program, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.