According to annual forecasts and reports published by emarketer, the percentage of online purchases is growing. More than 1/5 of e-commerce transactions are done online, and this percentage changes yearly as more customers prefer online shopping.
For e-commerce owners, staying competitive and following trends can be challenging.
You may need more experience or expertise on your team. Hiring full-time employees may involve certain costs and risks.
In that case, I have an excellent solution for you: a Staff Augmentation approach. This type of team scaling is popular with entrepreneurs and business owners. It’s also cost-effective and will give you the expertise you need.
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(alt text: E-commerce retail sales worldwide charts for 2021-2027)
Before considering the main advantages of using the Staff Augmentation approach and the main strategies for its application in e-commerce, I suggest clarifying what this approach is about.
Staffing, or Staff Augmentation, is hiring external workers without long-term commitments. This method is particularly beneficial when you need to quickly and efficiently access skills, expertise, or experience your team currently lacks, providing reassurance in your business operations.
Unlike traditional outsourcing, staffing is about integrating new hires with your existing team.
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(alt text: Comparison diagram between Staff Augmentation & Project Outsourcing)
Let’s start with the most obvious and, simultaneously, the most crucial advantage of expanding the staff, which is relevant for e-commerce businesses. Of course, we will talk about flexibility. Staffing allows for both a short-term and a long-term approach. You can also choose the experience and expertise of the specialists you need.
Hiring full-time employees involves significant costs. These costs include insurance, education and training, regular salaries, paid vacations, and more. Expanding the staff for short-term projects or specific tasks reduces these additional costs and ensures high-quality results.
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(alt text: Main benefits of Staff Augmentation approach)
Last but not least, an important advantage of choosing this model of staff expansion is the wide choice among experts. You’ll be able to work with professionals in very niche and diverse fields with expertise that meets your needs.
We’ve explained precisely when the Staffing approach can profit your business the most and a few key benefits.
As you already understand, this approach is incredibly versatile. It can be applied in many industries and for various business needs. But what exactly should you do when scaling an e-commerce platform?
I have highlighted some key stages that will make hiring temporary employees as efficient as possible, help you avoid additional steps, and lead to successful scaling without extra costs.
Determining its purpose is the first step in applying your team’s scaling approach. Small business owners, including e-commerce representatives, must assess their business’s current state and define what needs improvement.
There can be many examples of applying the staff expansion approach in e-commerce.
A tiny part of the challenges that representatives of startups and small business owners can face are listed below.
For example:
Only after identifying the skills and expertise that your e-commerce business doesn’t have can you truly understand whether you need to expand your staff or whether you can handle all the challenges you face on your own.
Once you’ve determined your e-commerce business needs, you can choose which model works best for you.
I want to familiarize you with the three most popular and basic Staff Augmentation models that can cover any of your requirements.
Short-term contracts: The name speaks for itself. They involve hiring workers for a certain period. They are usually used when it is necessary to solve an urgent problem quickly. This model is quite often used for project work.
Long-term contracts: This model is used when you need constant support in any business area.
Talent on demand: This model is the most flexible among the ones proposed above. It involves hiring experts with specific experience or existing expertise who you need immediately without long-term commitments.
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(alt text: The schematic representation of the Staff Augmentation)
To ensure you achieve your goal, start by determining the main reason for scaling your team and which model will be the most valuable and cost-effective for you. After that, I recommend you start looking for and collaborating with reliable providers. At this point, you, as an e-commerce representative, should look for staffing companies with experience in your industry.
When scaling your team with external experts, you may face another obstacle: harmonizing cooperation between your staff and new hires. At the beginning of the collaboration, your goal is to define responsibilities and authority boundaries to avoid misunderstandings.
And the final step in hiring freelancers is usually quantification. I recommend tracking several metrics before and after scaling your team to gauge results best. These include the following:
Several indicators can help you evaluate the effectiveness of Staff Augmentation in achieving your business requirements.
Implementing the Staff Augmentation approach can positively impact the metrics and analytics of your e-commerce platform.
By analyzing your business’s needs and determining which staffing model best suits you, you can achieve great results that will help increase conversions and sales on your resources.
With these tips, you can quickly scale your team while keeping it running smoothly and productively.
The main difference between traditional outsourcing and staffing is the depth of employee involvement. With conventional outsourcing, tasks are delegated by third-party companies. Meanwhile, with Staff Augmentation, external experts work directly with your internal team, positively affecting the performance of assigned tasks.
When applying the staffing approach, you can get expertise in very narrow areas, including web development, marketing, and customer service. In addition, you will be able to avoid unnecessary expenses or long-term obligations.
The e-commerce industry is quite comprehensive, so it takes work to define specific roles clearly, as business needs come first. External experts include developers, content writers, marketers, logistics specialists, web designers, and others. Staff Augmentation’s most significant advantage is hiring niche experts with immense experience.
Scaling the staff by Staff Augmentation will be an excellent and cost-effective solution for small businesses and solo entrepreneurs. The primary reason is to avoid extra paychecks and social insurance expenses for full-time employees.
I recommend clearly defining the role and responsibilities at the beginning of cooperation with an external hire. This approach will help avoid misunderstandings between the existing team and the newly hired employee. In addition, you can also pay attention to the cultural similarities between all employees for a smoother integration in the team.
