Running an e-commerce business is not a simple task. It entails administering the website, developing a sales strategy, fulfilling orders, improving the client experience, and more. E-commerce business owners are frequently too busy with tedious and repetitive chores to work on the crucial aspects of their operations.

Moreover, technology has a significant impact on the e-commerce industry. For this, businesses need to adopt the idea of virtual assistants to establish their brand presence in the cutthroat ecosystem. A virtual assistant for e-commerce assists entrepreneurs in managing administrative tasks so businesses can focus on profit-making.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant financial losses for numerous firms. Today, many businesses are adopting the outsourcing trend for cost savings. According to Deloitte’s 2022 Worldwide Outsourcing Survey, global outsourcing spending might reach US$971.2 billion by 2023.

A virtual e-commerce assistant helps businesses optimize their eCommerce operations. They assist them with their day-to-day eCommerce business activities, such as data entry, customer assistance, and marketplace management.

The E-commerce industry is booming, with Amazon and eBay dominating the marketplace. It makes it difficult for new e-commerce businesses to break through. Startups struggle with attracting targeted traffic, acquiring and converting quality leads, actively interacting with subscribers, retaining customers, and developing a brand.

As your e-commerce business evolves, you have too many responsibilities. You could be squandering hours of your time each week on administrative tasks. You may also struggle with more complex activities, such as website design. To this end, a virtual assistant for e-commerce can relieve you of some of your responsibilities by doing the following tasks:

• Listing creation & optimization
• Order processing
• Inventory management
• Order tracking
• Customer support
• Market research
• Administrative tasks
• Email management
• Bookkeeping
• Website maintenance
• Social media management

Office Beacon offers skilled virtual assistants. They provide e-commerce business owners with remote assistance to help them run their online businesses successfully and build up their operations.

Office Beacon experts can help e-commerce firms manage their online stores, including Amazon Seller Central, Shopify, WordPress, Woocommerce, and Magento.

Some of the e-commerce services Office Beacon offers:

E-commerce businesses must display different products in their online store to entice their target customers. They should meet with their brand's buyer personas. The virtual assistants at Office Beacon are product-sourcing experts with in-depth knowledge of the most popular products. 

Even if you have great products for your online business, audience acquisition is not easy. Office Beacon’s virtual assistants can help you keep your store inventory in check and minimize mistakes.

Uploading product titles, optimizing them, updating them, and assigning prices and labeling can consume time. A capable e-commerce virtual assistant at Office Beacon will assist you in effectively managing and updating your product listings.

Office Beacon’s customer service specialists answer phone calls, emails, or live chat queries. Your consumers can benefit from pre- and post-sales assistance from an eCommerce virtual assistant.

Benefits of Hiring an E-Commerce Virtual Assistant

Employing a virtual assistant can provide numerous advantages to e-commerce firms. But how precisely can a virtual assistant (VA) assist you with your eCommerce business? How much value can they provide? How are they better off hiring an on-site employee?

Entrepreneurs in e-commerce spend half of their day on time-consuming administrative duties. Although all administrative tasks are vital for the business, they can be exhausting and time-consuming. You must devote hours to monitoring customer comments, responding to customer issues, entering data, updating product databases, and updating product descriptions, among other things.

As a result, busy e-commerce enterprises can subcontract time-consuming tasks to virtual assistants (VAs) and reduce stress. They can declutter their daily routine and be better equipped to grow their business.

Office Beacon offers comprehensive and high-quality e-commerce shop management services to enterprises worldwide. Also, the e-commerce store management experts enable real-time tracking of e-commerce stores and ensure optimal store management.

Their global delivery centers and operational teams work around the clock to give excellent outcomes in the shortest amount of time.

Office Beacon’s virtual assistants are adept at managing orders. They can assist you in managing your ERP software by consistently updating data about your products and other details.

Customer service is an essential component of online businesses. Businesses should be reachable 24/7 to address consumer complaints; otherwise, they risk losing customers. Poor customer service spoils brand reputation. For this reason, client service must be prompt, pertinent, and effective. Most essential, it should run continuously.

A virtual assistant for e-commerce may handle calls, live chat, and other forms of communication with customers while resolving their issues. As a result, they provide value and improve the consumer experience.

Finding the right virtual assistant is a daunting task for e-commerce businesses. An eCommerce virtual assistant must possess the following skills, such as:

Research Skills

Researching the goods, market, target market, and competitors should be a strong suit for a virtual assistant. They must collect large amounts of data and be aware of trends and advancements in the e-commerce industry.

