The e-commerce specialist is a role that will be fairly new to most Caribbean businesses, even though e-commerce tools and platforms are becoming more widespread.

For many years, we had limited options for payment gateways to connect to our websites and local banks, and when you start factoring in the costs for web development, payment-tool integration and then the lack of credit-card penetration amongst the population, this was just too much for businesses to seriously consider.

Now that websites are much more cost-effective to build or create yourself, we have more payment-gateway options - starting as low as $0 to integrate into a website.

Additionally, with Visa debit cards finally getting the push in the Caribbean, regular folks without a credit card can buy online with your business.

Now is the time for more e-commerce specialists to start emerging, and more companies should be hiring for this role.

An e-commerce specialist is an expert in online sales strategies and the various platforms used to make digital sales or conversions on a website.

They are responsible for monitoring the day-to-day activity on the site and its overall performance to achieve goals such as improving user experience, increasing website traffic and sales, and developing brand loyalty.

They also run ad campaigns on search engines and other websites and research and implement the latest digital marketing strategies using social media.

Additionally, they assist with site development and manage updates for the e-commerce side of the business, work with co-workers to collect necessary content to use for each product or service offering, and ensure the brand message and goals align with the rest of the company.

They also keep a promotions calendar, track all e-commerce marketing efforts, analyse data and use their findings to improve their strategies.

E-commerce specialist duties:

· Analysing market trends and customer data to identify opportunities and inform strategy development.

· Setting goals and objectives for the company's online sales efforts.

· Developing tactics for driving traffic to the company's website and converting visitors into customers.

· Managing and optimising the company's online sales channels, including social media, e-mail marketing, and paid advertising.

· Working with the sales and marketing teams to ensure that all online sales efforts are co-ordinated and aligned with overall business goals.

· Doing A/B testing and other experiments to improve the effectiveness of online sales efforts.

· Tracking and analysing key performance metrics to measure the success of online sales efforts and make data-driven decisions.

· Staying up to date with industry trends and new technologies that could affect the company's online sales efforts.

· Collaborating with other teams, such as product development and customer service, to ensure the company's online sales efforts are aligned with the overall business strategy.

· Researching and implementing best practices for product SEO.