How to Recruit My First eCommerce VA

Your online company could experience great benefits from having a virtual assistant to help you with everything from customer service to keeping your inventory in check. Read on and get a full guide to start your journey!

What Is VA in eCommerce?

In eCommerce, a VA is a professional who can support you by completing tasks related to your online or store. For example, they can have great communication skills and talk to your clients, complete order processing, or research the market to help you create effective strategies.

The potential job description of a virtual assistant is so wide that you need to focus on a small task set that you may need one to complete for your online store. That means that you can hire them for very specific things, such as only handling your inventory, your website, sales, or every aspect of your product listing. You have a VA handle the SEO for your brand.

What Is a VA in Dropshipping?

In dropshipping, a virtual assistant might be the perfect worker to help you with listings, research, SEO, the management of the platforms you use, communication with customers, sales, and basic data processing tasks such as keeping information organized.

In other words, an eCommerce virtual assistant can help your dropshipping store by managing specific processes. Since you need to purchase or order the products from a third-party provider, getting extra help might be just what you need to make your website grow.

What Is VA Fee Structure Like for Businesses?

Now that you know the basics of hiring an eCommerce virtual assistant, you might be wondering how much they charge. However, there is no one-size-fits-all answer to that question.

There are several criteria regarding the fees of your potential VA. For example, the type of tasks they handle. If they are only managing administrative aspects of your eCommerce business, you might pay less than if they’re using specific skills such as graphic design capabilities, digital marketing knowledge, or video editing.

Additionally, fees depend on where the person is located. If they are in the Philippines or India, it can be much cheaper than hiring someone in the United States.

What Are the Three Main Responsibilities That Come with Working as Virtual Assistant for eCommerce Marketplaces?

In the case of an eCommerce business, virtual assistants have three main responsibilities: helping with the inventory, customers, and sales. Although the worker could have many other skills to help each management area, the three are the most frequently needed capabilities for an online company.

The virtual assistant must help the eCommerce business owner handle calls from clients, answer their questions about sales, research effective strategies to reach out to customers, and more. Additionally, they must make sure that the store has enough products to support the demand, take notes about the sales to determine which ones are highly requested and which ones aren’t, and so on.

What Does an eCommerce Assistant Do?

An eCommerce assistant can help with many things on your website. They can design strategies for your brand, improve your SEO, help with any customer issue that may arise, transcribe important data, search competitor businesses, and manage the organization of your services.

The specific tasks of your VA depend on what you need them for. In the world of commerce, you might have unique requirements if you want your online company to grow. Thus, when you outsource, you get a helpful worker that stands by your side and aids you in what you need.

How to Recruit eCommerce Virtual Assistants

Back in the day when technology wasn’t so advanced, you didn’t need to hire a virtual assistant. However, nowadays, they are very helpful. With the expansion of social media, your eCommerce store could grow a lot if you get help.

To hire a virtual assistant, you need to find the best company that can help with the outsourcing process. Additionally, you should make sure that your potential candidates show the following skills:

  • Research abilities
  • Customer support capabilities
  • Knowledge of things related to processing orders, managing inventory, administrative tasks, and eCommerce tasks
  • Comprehension of SEO related to an eCommerce store

Managing an online store can be very time-consuming, but when you hire VAs to aid you, they can take care of many of the tasks and make everything easier.

How to Hire a Virtual Assistant

After finding a potential candidate to become your virtual assistant, you should evaluate the person’s skills. For example, when you interview the applicant, ask practical questions that involve providing real-life solutions to problems.

You could ask the candidates what they would do if they got an angry or rude customer. Likewise, if you hire an eCommerce assistant that’s specialized in inventory, you might want to know how the person plans to stay organized and help you with your business.

How to Become an eCommerce Virtual Assistant

Are you thinking of becoming an eCommerce VA? Fantastic! However, you need to make sure that you have certain skills first. Not everyone can be good at that job, so you should prepare so you can be successful.

Virtual assistants need two sets of skills: hard and soft ones. The first group includes all the technical abilities a candidate must have for the job, such as a good ability to communicate with others, basic comprehension of how SEO works, knowledge of product listings, inventory management, returns and exchanges, and good writing capabilities.

Soft skills, on the other hand, include all cognitive capabilities that could help you succeed at the job. For example, a real interest in eCommerce marketing, the ability to work with other people, to be organized, and to manage your time.

There are also different areas in which you can focus as an assistant for an eCommerce business. You can find many examples, but take a look at some common ones:

Order and Shipment Processing

Many eCommerce virtual assistants only focus on order shipment and processing. Some business owners don’t require them to take care of anything else, and they might also be specialists in that.

Besides, some virtual assistants are so proficient and organized that they can help the business grow just by managing the orders and their shipment data. If you have experience in that area, you might be good as an eCommerce VA who only focuses on it.

Logo Designer

Logo designers can be hired per project. Therefore, they can continue working as freelancers, and then business owners can find them when they need them for the online store.

If you are the business owner, you know the core functionality of your company. So, you need someone to help you organize your ideas and visually communicate them.

Videographer

Videographers work similarly to logo designers. They can aid you with your company brand since they have the skill to create engaging videos that help you attract clients.

If you search, you might find that many online stores have short marketing videos on their platforms. These can be very helpful if you want to make your business grow. Some professionals even know about image editing, and they can aid you in making beautiful posts for Instagram, Facebook, and other sites.

Product Sourcing Specialist

You can’t make your business succeed just by selling one product. Even if a customer enjoys it, you still need to stock up on a variety of options for other people to enjoy as well.

Professional business owners search for product sourcing specialists because they know that they attract more clients. They can pick the products that fit your customers, which is why hiring them is a very smart choice to make your online store grow.