Inventory Management

It's crucial to have strong inventory management skills in the e-commerce industry. An eCommerce business needs the right virtual assistant to track the inventory and ensure stock is never a surplus or deficit.

SEO

SEO is essential to the success of any online business. It enables e-commerce businesses to attract their target customers. For this, companies must enhance their SEO strategy; otherwise, they will never be able to connect with their target audience and close any sales.

Problem Solving

An ideal virtual assistant should be capable of dealing with clients and attending to their needs. They ought to be able to persuade uninterested clients to become engaged and contented ones. Office Beacon's virtual assistants excel at providing excellent customer support and are available around the clock to address issues as they arise.

Hiring a perfect virtual assistant for your business can be challenging, where you vet the VAs carefully by outlining the business needs.

E-commerce firms can follow the below steps to hire the right virtual assistant for their business.

When working with a virtual assistant remotely, it might be challenging to explain your requirements over the phone and have them fully comprehend you. As a result, record your hiring process and include any relevant instructions and information. By taking this action, you'll be able to hire more effectively by being aware of every phase and communicating it to the candidate.

Also read: 5 Tips To Write Your Virtual Assistant Job Description In No Time

To find the right candidate, you must write a job description that will appeal to applicants with the skills and qualities you want in a VA. It will be the first factor you consider while choosing a VA.

Be sure to include:

• Business goals
• Vision and mission
• Roles and responsibilities
• Apps and tools expertise
• Language requirements

Our business is looking for a trustworthy and knowledgeable virtual assistant for e-commerce. Our different E-commerce activities will be your responsibility as you collaborate with our team and report to the E-commerce manager.

Responsibilities and duties for eCommerce virtual assistant:

• Keep the website updated with new products and manage the online store daily.
• Prepare to put new tactics into action.
• Verify that the website's product display is accurate.
• Before launching, make sure you get product photos.
• To ensure products arrive on schedule, carefully coordinate with the procurement and merchandise staff.
• Keep an eye on the technical KPIs.
• Assist the eCommerce manager by issuing tickets to the web development companies for sporadic onsite tasks and web development.
• Get input from the suppliers and clients.
• Create marketing strategies for e-commerce platforms that make changes throughout the year into account, making sure there is continual contact, input, and feedback from management, buyers, and sellers.

Required skills for success:

• A strong command of the English language 
• Customer service that is cordial and sympathetic
• Ability to solve issues
• Knowledge of Zendesk
• Shopify and Facebook experience
• Knowing Oberlo is a plus
• Prior knowledge of a dropshipping company.

Other Skills: 

• Customer Service
• Shopify
• Social Media Management
• Zendesk

Online job boards and social media networking sites like LinkedIn are available to e-commerce businesses for posting job descriptions.

Assess the numerous applications to identify a virtual assistant who matches your hiring requirements.

For busy business owners, the hiring process can be taxing. To this end, e-commerce business owners can seek the help of a reliable outsourcing partner, Office Beacon.

Office Beacon has over 20 years of expertise in placing qualified virtual assistants with businesses, enabling it to deliver high-quality service to match your company's needs.

Step 1: Analyze

They analyze your business goals and identify your staffing and software needs.

Step 2: Source

They source the perfect virtual assistant/s who can meet your specific requirements.

Step 3: Monitor

The team lead sets KPI expectations, trains and monitors your staff, and oversees your project.

Step 4: Report

They share weekly quality reports and bi-weekly feedback emails on your staff’s progress.

Outsourcing eCommerce development to Office Beacon assures that you are working with a skilled staff. Furthermore, Office Beacon manages the complete product life cycle, from conceptualization and development to execution and marketing.

You must grant your virtual assistant only restricted access to your store, social media accounts, or whatever else they need to carry out their duties after you hire them.

Give your VA specific permissions based on the tasks they will perform. You may give them a specific job on social media pages so they can curate and post. You can add them as new users in the customer care tools, giving them access to reply to support tickets. 

You can grant them user permissions with a Paypal business account, so they can make payments without requiring your credit card information. You may also set up email delegation in Gmail so that others can view and reply to emails on your behalf.

With Office Beacon, maintaining your virtual assistant is now simple because the VAs operate independently without supervision.

Busy e-commerce entrepreneurs who enjoy having control may find outsourcing an alien concept. But outsourcing is vital to achieving the elusive work/life balance, which is tougher to do when you're working alone. Employing a VA frees up your time to concentrate on what matters, such as expanding your business, spending time with your family, or simply giving yourself some breathing room.