What kind of profession is a marketplace manager: let’s get to know each other in detail

Today the sale of goods and services on the Internet — This is a direction that is developing very actively. Such a solution is convenient for both buyers and service providers, as it allows them to buy and, accordingly, sell this or that product with minimal time and effort. But if we talk about a regular online store, then on such a platform the products of only one supplier will be presented. It is he who will develop his resource, promote it, purchase and send goods to customers.

Unlike an online store, a marketplace — This is a platform on which a huge number of products from different sellers are presented. Thus, the most popular solutions today include Wildberries, Ozon, AliExpress, « Yandex-Market". Many of the sellers providing their products here do not have any other online or offline presence. The opportunities that this site provides are more than enough for them to effectively run their business.

If we analyze the level of all online sales over the past year in Russia, over 80% of this volume was accounted for by just two marketplaces, in particular Wildberries and Ozone. And this is yet another proof of how effective and convenient a tool such trading platforms are becoming for business.

The features of interaction between a business owner and the online representative office of the same online store or marketplace will also be different. In the latter case, the site offers its own sets of tools for advertising and promoting goods and services directly within the site. Those that allow you to stand out from other sellers specializing in the same product category. And here, the responsibilities of business representatives will include solving a fairly wide range of tasks, starting from the development of product cards and up to control over the replenishment of warehouses, over the movement of goods, work with advertising, etc. Despite the fact that most of these tasks are automated by the platform, their the solution still requires a lot of time and effort, including from the business representative. That is why the market needs new specialists, in particular, marketplace managers.

Such specialists must understand the field of marketing, sales, and purchasing. If your business has a good marketplace manager at its disposal, you will be able to shift a significant share of your work to him, spending the freed-up time on solving more global problems of your company, but at the same time, you will get a chance to increase your income level significantly.

Now let’s look in more detail at what jobs will be the responsibilities of a marketplace manager, what knowledge and skills, as well as personal characteristics he needs. We will outline the advantages and disadvantages of the profession, tell you who it is suitable for and where it is worth studying to become such a specialist. Now let's talk about everything in order.

What are the responsibilities of a marketplace manager

Marketplace Manager — This is a separate specialist who will work in companies selling goods on the site. His responsibilities will include organizing the entire sales process, as well as direct promotion of goods. That is, he is the one responsible for ensuring that customers see the product of a particular store and actively buy it. The range of tasks that a given specialist will solve every day directly depends on what company he works for and what experience he has.

So, a novice manager will be able to take on extremely simple tasks related mainly to the formation of product cards, direct working with content. The responsibilities of a more experienced manager will already include analytics of launched campaign advertising and direct sales, formation of a product range and control over its availability in the warehouse. That is, for the most part, such specialists already independently form the assortment of this or that seller, offering consumers extremely reliable and time-tested solutions.

If we describe in more detail all the tasks that a marketplace manager will perform in his daily work, we will highlight the following:

• Loading of goods onto the site. The employee will add new products and issue a card for them in accordance with the requirements of the marketplace. That is, he will have to form a semantic core and, based on it, write text support, create pictures, infographics, if this is relevant for a particular product. Perform this work yourself or delegate it to copywriters, photographers, designers — this is already determined individually in each specific case. But even if you involve third-party specialists, the marketplace manager will have to draw up technical specifications for them, on the basis of which the work will be carried out in the future.
• Launch and management of advertising campaigns. At the beginning of the review, we mentioned that the marketplace has its own advertising tools. It is with them that the manager will work in order to promote his product cards in search, set up paid impressions in recommendations, launch banner advertising or purchase external contextual advertising, targeted advertising, contact opinion leaders. He will also evaluate the effectiveness of decisions made, make adjustments to the budget, redistributing it so as to obtain maximum results with minimal expenditure of money, time and effort.
• Working with user reviews. Buyers of marketplaces are quite active in leaving reviews about cooperation with a particular store, telling the audience about the advantages and disadvantages of purchasing products. It is these reviews that the marketplace manager must respond to, maintaining constant communication with the user audience, responding to both positive and negative opinions. In the latter case, he must somehow smooth out the negative, alternatively by eliminating the identified problems, providing a gift as compensation for the inconvenience, etc. Thanks to working with the user audience, the marketplace manager will be able to determine the preferences of the audience, build more trusting and loyal relationships with them, which in As a result, it will increase the efficiency of business on the marketplace.
• Monitor pricing and make adjustments to it when the need arises. That is, the marketplace manager will constantly monitor competitors’ product cards, determine the level of markups on certain products, and monitor discounts or some other special offers. Based on the information received, he will adjust the cost of his own products without losing the achieved position in comparison with competitors.
• Ensuring supplies. Regardless of whether the products will be shipped directly from the marketplace warehouse or from the supplier’s own warehouse, the manager will control the availability of certain goods, monitor their movement, and also replenish them when necessary. His responsibilities will also include interaction with the logistics department or directly with transport companies. That is, it will determine the current need for a product and maintain a basic required number of items in stock so that customers do not go to competitor’s websites to buy products.
• Sales analysis. In this case, we are talking about determining the position of a particular product in the search results on the marketplace, its compliance with the declared category, and analyzing sales dynamics. Based on the information received, the products that are most interesting in the consumer market at a given time are determined, as well as those that are not in demand. Accordingly, the bet is placed on more profitable products.
• Development of a development strategy. In this case, the market as a whole is assessed, those product categories that are currently relevant are determined, and those that will be of great interest to the user audience in the foreseeable future are predicted. This will allow them to be gradually introduced to the market based on a pre-developed strategy, staying one step ahead of competitors.