Inventory Manager

The inventory management position is one of the most important jobs for virtual assistants. Business managers can’t spend too much money on products they don’t need, and they shouldn’t have the stock run out of the most wanted products, either.

A virtual assistant that takes care of inventory management should balance things in your online store. They have to ensure that your customers have found everything needed in the marketplace and that reorders are made before stock runs out.

Is Outsourcing Good for the Philippines?

Outsourcing is one of the best strategies for the Philippines. It’s a powerful industry that contributes to the growth of the country since it gives many Filipinos the opportunity to earn above the average salary rate.

Additionally, outsourcing has helped the Philippines grow their small businesses, improve their telecommunication industry, and increase their real estate value. Overall, the region has taken advantage of it to improve many financial aspects.

Why Is the Philippines Good for Outsourcing?

You can outsource Philippines VAs to find incredible eCommerce talent for your online store. However, not many people understand why, so check out the following reasons.

Professionals Are Very Prepared

Probably the most important reason to outsource Philippines VAs is that they’re very prepared professionals. You can find many different people to handle the tasks of your company, and they do a great job.

For example, you might find incredible VAs to manage your marketing strategy, your social media accounts, communicate with your clients, or write good product descriptions.

You Can Delegate Tasks

When businesses choose to outsource Philippines VAs, they can delegate tasks that allow for a greater focus on other operational areas.

If you own a company, you don’t have to pay all employees, take care of the SEO, product descriptions, product listings, software setup, data entry, and social media posts.

As a business owner, you should focus on the management of the company. Therefore, if you outsource someone to help you with the rest of the process, you can feel free to manage tasks that VAs can’t do for you.

They Are Very Loyal

Filipinos are known for being very loyal people. If you hire one to be your eCommerce assistant, you’re probably not going to feel any regrets since they stick by your side no matter what.

They are dedicated, reliable, and trustworthy people. Therefore, if you outsource Philippines VAs, you can trust that by the end of the day, your business can enjoy the benefits of having such a loyal employee.

How Do You Outsource in the Philippines?

If you want to outsource an eCommerce virtual assistant from the Philippines, you should have a specific process to find the best VAs. Your business is very serious, so you must search for the perfect employees to help you thrive.

Hiring a virtual Filipino eCommerce VA can either be a very challenging process or an easy one. It depends on how you manage the outsourcing process. To start looking for the right person, you might want to follow the next steps:

Research for Yourself

It’s always best to start with some knowledge about the outsourcing industry, the cost of hiring someone, and general information about the market.

Understanding the market can give you the tools to know what to do next. Finding the right person is not only about getting a talented virtual assistant, but it’s also about knowing how they can make your online business succeed.

Identify the Areas Where You Need Help

The choice to outsource Philippines VAs can be very useful if you know how to take advantage of it. Do you want an eCommerce virtual assistant for inventory management only, or do you also need to outsource someone to help you with your website?

The virtual assistant who handles your social media platforms shouldn’t have to be the same one who manages your product listings and the description of everything in your inventory. In some cases, you might not even need someone to do those tasks.

Describe the Process

To get a great professional, you should describe the process you want to outsource. That way, you can define the specific skills you need in the virtual assistant you’re hiring.

For financial reasons, describing the process can also help your business. For example, it might aid you in understanding how much you would pay people depending on the responsibilities you’re delegating.

Determine Software or Tools You Need

Having an eCommerce business is very fun, but it also requires different tools. To manage a website and an online store, you need different resources to help you, especially if you also want an eCommerce virtual assistant.

You might need a platform where you can assign each task to the virtual assistant. Likewise, you might require specific ways for them to coordinate social media posts, communication with your customers, and the organization of the services you offer.

Identify the Cost of It

The choice to outsource Philippines VAs should help your business, not hinder it. Of course, the process can’t be free. However, you need to determine its cost and find the way to make the most out of it.

You might need only one virtual assistant to handle the inventory of your online store. However, in some instances, you want a whole team to manage everything in your website, from sales to product listing data, and beyond.

Estimate the Time It Takes to Complete a Job

You can hire an eCommerce virtual assistant only to complete a specific project, such as designing the logo of your company or developing the website. In that case, you might need to know roughly when they might complete their tasks.

The good thing about outsourcing is that it allows you to handle your workers’ tasks. Therefore, you can focus on determining a realistic timeframe for your employees to complete their projects.

Make a Budget and Set a Meeting

Once you complete all the preliminary steps, you can identify how much money you have to hire the virtual assistant or the team you want for your online business. Then, ask for a quote from your desired Filipino outsourcing company and start your journey.

Why Do Foreigners Outsource in the Philippines?

Foreigners choose the Philippines as the place to find their eCommerce virtual assistant for many reasons. Handling an online store is not easy – you have to make sure that your workers can manage all the tasks and have the necessary skills and knowledge for your marketing strategy. Luckily, Filipinos are many people’s favorite employees.

On the one hand, Filipinos have a very high work ethic and are extremely friendly. Thus, if you hire one to become a virtual assistant for your website, you’re getting a great person that’s open to learning from your management.

Additionally, workers from the Philippines charge much less than the ones from other countries, such as the United States. Lastly, most Filipino employees speak fluent English and can quickly adapt to Western cultures, which makes them ideal for customer support jobs and other similar positions. Thus, the choice to outsource Philippines VAs can become a great benefit for your company.

Final Thoughts

The management of online services is not easy especially if you have a store. Take a look at big competitors such as Shopify. It didn’t become famous overnight – it took a long time before the company had many customers.

However, when you outsource, the journey is easier and much more rewarding. You have helpful workers by your side that can aid with difficult processes, especially regarding your customers and services. Now that you know more about it, you can start improving your online business!