E-commerce retailer education requirements

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

There are several educational requirements to become an e-commerce retailer. E-commerce retailers usually study business, specialized sales and merchandising, or public relations. 87% of e-commerce retailers hold a bachelor's degree, and 7% hold an high school diploma. We analyzed 32 real e-commerce retailer resumes to see exactly what e-commerce retailer education sections show.

The most common colleges for e-commerce retailers are the Syracuse University and the Syracuse University.

There are also many online e-commerce retailer courses to help get the education required to be an e-commerce retailer.

What education do you need to become an e-commerce retailer?

What degree do you need to be an e-commerce retailer?

The most common degree for e-commerce retailers is bachelor's degree, with 87% of e-commerce retailers earning that degree. The second and third most common degree levels are high school diploma degree at 7% and high school diploma degree at 7%.

Bachelor's, 87%

High School Diploma, 7%

Associate, 7%

What should I major in to become an e-commerce retailer?

You should major in business to become an e-commerce retailer. 20% of e-commerce retailers major in business. Other common majors for an e-commerce retailer include specialized sales and merchandising and public relations.

Business, 20%

Specialized Sales And Merchandising, 10%

Public Relations, 10%

Marketing, 5%

Other Majors, 55%

Most common colleges for e-commerce retailers

E-commerce retailers often get their degrees at Syracuse University, University of Washington, and Howard University. Here are the most common colleges for e-commerce retailers in the US based on their resumes.

E-commerce retailer common college	Percentages
Syracuse University	8.33%
University of Washington	8.33%
Howard University	8.33%
University of North Texas	8.33%
Middle Tennessee State University	8.33%

Show more common e-commerce retailer colleges

Best majors for e-commerce retailers

Rank	Major	Percentages
1	Business	20.0%
2	Specialized Sales And Merchandising	10.0%
3	Public Relations	10.0%
4	Marketing	5.0%
5	Finance	5.0%

Show more common e-commerce retailer majors

Best colleges for e-commerce retailers

The best colleges for e-commerce retailers are Northwestern University, Northeastern University, and University of Southern California.

An e-commerce retailer with advanced education typically earns a higher salary and has access to better jobs. That's why Zippia looked into the best colleges for e-commerce retailers. We based this list on several metrics: admissions rate, retention rate, mean earnings of graduates, the ratio of working vs. non-working students ten years after admission, the average cost of attendance, and median debt for graduates who become e-commerce retailers.

1. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$56,225

Enrollment

19,548

2. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, NC • Private

In-state tuition

$8,987

Enrollment

18,946

3. Northeastern University

Boston, MA • Private

In-state tuition

$51,522

Enrollment

13,760

4. San Diego State University

San Diego, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$7,488

Enrollment

30,018

5. University of Washington

Seattle, WA • Private

In-state tuition

$11,207

Enrollment

30,905

6. Boston University

Boston, MA • Private

In-state tuition

$53,948

Enrollment

17,238

7. University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

Minneapolis, MN • Private

In-state tuition

$14,760

Enrollment

31,451

8. University of Texas at Austin

Austin, TX • Private

In-state tuition

$10,610

Enrollment

40,329

9. University of Georgia

Athens, GA • Private

In-state tuition

$11,830

Enrollment

29,474

10. Howard University

Washington, DC • Private

In-state tuition

$26,756

Enrollment

6,166

20 best online courses for e-commerce retailers

Advertising disclosure

1. Retail Customer Service

The Retail Customer Service course examines the day-to-day tasks that will be tackled in a retail customer service setting, including advanced skills such as returns and exchanges. You will apply guidelines for transactions such as sales, returns, exchanges, and data entry for customer information in real simulations. You will also observe the skills within a retail community location, evaluating the types of tasks observed and shared with a group of peers. You will complete sample transactions...

2. Fashion Retail Transformation

In this course, Parsons faculty and industry experts dive deep into the transformation of fashion retail. You’ll explore the fusion of retail and entertainment and the increasing importance of omnichannel client relationships. Through an examination of disruptive retail innovations, such as on-demand delivery and virtual reality, you’ll learn how industry leaders are keeping up with customer expectations. You’ll look at e-commerce strategies through the lens of listening to and applying...