As you can see, the range of tasks that a marketplace manager faces is quite wide and diverse. This means that a person who will specialize in these jobs must have a certain set of professional skills and knowledge. We will dwell on this further.

Knowledge and skills that a marketplace manager should have

Before talking directly about the professional knowledge and skills that a marketplace manager should have, we note that each of the platforms with which you will work has a number of nuances, including those related to software. To work effectively, a specialist must understand all areas, including those specific to a particular platform. But to organize effective work, you also need to have other professional skills:

• Knowledge that allows you to process large amounts of data. The larger the store, the more products it will stock. This means that a marketplace manager in his daily work will be forced to interact with hundreds, or even thousands of product items. He will need to constantly operate with a huge number of SKU codes, systematize them, track dynamics, and control inventory. This is truly an impressive amount of work. And here it is important not to miss even the smallest details, because otherwise you may encounter a number of problems at the stage of tracking the sale of goods and more.
• Ability to work with basic software. Along with the specialized software of the marketplace itself, the manager must also have knowledge that allows him to work effectively with Microsoft Office, especially Excel, various graphic applications, such as Photoshop, etc. If you decide to independently cope with the work of a copywriter or designer, then the list The programs you need in your work will be much wider.
• Development of technical specifications or independent writing of content for the site. In any case, it is important to understand exactly what material should be presented in a particular product card, to be able to highlight its competitive advantages, and to minimize disadvantages, if any. You also need to understand in what format it will be best to convey information to users so that they will want to purchase your products. It will also be important to understand which multimedia tools, be it video, a three-dimensional model, or graphics, will be most effective in your case.
• Pricing formation. The marketplace manager will need to instantly respond to price changes occurring in competitors’ cards, demand dynamics, changes in prices for raw materials, delivery, and the cost of goods. This is the only way he will be able to offer competitive products to the consumer market without compromising the company’s business.
• Sales analysis. We have already said above that the specialist’s responsibilities will include constant monitoring of the availability of certain products in their own warehouses or marketplace warehouses and their timely replenishment so that sales dynamics are constantly at a high level. This means that he will need to be able to work with the personal account of the trading platform, as well as a number of specialized applications, including those related to financial transactions.
• Basics of Marketing. Despite the fact that the marketplace manager will not be directly involved in the sale of a particular product, he must have certain skills in marketing. Without this, it is impossible to develop a sales strategy, control its implementation, and promote products in general.
• Be familiar with the nuances of the operation of a particular marketplace. As practice shows, many business representatives simultaneously launch sales of their products on different platforms. This means that the manager must have all this knowledge that will help him interact effectively with each of them. It is especially important here to pay attention to the nuances of ranking product cards, to thoroughly understand the features of payment and delivery of products, and return conditions. This is the only way to effectively promote a particular product on the pages of the marketplace.

And here it is important to understand that the larger the company, the deeper professional knowledge and skills the marketplace manager should have. Therefore, if you are just thinking about this kind of work, choose small companies. Those that have a fairly narrow range of goods and make a small number of shipments per month. This work will allow you to delve into the basics of the profession in more detail, as well as prepare for subsequent larger-scale work. We also note that it is better for beginners to look for work on large marketplaces. Often there are always vacancies for novice managers and trainees. In this case, you should not count on a large salary, but the requirements that will be placed on you will not be as serious as on specialists with a higher salary level.

What personal qualities should a marketplace manager have?

