How an eCommerce Hire Scales Your Online Store Without Scaling Your Headcount

What an eCommerce Hire Can Do For Your Business

A Philippines-based eCommerce hire found through Tarino can take on the tasks below. Use this as a guide when scoping the role before your call. If customer enquiries are the biggest load, our offshore customer service role page covers that side in detail; for a broader mix of store admin, see the virtual assistant role page.

Task	What this looks like in practice
Product listing creation	Creating and publishing product listings on Shopify, WooCommerce, Amazon, eBay or similar. Writing descriptions, adding images and setting pricing.
Product data management	Maintaining accurate product information, including SKUs, variants, pricing, inventory levels and categories, across all channels.
Inventory management	Monitoring stock levels, flagging low-stock items and coordinating reorder requests. Reconciling inventory across platforms.
Pricing updates	Updating pricing across the store and marketplaces in response to promotions, cost changes or competitor pricing. Applying discount codes.
Image & content updates	Uploading and optimising product images. Updating copy, banners and homepage content as directed by the marketing team.

Task	What this looks like in practice
Order processing	Processing and confirming orders accurately. Coordinating with the warehouse or 3PL for fulfilment. Managing order exceptions.
Returns & refunds management	Processing return requests and refunds via the platform or payment gateway, under your returns policy. Communicating with customers throughout.
Customer enquiry management	Responding to pre-sale and post-sale customer enquiries via email, chat or marketplace messaging within agreed timeframes.
Shipping & tracking	Generating shipping labels, booking couriers and providing tracking information to customers. Following up on delayed or lost parcels.
Dispute & chargeback management	Managing marketplace disputes and payment chargebacks. Compiling evidence and submitting responses within required timeframes.

Task	What this looks like in practice
Sales & performance reporting	Producing weekly or monthly reports on revenue, conversion rate, average order value and channel performance.
Marketplace account management	Managing Amazon Seller Central, eBay Seller Hub or similar accounts. Monitoring account health, responding to flags and keeping to marketplace policies.
Promotions & campaign support	Setting up promotional codes, flash sales and bundle deals in the platform. Coordinating with the marketing team on campaign timing.
Competitor research	Monitoring competitor pricing, product ranges and promotional activity. Summarising findings and flagging opportunities.
Review & reputation management	Monitoring and responding to product and seller reviews across platforms. Escalating negative feedback for resolution.

The operational side of running an online store never stops: listings to update, orders to process, disputes to manage, reviews to answer. It’s high-volume, detail-heavy work that doesn’t need to sit on your plate or cost you a full Australian salary. Many Philippines-based eCommerce professionals have worked across the major platforms, and with a clear handover they can work independently within your existing workflows, during your business hours.

What stays with you

Your returns and refunds policy, pricing strategy and supplier relationships stay with you. Australian Consumer Law sets minimum rights for customers on faulty goods and refunds, so give your hire a written policy that reflects them, and an escalation path for anything unusual. This is general information only; the ACCC publishes guidance for online sellers, and your adviser can apply it to your store.

How we screen for eCommerce

We typically start with 1,000+ candidates per role and screen them in stages: CV and quality screening (40% remain), video screening (20%), a practical assessment (10%), a structured interview (5%) and finalist review (2%). For eCommerce roles we look for platform fluency (Shopify, Amazon, eBay), strong written English for customer-facing messages, and a track record of working independently in fast-moving store environments. You get a shortlist of 3–4 finalists in about 2 weeks. See how it works for each stage.

What it costs

You hire and pay them directly, so there’s no monthly agency margin. Compare a local hire, an agency and a direct offshore hire for your store in the offshore hiring cost calculator.

Tarino’s fee is one-time: $250 upfront to start the search plus $4,750 when you hire, $5,000 excl. GST in total, with the $250 credited back when you hire. There are no ongoing markups. More than 95% of our placements are still in the role at 6 months, and 6-month replacement cover applies for the same role, on the conditions in the Scope of Work and terms. See pricing for the detail.

If the task list above looks like work that’s currently sitting with you or spread across your team, it’s worth a conversation. Book a 30-minute call and we’ll help you define the role, set expectations and find the right person.