3. MBA: Retail business, Merchandising, and E-commerce

4.5

(307)

Build and grow your own retail business and e-commerce...

4. WordPress E-commerce: Build 3 Websites & Dropshipping Stores

4.4

(967)

Learn Woo Commerce, how to create physical & digital products, set shipping options & tax rates, dropshipping and more...

5. Google Digital Marketing & E-commerce

Prepare for a new career in the high-growth fields of digital marketing and e-commerce, in under six months, no experience or degree required. Businesses need digital marketing and e-commerce talent more than ever before; 86% of business leaders report that digital commerce will be the most important route to growth. There are over 213,000 open jobs in digital marketing and e-commerce with a median entry-level salary of $59,000.¹\n\nThroughout this program, you will gain in-demand skills that...

6. Google Digital Marketing & E-commerce

7. Retail for Business Analysts and Management Consultants

4.6

(2,563)

A practical guide with cases studies how to analyze and improve a retail business during management consulting projects...

8. WordPress E-Commerce With WooCommerce: Novice To Store Owner

(897)

Build ECommerce website with Word Press, Woo Commerce, Pay Pal, Stripe, Multi-Currency, Orders, Reviews, Reports...

9. CVS Health Retail Customer Service

The demand for customer service representatives is huge, there are thousands of open job roles in the US alone. This program prepares you for a retail customer service role. Retail customer service is an exciting career where every day is a new day and a new adventure. The target audience for this certificate is anyone who is customer obsessed and is looking to launch a career in retail customer service.\n\nThis program uniquely prepares you for your new role by using a blend of videos,...

10. Marketing Analytics & Retail Business Management using Excel

4.4

(1,259)

Retail analytics using MS Excel - Covering Forecasting, Market Basket, RFM, Customer Valuation & Price Bundling...

11. Professional Diploma in Digitalization of Retail Banking

4.2

(272)

Digital at sales, cross-sale, loyalty increase and costs, risks decrease. Practical cases and profitability assessment...

12. Facebook Ads & Instagram Ads For E-Commerce [For Beginners]

4.6

(909)

Sell More: Guide to Selling with Facebook Ads & Instagram Ads. Find your Customers with Meta Conversion Ads. Use Chat GPT...

13. E-Commerce Business Guide to Alibaba for eBay & Amazon

4.2

(300)

Learn how to find, source, and import hot selling products from Alibaba to resell on e Bay, Amazon, & Facebook!...

14. Complete E-Commerce Course - Java,Spring,Hibernate and MySQL

(773)

Step-by-step guide on how to develop a complete E-Commerce website with both front-end and back-end...

15. Facebook Ads For E-Commerce: Guide To Selling Any Product

(310)

Learn The Facebook Marketing & Facebook Advertising strategies I use to make over $1,000 each day on Shopify...

16. Shopify SEO 2022 - The Ultimate E-commerce SEO Store Guide

(537)

UPDATED SEPTEMBER 2020 for 2021/22 - The Ultimate SEO & Traffic Guide For Shopify FREE Google Traffic...

17. Retail Management

4.3

(364)

Retailing includes all business activities involved in selling goods and services to end consumers...

18. Store Design: How to Design Successful Retail Stores

4.2

(358)

Everything you need to know to create effective brick & mortar retail stores: Image, Display, Storefront, and Lighting...

19. Diploma Course in Retail Management

4.3

(397)

Enhance your skills (Operations/Sales/VM/HR/SCM) in the ever growing Retail industry - Cover latest trends, casestudies...

20. Learn to build an e-commerce app with.Net Core and Angular

4.7

(3,631)

Build a proof of concept e-commerce store using Angular, .Net and Stripe for payment processing...

Top 10 most affordable universities for e-commerce retailers

The most affordable schools for e-commerce retailers are Baruch College of the City University of New York, university of florida, and california state university - long beach.

If the best universities for e-commerce retailers are out of your price range, check out these affordable schools. After factoring in in-state tuition and fees, the average cost of attendance, admissions rate, average net price, and mean earnings after six years, we found that these are the most affordable schools for e-commerce retailers.