Along with the professional knowledge and skills that we talked about above, a person planning to become a marketplace manager must also have a number of personal qualities. Those that will allow him to feel comfortable in this profession and master a promising area of activity. In particular, we are talking about:

1. Ability to simultaneously solve a fairly wide range of problems. We have already said that a specialist will be faced with such an impressive amount of work every day. Therefore, he must easily switch between one direction or another, find solutions to diverse problems, be able to communicate with the user audience, and smooth out conflicts. At the same time, it is necessary to set priorities correctly so as not to miss important things while minor problems are being solved.
2. High flexibility. A marketplace manager must quickly adapt to all the changes that occur on the marketplace and in the market as a whole. This is the only way he will be able to maintain sales at a sufficiently high level, avoid various problems, see prospects in time and prevent competitors from overtaking you.
3. Scrupulousness and attention to detail. What may seem like a small thing at first glance can actually have a much more serious impact on the business as a whole. It’s not enough to read the reviews left by the user audience. Moreover, this is relevant not only for a specific store, but also for competitors’ businesses. So, if you monitor the mistakes of other representative offices on marketplaces, you will be able to prevent them from happening in your work, which in itself will have a positive impact on the level of customer satisfaction and will contribute to sales growth.
4. Stress resistance. This is an individual feature that, by and large, absolutely every person should have. You should not react too emotionally to any difficulties or problems in your work. On the contrary, you should smooth out any negativity and problems as much as possible. Practice shows that a dissatisfied customer can turn even a basic issue related to the return of a defective or low-quality product into a worldwide problem. And if you give in to panic, you will never be able to resolve the conflict. But what will happen if there are several such conflicts per day? Do you personally have enough nerves and strength for this?

Now that you have already assessed your own capabilities, let’s get acquainted with the advantages and disadvantages of such a profession as a marketplace manager. This will allow you to make the final decision about whether it is worth trying yourself in such an activity or not.

Advantages and disadvantages of the profession of marketplace manager

Let's start with the advantages first. In particular, we note that if you manage to implement literally several projects on your own, then you will receive an impressive amount of knowledge and skills that will be required in subsequent activities. This means that you will be able to apply for a higher paying job. That is, the prospects in this market segment are very, very high. In combination with it, the advantages include:

• Stably growing demand in the labor market. At the beginning of the review, we already said that today almost every business has its own representative offices on marketplaces, but at the same time, business representatives themselves are in no hurry to independently create product cards, promote them, and control deliveries. They have much more serious and global problems that need to be solved. This means that the demand for marketplace managers is high today and will remain so for quite a long period of time.
• The work you will encounter can rightfully be called creative and versatile. Here you will not have routine, monotony, sameness. You will be able to apply your knowledge and skills, experiment with certain ideas, increasing your work efficiency and, accordingly, your sales level.
• Quite a good level of earnings. Your rate will increase in parallel with the increase in professionalism. We will talk about how much you can earn in this niche a little later, but for now we will note that there is clearly an incentive to grow as a marketplace manager.
• Possibility of working as a freelancer. You don't have to focus on the same project. If knowledge, skills and free time allow, you can take on several tasks at once.
• Work in the office or remotely. The latter option has recently become increasingly popular among both employers and performers. So, as a manager, you won’t have to get up early in the morning to get to your workplace on time. In addition, you set your own work schedule. The client needs a result, and he is absolutely not interested in whether it will be achieved thanks to your work day or night. In turn, the employer gets rid of the need to organize a workplace for the manager.

If we talk about the disadvantages, then first of all it is worth highlighting multitasking. To become a good specialist, you need to understand a huge number of nuances and details, and simultaneously perform large-scale work. And if you don’t feel the strength to implement something like this, then it’s better not to even try. Surely those who would not like to work with a client audience should refuse such a profession. Along with loyal customers, there will always be those who are dissatisfied with goods or services, level of service, and delivery times. That is, you will be constantly placed under a psychological burden that you must not only withstand, but also be able to resolve these conflicts.

The last point, which can also be attributed to the disadvantages — constantly growing competition. Due to the fact that the profession is truly promising, many will try to find themselves in it. This means that the level of competition will constantly increase. But, by and large, a similar situation is observed in many other areas of the market.

If we analyze all the advantages and disadvantages characteristic of such a profession as a marketplace manager, we can note that anyone who has certain personal characteristics and desire can become one. Yes, you will have to study, understand a huge number of nuances, be attentive, proactive, and responsible. But this is the only way to show yourself well, which will ultimately affect the level of sales.

If you feel strong, if you know how to analyze, love extraordinary tasks and want to discover a new niche in the market, then you can try. This may be the job that's waiting for you.

