A retail e-commerce manager runs the company website as its own sales channel, selling the same stock the stores carry. They keep product pages, prices and stock counts right, plan online promotions, run buy online, pick up in store, and lead the team that answers online shoppers.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
We're looking for an E-commerce Manager to run our online store as its own sales channel. You'll keep product listings accurate, merchandise the site, run online promotions and watch conversion every day. You'll also run buy online, pick up in store and lead online customer service, so shoppers get what they ordered when we said they would.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Own online sales to plan, and report weekly on traffic, conversion, average order value and returns.
Keep product pages accurate: photos, descriptions, sizes, prices, and stock that matches the warehouse and stores.
Merchandise the homepage, collections and site search to feature new arrivals, best sellers and promotions.
Plan and launch online promotions, discount codes and email features with the Marketing Manager.
Run buy online, pick up in store and ship-from-store programs with store operations and the warehouse.
Manage the e-commerce platform, apps and outside agencies, and test changes before they go live.
Lead the Customer Service Representatives and set response time and return-handling standards.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Check yesterday's online sales, conversion and any site errors.
Fix product listing errors and out-of-stock items that show as available.
Review fulfillment status and late shipments with the Warehouse Manager.
Update banners, collections and promotions for the day.
Read customer service tickets and product reviews for problems to fix.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Online sales to plan: [your target].
Online conversion rate: [your target].
Average order value: [your target].
Online return rate: [your target].
Orders shipped by the promised date: [your target].
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
[3+] years managing an online store for a retailer or consumer brand.
Hands-on experience with an e-commerce platform such as [Shopify, BigCommerce or your platform].
Comfortable with web analytics and sales and conversion reports.
Has managed product data and listings for a large catalog.
Writes clear product pages and customer messages.
6. Preferred Experience
Experience connecting store POS inventory to the online store.
Has launched buy online, pick up in store or ship-from-store.
Basic HTML and CSS for small site edits.
Experience managing an agency or freelance developers.
7. Physical Requirements
Sit at a computer for long stretches.
Visit stores and the warehouse to check pickup and shipping processes.
With or without reasonable accommodation.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Central office or hybrid[, per your policy].
Longer hours during holiday sales, site launches and big promotions.
On call for site outages and payment problems during major sale events.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Pay: [range and hourly or salary basis].
Additional pay: [overtime, bonus or incentive terms, or none].
Benefits: [health, dental, vision, retirement, paid time off, and when they start].
10. Company Culture and Overview
[Two or three sentences on what your company does, the area you serve, and the support a new e-commerce manager gets in the first 90 days.]
11. How to Apply
[Apply link or email]. Our process: [phone interview, in-person interview, and next steps]. Contact [hiring contact] if you need an accommodation during the application process.
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What changes when the online store sits next to real stores
An online-only brand runs its site and little else. Here the website shares stock, prices and shoppers with 10 to 15 stores, so almost every choice on the site reaches the shops too.
The site sells stock that sits in the stores
The same jacket might hang in three stores and sit in a warehouse bin. If the POS and the website fall out of sync, the site sells what isn't there or hides what is. The e-commerce manager checks the stock feed every morning, holds back a few units on thin items, and tells the Inventory Planner when online demand runs ahead of the buy.
Store teams fill some of the orders
With buy online, pick up in store and ship-from-store, sales associates pull web orders between customers at the counter. The e-commerce manager doesn't supervise them. Pick times, hold times and when to cancel get settled with the Director of Store Operations. Each store manager then sees their own store's results every week.
Shipping promises need proof behind them
The FTC's mail order rule covers orders placed online. When the site says an order ships in two days, you need a reasonable basis for that claim. If the site states no time, you need a reasonable basis to ship within 30 days. So the e-commerce manager sets order cutoffs and holiday ship-by dates with the Warehouse Manager from what the warehouse has really shipped. Source: FTC: Business guide to the Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule.
A sale price needs a real price behind it
Online promotions often run alongside store sales. The FTC's pricing guides say a former price shown in a markdown should be one the item was really offered at, on a regular basis, for a reasonably long time. Raising a price only so a later cut looks bigger is the deceptive case they describe. Keep a price history for anything the site shows as marked down. Source: 16 CFR 233.1: Former price comparisons (Cornell LII).
Product reviews come with rules
Reviews sell, and they also warn shoppers about fit and quality. Under the FTC's consumer review rule, a site can't hide reviews for their low ratings while implying the ones it shows are all or most of them. It may hold back reviews for reasons applied to every review, such as abuse, someone's personal details or obvious fakes. It also can't tie a gift or discount to a review that praises or pans the product. Source: 16 CFR 465.7: Review suppression (Cornell LII).
