Online Retail Business: Challenges & Opportunities - Essay Sample

Introduction

Online businesses have never been an easy choice, and undertaking in that career has been a great challenge in all phases. Online retail businesses require various strengths that will be needed for the business to grow and expand in a larger spectrum. Management of online businesses requires great dedication and commitment in all areas of expertise because online retail businesses are very competitive and remaining at the top requires great service to the growth of the business in all areas. The commitment to the growth of the retail business requires various strengths that as an owner of the business is required to fully exploit the opportunities present in the information technology industry. The various strengths that have taken into practice in this business include; working well under pressure, focused multitasking well, openness and being smart.

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Strengths

Working Well Under Pressure

Throughout my career, working under pressure has been a very important set of skill that has continually gained. Have noted that having a specific routine enables me to be complacent, and constantly looking for various challenges that press me to provide the best and to swiftly generate solutions that are workable. At a time, I was required to provide a project to a client within four days. A colleague working at the time with another client had the exact deadline, but she had to be on leave for some personal account. I, therefore, had to take up the whole task by myself, but I never allowed the hectic and stress affect me (ZHANG, GE, JIANG, & TAN, 2017). Therefore instead, I had to come up with a proper strategy on how to manage my time and successfully found new means to boost my efficiency on the two projects. It is this great focus and dedication that enabled me to work through such a tight schedule and deliver on the two projects within the given time frame.

Focused

It is without a doubt that concentration and growth go hand in hand since it is very difficult to meet your goals if you not focused. The biggest threat to the success of any business entails the lack of great focus towards work. Having an online retail business, the most challenging experience to focus management is through having control over the social media platforms. It is true that media platforms such as Netflix, News and the likes of IM have been a major distraction in the online retail business. The best strategy to this account has been through avoiding multitasking and employing specialization because this has greatly influenced the general success of the business.

Multi-Task Well

With an online retail business, multitasking is very important because it requires a constant check up on various media platforms that are through emails, media trends and technological upkeep. As a student, multitasking was a required skill has there was a time I had to manage three different online retail businesses and also ensuring that relative social media accounts that were used to manage the business were all running effectively.

Openness

Openness requires honesty in the working environment. Online retail businesses require great openness because it makes a company or a business a better business in the process (Reijonen, and Croisel, 2017). The culture of honesty and simplicity attracts more customers to the business and builds on the brand. Great competition lies in online retails and therefore building on the brand through the virtue of simplicity is very important.

Smart

Working well outside the box has been the guiding principle towards ensuring a competitive advantage and ensuring a continuous growth to the business. As a student, working smart in the development of websites and online channels that are geared to boost the management of the online retail business.

Career Outlook Report: Online Retail

Online retail businesses operate mainly through the internet, and the duties tend to vary on a very wide array, and therefore the skills required in this case need to be diverse for the operations to work effectively. Retail businesses mostly are depended on their sizes which dictate their order processing. The retail business is mostly concerned with securing of purchased goods and then delivering them right to their customers. The retail business mostly relates to addressing the customer services for this is a common service for online retails. The business produces a set of invoices and also takes part in bookkeeping jobs which tends to service their operations. Online business also acts as buyers for the various businesses and helps in the determination on how and where to provide various stocks and goods. Some of the requirements of online retail business include;

Education

The online retail business mostly requires one to have a high school diploma or the GED, even though post-high school training is also needed by various employers. Marketing and business administration are some of the set courses that one can undertake to make it in as an online retail business person. Having a primary understanding of the business environment is very important in operation, and running an online retail business. Online retailers undertake the basic business services, and this, therefore, demands that have a GED and also have a certificate or a degree in any of the two business courses earlier mentioned.

Required Skills

Most online retail business is operated through virtual shops over the internet, but regular interaction with customers is highly required as this ensures that one understands on a personal level the needs and wants of their customers. Most online retail traders, therefore, get into contact with their customers through direct phone communications and through emails. Great communication skills are thus very essential in meeting this customer relation demand because communication skills are very relevant in understanding customers. Online retailers also ought to have great organizational skills that will then ensure that various orders are effectively processed, and that follow up is also ensured. Marketing skills are also needed very much because the products and services need to be adequately advertised and presented to the customers in the online market in the best competitive means possible.

Salary and Career Outlook

Online retailers are categorized as occupational business specialists, and according to a salary clause by the Glassdoor.com, they reported that online retailers take home an average of $200k which is very good pay for these business individuals (Rose, and Wagner, 2019).

Positions Required

The various positions that are available for retail business include having, for instance, a sales associate who will be responsible for general speaking and also through the maintenance of the online platform that you are operating. The other very relevant and important position that is available for the online retail business is customer service representative who largely takes part in answering every question that is there whether in product inquiry or even in addressing negative reviews for the business. These are a set of positions that an online retail business provides for online retailers. They are mostly relative to customer relation because in this case, customers hold the foundation to the success of any business setting at all time.

Career Reflection

Various Capstones courses that have taken for my major are directly tied on the online retail business that is working on at the moment. For instance, business management as a major has tied into the online business because it entails understanding the various needs of the customers and the market trends in the industry. Business management teaches on customer relationships and the need to fully incorporate strategies that address the needs of your customers, I have greatly reflected this on the retail business because I can now relate to my customers easily because I easily understand their need and preferences.

The educational experience has greatly influenced by working experience has it has helped me gain a series of variant perspectives and a context for learning an opportunity by translating set theory to practice. The experience in school studying on the online retail job has also helped develop various set ideas for various projects that have since initiated in the online platform as well; this includes a set of other online projects such as setting up websites and managing different accounts (PARCHAMI, ZEBARDAST, and FASIHI, 2019). Educational experiences allow for employability through helping me work on a large set of employment skills from gaining the knowledge to adapting to the industry and culture of time management and employing teamwork at all time. Educational experiences have also provided me with a chance to network and possible to get a wide range of opportunities to better my skills and get similar skills that are required in my area of expertise.

Various life experiences, for instance, being super focused has greatly helped advance my career. It is right after school life that as students, we begin to put the knowledge into great use and in the management of finances and plans of the future. School provides that chance for students to employ the art of being future-focused. Having a great focus on the future has been a great set of skill that has helped shape the direction that I take in the management of the online business at all times (Kral, Valjaskova, and Janoskova, 2019). It is a skill acquired through education and its employment in the business environment greatly shapes the general success of any business at all times.

These practical skills gained in schools greatly helps in the success of any business because various skills set such as business administration enabled me to learn best practical practices in the understanding finances, and this is a required skill in any business environment. I had to take internship programs through various online programs that greatly shaped my understanding of the business world in general. Leadership principles and management skills were also acquired at this time which is a great skill in the general management of conflicts and their resolution. This type of knowledge can be both practical and factual at the same time. It is an implication that the information learned becomes not only interesting but also of great use in the current environment and also in the future. Have had to settle conflicts between my colleagues and also friends, and this was a great demonstration of Leadership not only in the casual set up but also in the working environment.

It is through educational experiences that have had to enhance and develop various soft skills which are required for designing an influential presentation not only in the workplace but also as a means to build my brand and product sales in general. These set of soft skills include various abilities teamwork, communication, problem-solving and critical thinking. All this set of life experiences and talents helps in adding value in the organization, and they also provide the experiences that enable one to take on the next step towards realizing their potentials.