Clarity on E-com Team Complexity
Ask yourself only one question.
One of the most hybrid teams is by far an e-commerce team. It consists of marketing and development roles, but also finance, merchandising, and much more.
Let’s break that down for a minute.
A hybrid team consists out of
At least two different profiles (skills)
With probably different roles (maturity)
With realistically different levels of seniority
The problem: the complexity
1) The people on the team
Different profiles mean different focuses: someone working on UX, Someone focusing on advertising, someone focusing on SEO and information architecture, someone focusing on copywriting and content, ... the list goes on and on.
The biggest challenge is that current education doesn't match the needs of digital businesses. This is also where maturity is a big issue. Expertise isn't always a derivative of the number of different projects done or the number of years active in the field. Expertise is often disguised as the level of seniority and maturity.
No wonder it is SO DAMN HARD to build a good team with the right people!
You can't have a brilliant t-shaped skilled marketer that does it all at a senior level. You can have a one-person expert for one or two skills although he/she might lack the maturity to pick up the role that's needed to deal with the challenges of the business. In the end, there will always be a burning need for more budget, either to hire or to educate!
2) E-commerce dynamics
A good team structure based on profiles (skills), roles (maturity), and seniority is driven by e-commerce dynamics, mainly three drivers:
The operation model
The current stage of the e-commerce business
Level of digital maturity
2.1) The operating model
The basic three operating models are in essence equal to every direct-to-consumer e-commerce business.
Operational excellence ('lowest cost distribution and thus convenience'): high volume of low involvement products at low up to fairly low prices - example: online supermarket from a supermarket chain
Customer intimacy ('the best total solution'): lower to medium volume of medium to higher involvement products at medium up to high prices (compared to operational excellence) - example: boutique with series of sustainable brands
Product leadership ('uniqueness'): low volume of high involvement products at high prices (compared to customer intimacy) - example: high-tech product in a new category
Every e-commerce is at least the best operational excellence in its category. That's the Olympic minimum to strive towards. From only one channel up to a range of distribution channels. Those channels matter more than you think, hence it's a marketing strategy and thus the team! NOT the other way around!
2.2) Current stage of the e-commerce business
There's a big difference if you're just getting started and aiming to find your first customer or you're already up and running for a few years with a decent product-market fit. Let alone say if you're brick-and-mortar or a pure online player. Per stage are certain dynamics at play.
2.3) Level of digital maturity
Getting started with a low level of digital maturity? Or overly ambitious to grow? A business plan with a few years of cash flow ready to burn? The level of digital maturity matters in terms of execution (making fewer mistakes) and timeframe (in the shortest timeframe possible). This is mainly a budget issue and depends highly on the stage of the e-commerce business itself too.
The solution: think long term - to do this in-house or not - that’s the question
So depending on the challenge at this moment, you’ll need to assess the current stage of the business and its direction, the people missing in the team and the level of maturity you need to have in order to get started.
To keep it simple: define what you want to keep in-house.
The good thing is that the maturity of the trainee/candidate can grow along with the business if you want everything in-house. If you don’t need or want this profile in-house, you’d better go look for a freelancer to help you get up to speed; You can always scout a new team member later on if you decide to get this role in-house.