Ways to develop a career as a marketplace manager

You can scale the career of a marketplace manager both horizontally and vertically. In the first case, we are talking about the fact that you will constantly develop yourself, deepen your own knowledge, and expand the scope of your tasks. So, as an option, if you obtain the necessary professional skills, you can open your own consulting agency or courses for beginners dedicated to promotion on the marketplace or other related work. It will also be possible to provide individual consultations that will allow those wishing to become a manager literally from scratch.

Vertical career development also involves gaining certain experience and moving from one level of professionalism to another, higher one. Basically there are 3 groups: beginners, intermediate level and professionals. In most cases, the transition from one stage to another takes about 2 years. If you do everything right, then in 5-6 years you will become a professional that the largest companies will be chasing. And the most interesting thing is that for this you only need desire and diligence. You have the prospect of taking leadership positions in some agencies, becoming the head of the sales department, director of business development, or commercial director. In any case, your level of income will be directly related to your own diligence.

Another nuance that we would like to draw your attention to is that as soon as you understand all the nuances of working with marketplaces, you can safely open your own representative office here and sell goods and services.

How much can a marketplace manager earn?

Now let’s move on to the question that is probably of interest to anyone who is thinking about personally mastering this profession. Once again, we repeat that wages in this market segment directly depend on the professionalism of the manager. So, if you analyze all the vacancies that are available on one of the most popular freelance exchanges today, you can count over 7,000 offers in this niche. What wages do customers offer? Different. So, it ranges from 15,000 to 300,000 rubles. Professionals in their field can count on even higher rates. If we structure this market somewhat and highlight vacancies in each of the professional groups, we can notice the following trend:

1. Beginners. Here the income level often does not exceed 15-20 thousand rubles. per month. But at the same time, you can be sure that no one will demand too serious results from you. That is, the income is minimal, but there is an opportunity to gradually and without any risks delve into all the specifics of the profession.
2. Intermediate level. Such specialists can already count on salaries ranging from 40 to 60 thousand rubles. per month. It is assumed that such managers already have a fairly good understanding of all issues related to selling on marketplaces and can fully engage in the promotion of goods, services and stores in general, organizing purchases, controlling supplies, etc.
3. Professionals. Here the income level can already reach 100-300 thousand rubles. But we want to say right away that there is no salary ceiling in this niche. You can also count on higher pay if you perform well at work. But at the same time, you must be prepared that the entire scope of work related to the creation of cards, promotion, control over product turnover, as well as an impressive range of related tasks will be solved by you.

If time permits, a manager can take on more than one project, which means that his level of income will be much higher. But again, it all depends on your own ambitions and aspirations. Practice shows that there are plenty of people who are ready to work for years for a salary of 50,000 rubles and at the same time they will be absolutely satisfied with everything. These are those who do not strive to develop, but are content with what they have. Let us repeat once again that there is no salary cap for a marketplace manager. Think about it.

How to become a marketplace manager

It is worth trying yourself in this profession for those who have already dealt with marketplaces or at least understand the nuances of marketing and content manager. The fact is that you have to understand a fairly impressive volume of tasks. And if you already know how to do at least something, it will be easier for you to work in this niche. Practice also shows that employers are more confident in hiring people who have experience working with targeted or contextual advertising for manager positions. These are the people who already know how to analyze large volumes of data, develop development strategies, and monitor results.

You can obtain relevant knowledge through specialized courses. In particular, many marketplaces offer such training. But in this case, you will need to take into account that the material presented will mostly relate to the features of a particular site. Practical recommendations will be provided here, and work with specialized software specific to a particular marketplace will be described. That is, they train specialists for themselves.

You can also find quite a lot of freely available materials on the Internet. And yet, there are consulting agencies that also offer similar training. This means that there would be a desire to obtain the relevant knowledge, and there will definitely be a way to implement it.

To summarize

If we briefly summarize everything we talked about in this review, the first thing worth highlighting is the prospects of the profession of marketplace manager. And this trend will be observed even in a fairly distant future, as such trading platforms are developing, expanding, and are in extremely high demand among the user audience. But not everyone can become such a specialist. Here you need to have certain personal and professional qualities.

It is also worth noting that the level of earnings here will directly depend on your knowledge and skills in this area. If you wish, you can earn hundreds of thousands of rubles a month, although you will need to work for such a prospect. It will also require diligence and hard work.

The last point we would like to draw your attention to is that as a marketplace manager you will need to master various software, including those that can speed up and simplify everyday tasks. And in your future work, you will definitely need a tool such as mobile proxies.

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