How To Become An E-Commerce Merchant: What It Is and Career Path

What is an e-commerce merchant and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

An e-commerce merchant is a company or an individual who offers goods and services exclusively over the Internet. This line of work has an interesting timeline and shifts in history. And today, the trade has once again evolved with the advancement in technology and availability of various digital tools.

Different from online sellers who simply buy products and post them for resale, the e-commerce merchant or online merchant takes charge of the inventory and financial process of a store or an organization. Their roles also involve product promotion, transactions handling, payments processing, and brand formation.

Although exposed to the risks associated with fraud and system glitches, the e-commerce merchant maximizes digital tools to widen their customer base, amplify global sales, and lower the costs.

The most common e-marketplaces are Amazon and eBay. Third-party sales channels like Shopify, WooCommerce ,and BigCommerce are also fine sale platforms.

ScoreE-Commerce MerchantUS Average

Salary

2.7

Avg. Salary $34,427

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.0

Growth rate 19%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.3

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.43%

Asian 8.83%

Black or African American 6.36%

Hispanic or Latino 9.39%

Unknown 4.56%

White 70.43%

Gender

female 48.61%

male 51.39%

Age - 43

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 43

Stress level

7.0

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.5

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.0

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an e-commerce merchant

Explore e-commerce merchant education requirements

Most common e-commerce merchant degrees

Bachelor's

65.9 %

Associate

16.5 %

High School Diploma

6.2 %

Start to develop specific e-commerce merchant skills

Skills	Percentages
Photography	14.11%
Market Trends	8.77%
Customer Service	8.58%
Photo Shoots	6.99%
Online Sales	4.90%

Complete relevant e-commerce merchant training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New e-commerce merchants learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an e-commerce merchant based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real e-commerce merchant resumes.

Research e-commerce merchant duties and responsibilities

Create and manage FAQ, QA, copywriting and other tasks relate project management in support of front-end experience.
Manage in house photography studio and execute high quality product photography for e-commerce website.
Manage projects by maintaining product catalog using CMS, marketing/project calendars and assets/deliverables for online projects.
Perform QA for site re-launch.

Prepare your e-commerce merchant resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your e-commerce merchant resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an e-commerce merchant resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable e-commerce merchant resume templates

Build a professional e-commerce merchant resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your e-commerce merchant resume.

Apply for e-commerce merchant jobs

Now it's time to start searching for an e-commerce merchant job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do e-commerce merchants rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

E-commerce merchant reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Feb 2023

Cons

It's incredibly tedious and very boring work. It doesn't pay very much when you're starting out. It's an easy job, but if you care about your career and want to do something you are passionate about that actually makes a difference, this is likely not it. And if you want to be able to afford living in general, good luck as this job pays about as much as a teacher makes (give or take depending on the company, position, etc.). I am bored and leaving this career path as soon as I can.

A zippia user wrote a review on May 2019

Pros

To be involved in negotiations