eCommerce
Virtual Assistant
eCommerce Virtual Assistant
When online shopping was initially introduced, the volume of business was low as people showed low interest. With time, people have realized the convenience of buying online. Today we can observe a distinct change in people’s buying behaviour and focus is shifting from buying from marketplaces to buying online. The increased business activity comes with its own set of challenges of running online stores/eCommerce companies which only eCommerce entrepreneurs need to manage. And that leads to the following question – Is running your online business taking away more than 30 mins per day? If yes, then it’s time for you to look at hiring a eCommerce virtual assistant.
Wondering how a virtual assistant for eCommerce (VA) can help you better manage your online business or benefits of a virtual assistant? Let’s take a look at tasks/activities that a VA can manage –
Social Media Management
In this millennial generation, social media forms the very core of eCommerce business as people spend countless hours on social media platforms. The Internet provides convenience which has led to increased customer expectations. To keep the audience engaged, posting once a week is not enough. With the engagements spanning across social media platforms, managing them needs specific skill sets and patience. And that’s where a virtual eCommerce assistant can help you with the following -
a. Create a social media calendar to schedule what content will get posted on each day.
b. Content creation which includes creating images. More skilled virtual assistants can also create videos or write an article.
c. Schedule the posts, track and monitor audience engagement.
Online Community Management
Social media platforms such as Facebook are being increasingly leveraged by business owners for customer engagement. Facebook groups/communities are a platform which allows the businesses to demonstrate their expertise in their industry and also engage like-minded people who can become future customers and bring in more. An eCommerce virtual assistant can help with the following tasks here -
a. Approve/reject joining requests, posts or comments.
b. Post content to engage the members.
c. Acknowledge the comments from the community members and respond to them.
Listing
Products
Product description plays a key role in getting online sales as people shopping online do have a short attention span. Well-written product description goes a long way in ensuring your product page tops the search engine results which increases the product's visibility and at the same time pushes the visitors into buying the product. An experienced eCommerce virtual assistant is adept in executing the following tasks to supplement the Product Search Optimization -
- Writing Catchy titles, searchable keywords and creating eye catching images (this involves collaboration with graphic designers).
- An experienced eCommerce Virtual Assistant can also work on keyword discovery, optimizing listing texts & image content and increasing the number or reviews.
- A seasoned virtual assistant can also work on creating Amazon A+ / Enhanced Brand Content (EBC) and Pay Per Click (PPC Campaigns).
Sourcing
Products
Focusing on a niche is the key to success in the eCommerce business. However, selling just one product may or may not drive sustainable sales growth. Leveraging products that can be associated with your brand & the niche add more variety and can lead to more sales volumes. A virtual eCommerce assistant can help you with the following -
- Identify shopping patterns.
- Research and prepare a list of products that can be added to the store.
- Research & identify the suppliers for the products.
- A more experienced resource can also help you strike a good deal and manage supplier relationships.
Email
Marketing
Digital Marketing using social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, etc today is a preferred marketing approach. However, the old school email marketing approach is an equally powerful eCommerce marketing tool. It helps in driving sales by strengthening the engagement with potential customers and focuses on creating brand loyalty. An experienced virtual assistant can help you with the following -
- Lead collection and maintaining the lead database.
- Create content rich-emails.
- Engage responsive customers who can help in creating the right brand impression.
Website Design and Maintenance
Web page design, website development & maintenance play a key role in creating brand identity and helping in attracting the right customers. Some dropshipping platforms like Shopify do offer some standard templates to help eCommerce entrepreneurs make a start. However, an intuitive user interface directly impacts the user experience and also allows you to integrate elements that are unique to your brand. Virtual Assistant(s) with experience in these areas & their distinct cost advantage can help you take care of these important aspects of launching your e-store with ease.
Account
Management
Whether it is the initial account set up or managing the information on your Shopify or Amazon business account, an eCommerce virtual assistant can do it all. Here are the tasks that a VA can manage -
- Setting up the account.
- Creating login credentials.
- Updating the Contact Us and About Us sections.
- Add products & their descriptions.
- Ensure products are listed in the relevant categories.
Writing
Blogs
Like the media business, content is king in the eCommerce Business as well. A content-rich blog can help in the following ways -
- Generate organic traffic to the website.
- Convert readers to customers.
An experienced virtual assistant is adept in writing blogs with the core focus of engaging customers and enticing them to buy from your website.
Customer
Support
Investing in customer support teams is a key investment that directly impacts how your customers perceive your brand. A virtual assistant with a flair for engaging people can provide following remote assistance -
- Answer customer queries via phone/email/chat.
- Resolve issues and pacify the irate customer.
- Manage returns/refunds related queries.
- Reach customers to get the negative feedback removed.
Manage
Fulfillment
Order fulfillment is a function that directly impacts your business as delays in order fulfillment affect how your brand as it is perceived. Various tasks/activities need to be balanced -
- Checking and managing inventory.
- Download barcodes & product labels.
- Shipping orders & tracking them and keeping any shipping related issues at its lowest point.
An eCommerce virtual assistant can easily manage these tasks and save your time which can be focused on managing other aspects of your business.
PPC
Campaigns
In digital marketing, pay-per-click (PPC) campaign/advertising is known to generate one of the highest return on investment (ROI). A virtual eCommerce assistant can analyze trends, create campaigns on platforms like Facebook, Google, Instagram, Snapchat and also track the effectiveness and the returns generated.
SEO
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) plays a very important role in getting your website on the first page of search engines like Google, Bing, etc. And if your website is on the first page, the probability of hoarding the organic traffic is much higher. This, in turn, results in higher chances of sales. An eCommerce virtual assistant can manage the following tasks -
- Research keywords by considering the recent industry trends.
- Coordinate content creation or even create content.
- Building backlinks and strategize for their listing/distribution.
- Set-up backlinks for the website.
Now that’s an exhaustive list of tasks/activities that a virtual eCommerce assistant can help an eCommerce entrepreneur. Do you need a partner who can help you prepare a mutually rewarding plan to outsource tasks to in-house virtual assistants? Contact us and we will assist you to make your business less tiresome.