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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Online Sales Representative

💰 $ - $

🎯 Role Definition

The Online Sales Representative is responsible for driving revenue growth across digital channels by managing inbound and outbound customer interactions, converting leads into customers, and optimizing the online buyer journey. This role blends consultative selling, strong product knowledge, and digital tools proficiency (CRM, e-commerce platforms, live chat) to acquire new customers, retain existing accounts, and increase average order value through upsell and cross-sell tactics. Ideal candidates excel in data-driven decision making, clear written and verbal communication, and thrive in fast-paced remote or hybrid e-commerce environments.

Keywords: online sales representative, e-commerce sales, digital sales, CRM, lead generation, conversion rate optimization, upsell, cross-sell, customer acquisition.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Customer Service Representative (digital or call center)
  • Inside Sales Representative or Business Development Rep
  • Retail Sales Associate with strong e-commerce aptitude

Advancement To:

  • Senior Online Sales Representative / Account Manager
  • E-commerce Sales Manager or Team Lead
  • Digital Sales Operations Manager

Lateral Moves:

  • Customer Success Specialist
  • Digital Marketing Coordinator
  • Marketplace Specialist (Amazon, eBay, Shopify partner roles)

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Prospect, qualify, and convert inbound and outbound leads sourced from website inquiries, live chat, email campaigns, social media, and marketplace platforms to meet or exceed monthly online sales targets and KPIs.
  • Manage the entire online sales cycle from first contact through order completion and post-sale follow-up, ensuring timely communication and a high-quality digital customer experience.
  • Use CRM systems (e.g., Salesforce, HubSpot) to log interactions, track pipeline stages, forecast revenue, and maintain accurate customer records for reporting and future outreach.
  • Respond to customer questions and objections via multiple digital channels (live chat, email, phone, SMS, social DMs) with clear, persuasive, and brand-consistent messaging to drive conversions.
  • Conduct personalized product consultations and needs assessments to recommend relevant solutions, increase basket size, and improve lifetime customer value through strategic upsell and cross-sell tactics.
  • Optimize product listings and promotional messaging on e-commerce platforms and marketplaces (Shopify, Magento, Amazon) in coordination with merchandising and marketing to maximize discoverability and conversion rates.
  • Implement and follow lead-nurturing sequences and marketing automation workflows to convert warm prospects into customers while collaborating with marketing to refine messaging and segment targeting.
  • Track and analyze performance metrics — conversion rate, average order value, customer acquisition cost, and churn — to continuously refine sales tactics and prioritize high-value opportunities.
  • Execute promotional campaigns, limited-time offers, and bundled deals in alignment with marketing calendars to drive short-term revenue spikes and clear inventory.
  • Manage returns, exchanges, and refunds in accordance with company policy while maintaining customer satisfaction and protecting company margins.
  • Build and maintain strong relationships with cross-functional teams (marketing, fulfillment, product, customer support) to ensure seamless order processing and consistent customer journeys.
  • Provide feedback to product and merchandising teams about customer preferences, recurring objections, and competitive pricing to influence assortment, pricing, and website UX improvements.
  • Maintain deep product knowledge, including technical specifications, shipping options, warranty terms, and payment methods, enabling confident, accurate responses and increased close rates.
  • Prepare daily and weekly sales reports, pipeline updates, and post-campaign analyses to support leadership decision-making and continuous process improvement.
  • Qualify and escalate high-value or complex opportunities to account executives or field sales when required, ensuring a smooth handoff and coordinated customer engagement.
  • Manage pricing exceptions, promotional codes, and discounts in the CRM or e-commerce platform within approved guidelines to close business and protect profitability.
  • Coordinate with logistics and fulfillment teams to resolve shipping discrepancies, expedite urgent orders, and proactively communicate delays or issues to customers.
  • Use A/B testing and conversion optimization principles to experiment with messaging, offers, and scripts, documenting results and rolling out successful tactics across the team.
  • Maintain a pipeline of repeatable, scalable sales activities such as scheduled outreach cadences and referral asks to increase recurring revenue from existing customers.
  • Attend product launches, sales training, and weekly stand-ups to stay current on promotions, new features, and competitive differentiators that impact selling conversations.
  • Monitor competitor pricing, promotions, and marketplace trends to adjust selling strategies, messaging, and objection handling in near real-time.
  • Adhere to data privacy, PCI, and company compliance standards when handling customer information and payment details, escalating suspicious activity to the security team.

