Ways To Build An Ecommerce Agency In A Hybrid Model

Building a successful eCommerce agency is tough, and we know it.

We’ve been in the trenches for years and can speak from our own experience how challenging it can be to grow online sales when you work in a brick-and-mortar business with limited resources.

But ever since the pandemic started, it took the challenge to another level. As per Gartner, roughly 41% of employees were forced to work remotely, making transaction processing more challenging.

In spite of all this, we’ve been able to build a successful ecommerce agency by jumping through hoops and getting some creative solutions from some clever people who have been thinking outside the box for years.

Experts call it a hybrid work – a way of working that involves a combination of remote and onsite employees with a hybrid approach that allows us to adapt as our client needs change.

Understand that the hybrid model is a very powerful tool that helps us to do more efficiently and effectively – which is why we’re going to share with you some of the ways we’ve been able to beat the competition.

1. Check if meetings are necessary. If not, don’t have them.

We’re not the biggest fans of meetings. And to be honest, we prefer to communicate via phone or email than meeting face-to-face for just any reason.

Meetings are expensive and time-consuming – wasting time, connections, and productivity. So don’t waste your team’s time by holding useless meetings; instead, check if the issues raised during the call can be resolved via email or other means like video chat or website chat tools.

2. Designate a virtual team leader

You don’t have to “play the manager” – you can let your employees do their work and take one step back so you can see the big picture. Consider it as a delegation of authority, one that gives your employees more room to work and allows you to focus on review and quality control.

In an eCommerce agency, it’s important to ensure all employees work in sync and do their tasks correctly. So, you can give your virtual team leader the power to make decisions and set deadlines and quality checks.

3. Share and train your team to work in a cross-functional environment

Yes, we’re aware that it might cause some discomfort when moving from an office to a virtual one when mixing up roles. But if you want to build a successful eCommerce agency in the long term, then this is what you need to do.

For instance, you have a newly-hired eCommerce web developer. You’re planning to put her in charge of the project, but she doesn’t know much about Wix, Shopify Lite or social media. What do you do?

Well, you teach her about both these tasks through online tutorials.

You mean it! They are free, they are easy to understand, and if she has time for it after handling the project, then why not? This way, at least your employee will learn something new and will become more valuable than ever before.

4. Do onboarding.

The vast majority of us start our jobs fresh out of college. But if you’re working for an agency, you are bound to have some skills that are hard or impossible to learn on the job.

So, once your new employee starts his job, don’t wait for him to figure out what exactly he needs to be doing. Instead, offer him an online tutorial that teaches him the basics of the eCommerce work process.

5. Create a remote team directory.

We need to pass our work to other clients, so we shouldn’t restrict our ideas and thoughts just to our teammates.

That’s why you must create an internal network of your existing team members. Create a dedicated page where all the team members can list their skills and link them to their co-workers who might require their help or expertise.

6. Communication is the key.

Since you’re not working in a traditional office, staying connected becomes a challenge for you and your team. You’ll have to spend more time communicating with each other since there is no ‘heads-up’ to receive from a face-to-face conversation.

That’s why you need to create a clear, efficient, and flexible work schedule that allows team members to share their progress in real-time. Apps like Slack, Skype, and Zoom can make this a reality.

At the end of the day, what matters here is that you provide all the properly trained and fully organized marketing firm for your team members. If you do that, they will be more productive in their work, and help them grow in their career.

Hybrid work culture will improve your work performance and let you hire more skilled employees with less risk.

Here’s to hoping that this blog will help you get inspired and come up with the best hybrid model of your own!