Business and Financial Operations · Holland code CE
Online Merchants
Conduct retail activities of businesses operating exclusively online. May perform duties such as preparing business strategies, buying merchandise, managing inventory, implementing marketing activities, fulfilling and shipping online orders, and balancing financial records.
Also called: Online Services Manager.
O*NET 13-1199.06
At a glance
- US median annual pay
- $83,050
- Middle half earn $62,640 to $114,010. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
- Most common education
- Bachelor's Degree
- 41% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
- Preparation needed
- Job Zone 4 of 5
- Considerable preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
What the work involves
The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.
- Fill customer orders by packaging sold items and documentation for direct shipping or by transferring orders to manufacturers or third-party distributors.
- Receive and process payments from customers, using electronic transaction services.
- Create, manage, or automate orders or invoices, using order management or invoicing software.
- Deliver e-mail confirmation of completed transactions and shipment.
- Correspond with online customers via electronic mail, telephone, or other electronic messaging to address questions or complaints about products, policies, or shipping methods.
- Purchase new or used items from online or physical sources for resale via retail or auction Web site.
- Design customer interface of online storefront, using web programming or e-commerce software.
- Determine and set product prices.
Skills and knowledge it leans on
Skills
- Reading Comprehension3.6 / 5
- Active Listening3.5 / 5
- Speaking3.5 / 5
- Critical Thinking3.5 / 5
- Writing3.4 / 5
- Monitoring3.1 / 5
Knowledge areas
- English Language4.2 / 5
- Sales and Marketing4.0 / 5
- Customer and Personal Service3.9 / 5
- Communications and Media3.6 / 5
- Administration and Management3.6 / 5
- Computers and Electronics3.6 / 5
Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.
Who tends to enjoy it
How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.
- Realistic24
- Investigative10
- Artistic15
- Social22
- Enterprising80
- Conventional83
The same work abroad
Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.
European occupation titles (ESCO)
- online sales channel manager · DE Online-Vertriebsmanager/Online-Vertriebsmanagerin · FR responsable e-commerce
- eBusiness manager · DE E-Business-Manager/E-Business-Managerin · FR responsable du commerce électronique
- online marketer · DE Online-Marketingspezialist/Online-Marketingspezialistin · FR agent de commercialisation en ligne
- online community manager · DE Online Community Manager/Online Community Managerin · FR responsable de la communauté en ligne
- wholesale merchant in computers, computer peripheral equipment and software · DE Großhändler für Computer, Peripheriegeräte und Software/Großhändlerin für Computer, Peripheriegeräte und Software · FR négociant grossiste en ordinateurs, équipements informatiques périphériques et logiciels/négociante grossiste en ordinateurs, équipements informatiques périphériques et logiciels
Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)
- Marketing and commercial managers (2432)140,600 employed
- Advertising and marketing associate professionals (3554)211,800 employed
- Advertising accounts managers and creative directors (2494)55,700 employed
Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.
Pay across Europe, for the whole group
Median annual earnings of all employees in “Professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.
| Country | Median pay |
|---|---|
| Belgium | €61,714 |
| Germany | €59,529 |
| Ireland | €56,877 |
| Austria | €55,374 |
| Netherlands | €53,595 |
| Sweden | €43,567 |
| France | €41,515 |
| Spain | €35,735 |
| Italy | €33,649 |
| Portugal | €26,072 |
| Poland | €14,380 |
Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.
Exposure to AI
This occupation sits in the higher third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of +1.05. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.
Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.
Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (13-1199).
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