Virtual Assistants for Shopify
Shopify is the most trending e-commerce website in the contemporary era, from a start-up to a well-established business, everyone uses Shopify to set their online store and attract buyers from all around the globe.
When you are putting up a store, there are innumerable tasks that need to be taken into consideration such as shipping the order, interacting with the customers, updating your social media platforms with the chic and trendy styles.
Imagine how hard would it be to manage a physical store on your own. Multi-tasking is a good thing but in business, it creates hurdle in the smooth running of your store, just like in a physical shop, you need help in your e-commerce store to manage a smooth functioning and perk-up your business.
Now, in the world where scrolling and browsing consume most of the time in our lives, we cannot take a chance to miss even on the tiniest thing that can put an impact on our business, that’s why the primary choice for a numerable e-commerce website is “Virtual Assistant”.
For store who are operating online, outsourcing to Virtual Assistant is the best way to crank your business up a notch.
What is a Virtual Assistant?
A Virtual Assistant is an independent contractor who provides executive services to the clients for a hassle-free setting and smooth running of the e-commerce platform. A VA can have multiple clients who provide them with the various day-to-day task and can work from any corner of the world remotely.
From small business to a top-notch e-commerce company, a Virtual Assistant can be hired by anyone, hiring a full-time employee can be a little heavy on the pocket for a budding successful business, a Virtual Assistant comes with different experience, hence, different budget. A small e-commerce store will find a VA more convenient in terms of budget, a helping hand will allow the store owners to focus on expanding their business.
As working from home has become a new trend in modern culture, both employers and employees are looking to explore opportunities where they can feature their talent and get paid for it without taking the trouble of travelling for a 9-5 tiring job.
What tasks can you pass on to a Virtual Assistant?
When a business reaches the zenith of its success, it is due to the different areas of a business. There are a lot of things going on in any e-commerce store, a virtual assistant can handle different tasks in your business according to their area of expertise, so below you hire a set of hands to help you, make sure that they are experienced and skilled in the same field.
- Shopify Store Set-up
Staring with creating an account on Shopify and fixing it with essential tools that will boost to bring your store into action. No matter how easy the procedure sounds, it is a lot more hectic and requires an expert’s vision, hence, it is always preferable to hire a professional Virtual Assistant for setting your online store.
There are many ways a VA can help you in setting up your store-
A. Account Set-up
Shopify is a magic platform for a budding business as well as a top-notch company due to its customisable characteristics and various themes, the first step to kick-start your new business is to create a Shopify account. If you are planning to hire a Virtual Assistance from the birth of your venture, this can be the first task for your VA.
B. Web Design
Accept it or not, one of the major reasons for attracting buyers and boosting the reach of the website is the theme of the store. A brand’s identity is the quintessential reason to produce a reason for the customers to relate to you.
A Virtual Assistant can help in designing a website, an expert will understand the needs of their clients, they will develop an understanding of the goals of their clients, the core of the business and will design the website accordingly.
C. UI Custom Development
One can use Shopify as their e-commerce platforms in various ways. Shopify theme store features a wide variety of themes to design your website which goes in accordance with your products. An experienced Shopify Virtual Assistant can manifest the integration to include extended functionality to your online store.
2. Product Management
As you move forward with your business, you will realise that product-related task to be very time-consuming which will divert your mind during the peak season when the sales are high. Product management is usually the most hectic yet, the most important task of them all. It involves searching for new products to sell, processing the orders, shipping them out to the customers, paying invoices, managing the exchange and return of the products and the refunds.
A. Product Sourcing
Understanding the target audience, their needs and featuring products accordingly is the key to a successful business. There is a lot involved in the process of Product sourcing, even if the retailers are selling the products of their own, they have to list the product from wholesalers and manufacturers to provide variety to the customers.
A Shopify Virtual Assistant will help you in spotting the target audience and sourcing them in the right direction while developing new connections with different companies and retailers to enhance the reach of the product efficiently.
B. Product Listing
We are living under a roof which is full of competition, the users want their desired products displayed within minutes else, they’ll just visit some other site to do the same. An expert product lister will display your products based on (1) What your buyers want to see first (2) Features that will help them in strengthening their buying decisions.
C. Order Management
Managing an e-commerce store is not a piece of cake, especially when the festive colours start painting our minds to redecorate everything, even ourselves. Handling the order section can only be an experts cup of tea, counting endless products that are to be set for shipment, messing up with order can lead to bad reviews and dissatisfied customers. The best way to run the store smoothly is to handover the order management task to the right virtual assistant.
D. Product Fulfilment
Now that you have managed your order smoothly, the next and the foremost important step is to ship the orders to your customers. Many high scale organisations choose to hire a full-time employee for this step, however, a virtual assistant will be very useful to fulfil the requirement of a manager who will look after the delivery of the products on the ensured date.
E. Shipment Tracking
While in business, It is always better to be prepared for anticipated problems rather than being optimistic about it. No matter how much you want to avoid the problems, shipment tracking is a step which is mostly out of the hand of the developers, hence, a constant check should be taken on it, a Virtual Assistant will track each and every order since the fulfilment of the product for smooth user experience.
