Small business organization

The new org chart for e-commerce businesses

It’s no secret by now that the e-commerce phenomenon is making waves, is here to stay, and is all about disruption. Naturally, this disruption includes adopting new commerce strategies and abandoning traditional models, a trend that some traditional businesses can have trouble keeping up with.

New strategies and new game plans are organic precursors to new organizational philosophies — new org charts for e-commerce. As always, there’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to the specifics of an organization, but there are a few key trends that are worth taking note of.

Let’s explore how successful e-commerce businesses are revolutionizing the philosophy of an organization, and how you can set your business up for success.

Teams over a chain of command

As automation comes into full swing, huge departments are quickly becoming a thing of the past. We’re in the age of small teams, groups of handfuls of professionals that are not only highly motivated, but ready to hold one another accountable.

We’re also in the age of multidisciplinary collaboration, which makes it easy to step away from isolated pockets of traditional command chains. Whereas before members of a marketing department and of an IT department might never so much as mingle, it is now imperative that both of these skillsets be working in tandem, in ready communication.

Centralizing work in a team structure also helps centralize the overarching philosophy, a trend that is readily observable across the industry. Marketing, for example, used to spend a lot of time and money developing local campaigns, whereas modern marketing tactics have ditched localization for personalization.

Why cater to specific regions when we have the tech, tools, and techniques to cater to every specific individual? This evolution in marketing allows the brand to be simultaneously more centered in its efforts and more aggressive in its targeting, a recipe that is churning out results.

Breaking down the chart

Team structures are in, and traditional top-down command chains are going out of vogue, but there still needs to be some sort of overarching structure to make sure the business model runs smoothly. The specifics will depend on each individual brand, context, and vision, but I like to think of the ideal modern structure in two parts of a natural functioning hierarchy.

The Global Tier has to do with company direction and infrastructure. These are the teams that will be influencing the entire company with their work, or laying the foundation for the rest of the structure.

Here, we might find teams dedicated to overall brand culture and personality, company objectives, navigating different channels, virtual store design and infrastructure, and site security. This is where the guiding principles are laid out.

The Ground Floor is the bread and butter of the e-commerce spirit. This is where the principles are put into practice, where the company direction meets the consumer base, and, more importantly, learns from these interactions.

You can further split this level up into two sections, opening, and closing. The opening side of the Ground Floor is all about setting up the sale, from a dev team to a creative and marketing team and analytics. The closing side is all about following up after the sale, which can mean dedicated teams for customer service, inventory and logistics, and payment.

There’s a lot of flexibility to how this structure might end up looking for every specific case, but the underlying philosophy should be clear. Grouping together talented individuals into focused teams makes for strong efforts made in clear directions. Team members also hold each other accountable in a cooperative style, a crucial perk that a traditional chain of command tends to lack.

Breaking down unnecessary barriers between often separated disciplines allows for better communication and smoother workflow. Cliché as it might be, in the age of e-commerce, teamwork makes the dream work.