1. Baruch College of the City University of New York

New York, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$7,262

Cost of attendance

14,046

2. University of Florida

Gainesville, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$6,381

Cost of attendance

21,034

3. California State University - Long Beach

Long Beach, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,798

Cost of attendance

18,306

4. Brigham Young University

Provo, UT • Private

In-state tuition

$5,620

Cost of attendance

18,136

5. California State University - Dominguez Hills

Carson, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,942

Cost of attendance

14,469

6. California State University - Bakersfield

Bakersfield, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$7,309

Cost of attendance

16,714

7. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, NC • Private

In-state tuition

$8,987

Cost of attendance

25,527

8. SUNY Farmingdale

Farmingdale, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$8,306

Cost of attendance

16,091

9. California State University - Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,749

Cost of attendance

14,823

10. University of South Florida

Tampa, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$6,410

Cost of attendance

20,456

Top 10 hardest universities to get into for e-commerce retailers

The hardest universities for e-commerce retailers to get into are Northwestern University, Northeastern University, and University of Southern California.

Some great schools for e-commerce retailers are hard to get into, but they also set your career up for greater success. The list below shows the most challenging universities to get into for e-commerce retailers based on an institution's admissions rates, average SAT scores accepted, median ACT scores accepted, and mean earnings of students six years after admission.

1. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

Admissions rate

SAT average

1,508

2. Northeastern University

Boston, MA • Private

Admissions rate

19%

SAT average

1,466

3. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

Admissions rate

13%

SAT average

1,445

4. Boston University

Boston, MA • Private

Admissions rate

22%

SAT average

1,420

5. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

Admissions rate

SAT average

1,492

6. New York University

New York, NY • Private

Admissions rate

20%

SAT average

1,419

7. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, NC • Private

Admissions rate

23%

SAT average

1,398

8. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

Admissions rate

SAT average

1,497

9. Georgetown University

Washington, DC • Private

Admissions rate

15%

SAT average

1,456

10. George Washington University, The

Washington, DC • Private

Admissions rate

42%

SAT average

1,380

Top 10 easy-to-apply-to universities for e-commerce retailers

The easiest schools for e-commerce retailers to get into are University of the Incarnate Word, barry university, and nyack college.

Some schools are much easier to get into. If you want to start your career as an e-commerce retailer without much hassle, check out the list of schools where you will be accepted in no time. We compiled admissions rates, average SAT scores, average ACT scores, and average salary of students six years after graduation to uncover which were the easiest schools to get into for e-commerce retailers.

1. University of the Incarnate Word

San Antonio, TX • Private

Admissions rate

88%

SAT average

1,044

2. Barry University

Miami, FL • Private

Admissions rate

91%

SAT average

1,006

3. Nyack College

New York, NY • Private

Admissions rate

98%

SAT average

999

4. Notre Dame College

Cleveland, OH • Private

Admissions rate

90%

SAT average

994

5. Saint Joseph's College of Maine

Standish, ME • Private

Admissions rate

84%

SAT average

1,069

6. Oklahoma Wesleyan University

Bartlesville, OK • Private

Admissions rate

68%

SAT average

964

7. Cardinal Stritch University

Milwaukee, WI • Private

Admissions rate

71%

SAT average

1,035

8. Wayland Baptist University

Plainview, TX • Private

Admissions rate

98%

SAT average

1,003

9. Our Lady of the Lake University

San Antonio, TX • Private

Admissions rate

93%

SAT average

1,002

10. Curry College

Milton, MA • Private

Admissions rate

93%

SAT average

1,026

Average e-commerce retailer salary by education level

E-commerce retailers with a Doctorate degree earn more than those without, at $65,969 annually. With a Master's degree, e-commerce retailers earn a median annual income of $64,771 compared to $58,895 for e-commerce retailers with an Bachelor's degree.

E-commerce retailer education level	E-commerce retailer salary
Master's Degree	$64,771
Bachelor's Degree	$58,895
Doctorate Degree	$65,969
Some College/ Associate Degree	$51,269

E-commerce retailer education FAQs

What is the best college for E-Commerce Retailers?

Have more questions? See all answers to common business and financial questions.

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Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

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