F. Inventory Manager
You can always tell business is reaching at its zenith when it’s moving its inventory. A virtual assistant will make sure that your store doesn’t have too much or too little items in the stock, he/she will maintain a note on which product is enhancing your sales and which are not.
3. Professional Design
When you’re aiming the best, you will have to present the best. According to research, 48% of the viewers get influenced by the look of your online store (such as logo, graphics, pictures and website). Professional designers (Virtual Assistant) will create an understanding of the design elements and various minute details that will attract new buyers and maintain your potential customers.
A Virtual Assistant will help in designing-
A. Logos
A logo is a graphic representation of your entire website, it helps in differentiation one brand from the other and allowing your customers to remember you. A logo is considered to be the core of a brand, a catchy logo attracts customers and intrigues them to tap on the website. An expert designer will use all the experience and knowledge to design a logo that aligns with your company’s purpose.
B. Graphic Design
Images and graphics help in attracting buyers to your e-commerce website, they are the major weapon used in marketing to scale up the appealing nature of your website. Hiring a Virtual Assistant who can produce engaging visuals with excelling image-editing skills is a cherry on the cake for your business.
C. Photography
The product becomes a thousand times more appealing when it is shot by a professional photographer. An expert photographer will shoot the product in a way that it attracts the viewers and match the expectations of Shopify.
4. Content Management
Hiring a Virtual Assistant for content management is a good way to get ahead with your business. There are a lot of ways in which a virtual assistant can assist you
A. Content Writing
Imagine the world without words, so empty, won’t it be? Content is an integral part of anything, be it business. A customer only sees what he buys, it is necessary to keep the content short and crisp and to the point to give readers the essential information and increase the sales. Higher the number of articles on your website, higher is the approach to the target market.
B. SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)
Good SEO will feature your website or article above many other articles and will give your website a high rank in Google search results. An SEO expert will perform on-page SEO as well as off-page SEO which will eventually kick-boost your website and increase the reach.
C. Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO)
A Conversion Rate Optimizer will help transform a random visitor, scrolling on your website to a potential buyer who engages with the customers and increases your sales. This is an ear which requires high experience so it is advisable to directly hire a Virtual Assistant who is an expert in CRO.
D. Social Media
Social Media has given immense empowerment to many budding entrepreneurs. In this era of technology and the internet, everyone has a social media presence these days. However, it is not everyone’s cup of tea to be creative and attract customers based on posts. A virtual assistant will create intriguing posts and interact with your customers on various social media channels such as Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter.
5. Digital Advertising
For every e-commerce entrepreneurs, attracting their initial customers to visit their site and buy the products is usually a difficult and frustrating task. An expert will not only keep a plethora of tricks to market your products but will give a unique edge to your business.
Digital Marketing assistance can be taken in various ways, such as-
- Social Media Ads
- Sponsored Ads
- Paid Online Campaign
- Email Marketing
A Virtual Assistant will use his/her experience and knowledge to put your website into right form of advertising, it is important to know that every business is different and requires a different approach for its promotion.
6. Customer Service
This is probably the most important step to satisfy your potential customers and make them happy with the experience. If you think customer service end right at the moment when the product is delivered to the buyer, you’re wrong. It goes beyond the satisfaction they get after receiving the product until their next order.
A satisfied customer will not only return to your website for shopping but will also encourage their acquaintances to try out your store for an amazing experience. There are many ways in which a Virtual Assistant can assist your buyers-
A. Customer Review Manager
As your store increases its sale, the customer’s review will increase along with it. A customer will leave a comment regarding their experience on your website and even on your social media. Reverting to happy customer’s isn’t very difficult as they are already satisfied, it is dissatisfied customers one needs to deal patiently with. It is advisable to have an in-detailed conversation with a Virtual Assistant before assigning him the task of managing the reviews.
B. Refunds
While operating an online store, you will get a lot of requests for refund due to innumerable reasons. This task is tedious and can not be dealt with when you already have a lot of tasks in your to-do list. Hiring a Virtual Assistant who can deal with this procedure will turn out to be a fruitful decision for your business.
C. Email Correspondence
Imagine taking a vacation for a couple of weeks and Woah, as soon as you return you are spammed with messages and queries which will eventually turn your business thumb upside down. However, hiring a VA for interacting with customers and solving their query at the earliest will help your business grow.
If you are still thinking about the reasons for hiring a Virtual Assistant and wondering if they are really necessary then well congratulations, you are a superhero with a superpower of having exemplary skills in multi-tasking. But come on, even a hero requires a break to go lie down on the sand and soak the sun.
We have already given you a complete slew of reasons yet, it would be completely useless if you don’t make a move so if you want to perk-up your business with exceptional talent.
Consult VA is one search away from you if you are looking for an expert helping hand in any of the tasks mentioned above. We are known for our professional behavior and excellent skills in the task that we take, we have worked for innumerable clients and made an exceptional Virtual Assistant due to our talented crew and creative mind.