How much retail e-commerce managers make
The closest BLS group for retail e-commerce managers is sales managers. Sales managers who work for retailers earned a median of $100,000 a year ($48.08 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s below the $148,270 median for sales managers in all industries. About 106,760 of the 637,080 sales managers in that survey work for retail stores.
Salaried, often with an annual bonus based on online sales or profit. Before the year starts, agree on how store pickup orders and returns count toward it, since a store and the website may each claim the same sale.
Retail stores
$100,000$100,000 median Middle half $72,710–$157,710 10th–90th $57,120–$222,080
All industries
$148,270$148,270 median Middle half $100,360–$207,340 10th–90th $73,170–$290,540
$0k$50k$100k$150k$200k$250k$300k$350k
10th–90th percentileMiddle halfMedianAnnual pay, May 2025. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.
Annual pay by percentile
Group
10th
25th
Median
75th
90th
Retail stores
$57,120
$72,710
$100,000
$157,710
$222,080
All industries
$73,170
$100,360
$148,270
$207,340
$290,540
These figures cover all retail. Pay differs by store type, so check what local stores like yours pay. Post a real range for your market in the ad.
Skills to hire for, and what you can teach
Hire for these
Hands-on work in an e-commerce platform's admin: products, collections, discounts and apps
Reads a sales and conversion report and can explain what moved and why
Keeps a large catalog clean, with sizes, colors, photos and prices that match the stores
Writes product copy and customer emails that are short and correct
Gets things done through store, warehouse and buying teams they don't manage
Teach these on the job
Your POS and how it feeds stock counts to the website
Each store's pickup and ship-from-store setup
Your categories, vendors and size runs
Your promotion calendar and how it lines up with store events
Your return policy and help desk
Expect an e-commerce platform such as Shopify, BigCommerce or Salesforce Commerce Cloud, a store POS that feeds stock counts to the site, web analytics, and an email tool shared with marketing. Someone who has already wired that platform to that POS will need less ramp-up than someone who knows only one of them.
Retail e-commerce manager interview questions
They have their own page: 6 questions that test this job, what strong and weak answers sound like, and a work exercise to run with your finalists.
Set each target from last year's online results, month by month, because holiday weeks and big promotions move every one of these numbers.
Online sales to plan
Web revenue each week against the plan set with the CEO and CFO. Decide up front whether store pickup orders count as online or store sales, and report it both ways.
Online conversion rate
Orders divided by site sessions, from your analytics. Break it out by phone and desktop and by traffic source, and check it after every site change, because a broken checkout shows up here first.
Average order value
Total online revenue over total orders. Watch it during free-shipping offers and bundles, which exist to raise it, and compare it against the matching weeks a year ago.
Online return rate
Items returned compared with items shipped, by category and by style. A high rate on one style often points to a size chart, photo or description you can fix on the page.
Orders shipped by the promised date
Orders that left the warehouse or a store by the date the site promised, out of all orders. Take the weekly figure from the order system and split warehouse orders from ship-from-store orders.
Is an e-commerce manager the same as a marketing manager?
No. The marketing manager brings people to the stores and the site through ads, email and social media. The e-commerce manager owns what happens after they land: product pages, site search, checkout, shipping promises and online service. Here the two share the email calendar and the promotion plan, so agree in writing who sends what.
How much does a retail e-commerce manager make?
Sales managers who work for retailers earned a median of $100,000 a year ($48.08 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $72,710 and $157,710 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and bonus terms.
Who should a retail e-commerce manager report to?
The blueprint puts the role under the CEO, which keeps the website from becoming a side project of marketing or store operations. Some retailers put it under the COO instead, since the stores and the warehouse already report there and pickup orders run through both. Either way, give the e-commerce manager a seat in the weekly sales meeting with the buyers.
Does our online store have to be accessible to people with disabilities?
The Justice Department's guidance says the ADA applies to the goods and services a business offers on the web, not only in its stores. It has no regulation setting a technical standard for businesses and points to WCAG as helpful guidance. Ask candidates whether they've tested a site using only a keyboard and with a screen reader, and get legal advice about your own site.
Do we still need an agency if we hire an e-commerce manager?
Often yes. The blueprint expects the role to manage outside agencies and freelance developers for themes, apps and bigger builds. What an agency can't do is check the stock feed each morning, settle a pickup problem with a store manager, or pick this weekend's promotion. That daily work needs someone on staff who owns the online sales number.
Who should run buy online, pick up in store?
Give the whole program to one owner; the blueprint names the e-commerce manager. Store managers still lead the people who pick the orders. Before launch, write down who sets hold times, who calls the customer when a store can't find an item, and which store gets credit for the sale.