Secondary Functions

  • Support ad-hoc reporting requests and contribute to exploratory data analysis to identify top-performing segments, channels, and messaging strategies.
  • Help refine the organization's online sales playbook by documenting successful scripts, objection handling, and escalation paths.
  • Assist in QA testing of website checkout flows, cart recovery tooling, and live chat automation to ensure a frictionless customer experience.
  • Participate in cross-functional sprints or launch teams to provide frontline sales perspective on product features and marketing collateral.
  • Mentor new hires and support onboarding by sharing best practices, CRM usage tips, and platform-specific selling techniques.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • CRM proficiency: experienced with Salesforce, HubSpot, Microsoft Dynamics, or equivalent for pipeline management, contact segmentation, and reporting.
  • E-commerce platform experience: Shopify, Magento, BigCommerce, or native marketplace seller consoles (Amazon Seller Central, eBay) for order management and listing optimization.
  • Live chat & conversational sales tools: Intercom, Zendesk Chat, Drift, or Gorgias for real-time customer engagement and conversion.
  • Email and marketing automation basics: familiarity with Mailchimp, Klaviyo, or HubSpot sequences to support lead nurturing and cart recovery.
  • Analytics & reporting: solid working knowledge of Google Analytics, Excel/Google Sheets (pivot tables, VLOOKUP), and basic sales dashboarding to interpret performance metrics.
  • Payment & order systems: understanding of payment gateways, fraud indicators, chargebacks, and order management workflows.
  • Digital marketing literacy: basic understanding of paid search, social ads, SEO, and how paid campaigns drive qualified traffic and revenue.
  • A/B testing & CRO fundamentals: ability to run simple experiments on product pages and messaging and interpret results to improve conversion rates.
  • Product knowledge skills: able to quickly learn technical specs, warranties, and compliance requirements relevant to the product set.
  • Multichannel selling skills: experience coordinating pricing, promotions, and inventory across web, marketplaces, and social commerce channels.

Soft Skills

  • Strong written and verbal communication tailored for digital channels and remote customer interactions.
  • Consultative selling and active listening to uncover customer needs and recommend tailored solutions.
  • Negotiation and objection-handling skills that balance customer satisfaction with margin protection.
  • Time management and organization to manage multiple conversations, follow-ups, and pipelines simultaneously.
  • Resilience and adaptability in a fast-paced, metric-driven environment with frequent product and policy updates.
  • Empathy and customer-centric mindset focused on building trust and long-term relationships.
  • Problem-solving and critical thinking to diagnose customer issues and coordinate cross-team solutions.
  • Collaboration and teamwork to work effectively with marketing, fulfillment, and product teams.
  • Data-driven decision making: comfortable using metrics to influence daily selling priorities and process improvements.
  • Attention to detail when handling orders, promotions, and compliance-sensitive customer data.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • High school diploma or equivalent; demonstrated sales experience preferred.

Preferred Education:

  • Associate or Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, Communications, or related field.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Business Administration
  • Marketing
  • Communications
  • E-commerce / Digital Commerce
  • Data Analytics (applied to sales/marketing)

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 1–4 years of online or inside sales experience, customer success, or e-commerce support.

Preferred:

  • 2+ years’ experience selling through digital channels or marketplaces, with proven track record meeting revenue targets and using CRM tooling.
  • Prior experience with B2C/B2B online sales, live chat conversions, and cross-functional collaboration with marketing and operations.
  • Demonstrated ability to manage a sales pipeline, interpret conversion metrics, and apply CRO tactics to improve performance.
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