Benefits of hiring an Ecommerce Consultant.

What is an ecommerce consultant?

An e-commerce consultant is a professional with extensive experience in industry who is contracted for a specific period to advise a merchant on their e-commerce strategy. Oftentimes, an e-commerce consultant is engaged when a merchant is looking to launch a new store on multiple platforms or re-vamp a current store to become more competitive/modern/user-friendly.

The consultant's focus is primarily big picture. They can provide competitive analysis, problem diagnosis, and expansion roadmaps. Consultants can be ideal for companies seeking to fix specific issues, an overall plan for ecommerce growth, or advice for media budgets and planning.

The advantages of an ecommerce consultant:

• They can provide expert objective external insights for the merchant.

• Without the overhead and man-power to cover, a consultant is typically far more cost-effective than an ad agency. (Hourly vs. monthly retainer)

• A consultant can provide more one-on-one attention like a member of your team,.

• They can advise client on multiple topics that are not usually agency related such as platform options, fulfillment options, asset management systems, and hardware. Most agencies specialize in one particular platform --like Shopify.

• Can train in-house staff to utilize ecommerce store.

• Will usually produce a marketing plan, SOW, or other business plan as documentation of their work.

  
  

When the merchant selects a plan to implement:

• The consultant may implement plan with assistance of free-lance professionals.

• The consultant may work with in-house personnel to implement plan.

• The merchant may take plan to an agency to implement.