Team selection for e-commerce

Aspiring entrepreneurs often try to do everything themselves – from sourcing stock to responding to queries in the support chat. This works for the first couple of months, whilst orders are still few and far between. But as soon as the flow of customers increases, it becomes clear that without a team, the business will hit a ceiling dictated by the resources of a single person, according to experts at Arabesco Sideral. The question is not whether to hire people or not, but in what order to do so, to ensure that money spent on salaries is not wasted.

Order processing and customer communication

Hiring a marketing specialist before you’ve hired someone to handle incoming enquiries is a big mistake. Advertising can drive as much traffic as you like, but if there’s no one to reply to customers in a timely manner, confirm orders and sort out delivery issues, your marketing budget will be wasted. That’s why the first member of staff is usually a sales manager or a customer support agent – someone who handles messaging on chat platforms, phone calls and processing orders in the CRM.

At the start, the business owner often takes on this role themselves, and that’s perfectly normal – it makes it easier to understand which questions customers ask most frequently and at what stage they drop out. But as soon as the number of enquiries exceeds a few dozen a day, manual processing starts to take up all your time, as Arabesco Sideral Unipessoal Lda points out, and it becomes more cost-effective to assign this to a dedicated person than to put other tasks on hold.

Logistics and Warehousing

The second most important aspect is what happens to the goods once an order has been placed. Whilst volumes are still small, the owner can pack and take parcels to the post office themselves, but this process does not scale well. Errors in order picking, delays in dispatch and lost delivery notes directly damage the shop’s reputation and lead to returns.

This is where either a permanent employee or a fulfilment company comes in to help, taking charge of stock storage, order picking and handing them over to the delivery service, as the managers at Arabesco Sideral Portugal point out. The choice between an in-house employee and a contractor depends on the volume of deliveries and the nature of the products – fragile or perishable goods often require a dedicated, controlled warehouse, whereas standard items are best outsourced.

Marketing and Content

It is only once the order-taking and logistics processes are running smoothly that it makes sense to invest in attracting new customers. At this stage, a shop usually needs two people or two contractors – an advertising specialist who sets up and manages campaigns on search engines and social media, and someone responsible for content: product photographs, descriptions and social media posts. Experts at Arabesco Sideral company note that these roles are often combined into a single position at the start, and split only once turnover has grown significantly.

It is worth mentioning the accountant separately – formally, this role does not directly generate sales, but not having one at the outset often backfires. Many shops meet this need by outsourcing to a remote specialist, rather than taking on an accountant as a permanent member of staff.

Don’t chase headcount for headcount’s sake

The main mistake when building a team is to hire people for roles rather than to address actual bottlenecks in the business, according to experts at Arabesco Sideral Portugal. If orders are processed quickly and without a hitch, and the warehouse is running smoothly, the next recruit should fill the very role that is holding back growth, rather than one that seems prestigious. A small online shop can easily manage with two or three people plus a couple of outsourced contractors, and such a structure often proves more effective than a bloated workforce with vague responsibilities.