Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for E-commerce Business Analyst
💰 $75,000 - $115,000
🎯 Role Definition
As an E-commerce Business Analyst, you are the critical link between our strategic business objectives and our technology-driven e-commerce platform. You will dive deep into data, processes, and user behavior to uncover insights that drive growth, enhance customer satisfaction, and improve operational efficiency. This role requires a unique blend of analytical prowess, technical understanding, and business acumen to translate complex business needs into actionable requirements for our development and marketing teams. You will be instrumental in shaping the future of our digital storefront, ensuring we deliver a world-class online shopping experience.
📈 Career Progression
Typical Career Path
Entry Point From:
- Junior Business Analyst
- Data Analyst
- E-commerce Coordinator or Specialist
- Marketing Analyst
Advancement To:
- Senior E-commerce Business Analyst
- E-commerce Product Manager or Product Owner
- E-commerce Manager
- Business Intelligence (BI) Manager
Lateral Moves:
- UX Researcher
- Digital Marketing Strategist
- Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) Specialist
Core Responsibilities
Primary Functions
- Analyze e-commerce website performance, including sales data, customer behavior, conversion rates, and traffic patterns to identify trends and opportunities for improvement.
- Elicit, analyze, and document business, functional, and non-functional requirements from stakeholders across marketing, sales, and operations teams.
- Translate complex business needs into detailed, clear, and concise user stories, acceptance criteria, and technical specifications for development teams.
- Create and maintain process flow diagrams, wireframes, and business process models to visualize current and future state e-commerce operations.
- Act as the primary liaison between business stakeholders and the IT/development teams, ensuring a shared understanding of project goals and requirements.
- Develop and manage a prioritized backlog of e-commerce features and enhancements in collaboration with the Product Manager.
- Lead and coordinate User Acceptance Testing (UAT) to ensure that developed solutions meet business requirements and quality standards.
- Utilize web analytics tools like Google Analytics and Adobe Analytics to monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) and generate actionable insights.
- Design, execute, and analyze A/B and multivariate tests to optimize user experience, on-site funnels, and conversion rates.
- Create and maintain comprehensive dashboards and reports using data visualization tools (e.g., Tableau, Power BI) to communicate performance to senior leadership.
- Conduct thorough competitor analysis and market research to identify emerging trends, best practices, and new technologies in the e-commerce landscape.
- Map the end-to-end customer journey to identify friction points and opportunities for enhancing the user experience.
- Investigate and troubleshoot production issues, performing root cause analysis on data discrepancies or system-level problems.
- Collaborate with UX/UI designers to ensure that new features and designs are grounded in user data and business objectives.
- Define success metrics and measurement plans for new features and initiatives to evaluate their impact post-launch.
- Facilitate workshops, interviews, and requirement-gathering sessions with cross-functional teams to build consensus and define project scope.
- Manage requirements traceability from inception through to delivery, ensuring all business needs are addressed in the final product.
- Evaluate the business impact of various e-commerce platform integrations, such as PIM, DAM, ERP, and CRM systems.
- Serve as a subject matter expert on the e-commerce platform's functionality, capabilities, and underlying data structures.
- Support the strategic planning process by providing data-driven recommendations for the e-commerce product roadmap.
Secondary Functions
- Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis to answer pressing business questions.
- Contribute to the organization's data governance and data quality initiatives.
- Assist in the training of business users on new tools, system features, and reporting dashboards.
- Participate in sprint planning, retrospectives, and other agile ceremonies within the development team.
Required Skills & Competencies
Hard Skills (Technical)
- SQL Proficiency: Strong ability to write complex queries to extract and manipulate data from relational databases.
- Data Visualization Tools: Expertise in creating dashboards and reports using tools like Tableau, Power BI, Looker, or Google Data Studio.
- Web Analytics Platforms: In-depth knowledge of Google Analytics (GA4) and/or Adobe Analytics for tracking user behavior and campaign performance.
- E-commerce Platform Knowledge: Hands-on experience with major e-commerce platforms such as Shopify Plus, Magento (Adobe Commerce), BigCommerce, or Salesforce Commerce Cloud.
- A/B Testing & Optimization: Familiarity with testing tools like Optimizely, VWO, or Google Optimize to run and analyze experiments.
- Agile Methodologies: Proficient in working within Agile/Scrum frameworks and using tools like Jira and Confluence to manage backlogs and documentation.
- Requirements Documentation: Skilled in creating clear and effective business requirements documents (BRDs), user stories, and acceptance criteria.
- Advanced Spreadsheet Skills: Mastery of Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets for data analysis, including pivot tables, lookups, and modeling.
Soft Skills
- Stakeholder Management: Ability to engage, influence, and manage expectations with stakeholders at all levels of the organization.
- Analytical & Critical Thinking: A strong aptitude for dissecting complex problems, identifying root causes, and proposing data-driven solutions.
- Exceptional Communication: Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to translate technical concepts for non-technical audiences.
- Commercial Acumen: A solid understanding of e-commerce business models, retail operations, and what drives profitability.
- Attention to Detail: Meticulous and thorough in analysis, documentation, and testing to ensure accuracy and quality.
- Presentation & Storytelling: Capable of presenting complex data and insights in a clear, compelling narrative that drives action.
Education & Experience
Educational Background
Minimum Education:
- Bachelor's Degree in a relevant field.
Preferred Education:
- Master's Degree (MBA, MS in Analytics) or a professional certification such as Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP).
Relevant Fields of Study:
- Business Administration
- Information Systems
- Computer Science
- Marketing
- Statistics or Economics
Experience Requirements
Typical Experience Range: 3-7 years of experience in a business analysis, data analysis, or product ownership role.
Preferred: At least 2 years of direct experience working within a B2C or DTC e-commerce environment is highly preferred.