Occupation · SOC 13-1199.06
Conduct retail activities of businesses operating exclusively online. May perform duties such as preparing business strategies, buying merchandise, managing inventory, implementing marketing activities, fulfilling and shipping online orders, and balancing financial records.
Also called: Online Services Manager · E-Commerce Account Manager · E-Commerce Administrator · E-Commerce Analyst · E-Commerce Assistant · E-Commerce Associate · E-Commerce Business Analyst · E-Commerce Business Channel Specialist · E-Commerce Clerk · E-Commerce Coordinator · E-Commerce Developer · E-Commerce Digital Marketing Manager (Electronic Commerce Digital Marketing Manager)
Job family: Business and Financial Operations Occupations
A source-stamped Markdown brief of this occupation — paste it into an agent, or fetch
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A fast read on where AI already shows up in this occupation, where it stays a copilot, where humans remain in the loop, and what the labor market is doing. Built from observed Claude.ai conversations mapped to O*NET tasks and from published research — measures of usage and exposure, not advice or predictions that the job is going away.
Task areas most often handled directively in observed AI conversations — candidates to delegate with light review.
Task areas where people work with AI — iterating, learning, or checking — staying in the loop rather than handing the task off.
Task areas where a human was still judged necessary in a large share of observed conversations — not a safety ruling, an observed-need signal.
The capabilities O*NET rates most important for this occupation — the human ground the work is built on.
See all skills →Independent published positions, read together — not a forecast.
77th-percentile task overlap — yet about 108,200 openings a year (+3% projected, BLS), and observed AI use leans 4216% copilot, not hand-off (AEI) . What exposure means →
What today's research says about this occupation's exposure to AI, how AI is actually being used in it, and where employment is headed. These are positions within published studies — measures of exposure and usage, not predictions that this job will disappear.
Each study uses its own scale, so the raw scores are not comparable across rows — the percentile (this job's rank among all U.S. occupations with data) is the comparable figure, and sizes the bars.
| Measure | Rank vs all occupations | Percentile | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall AI exposure (Felten et al.) High | 77th | 1.0 | |
| LLM task exposure, γ (OpenAI / Eloundou) High | 78th | 0.9 | |
| AI assistant applicability (Microsoft) High | 73rd | 0.2 |
OpenAI's exposure study scores tasks three ways: with a language model alone (α 0.4), with simple added tooling (β 0.6), and including AI-powered software (γ 0.9). Higher means more of the job's tasks could be done at least twice as fast — not that they will be automated away.
Most of this job's tasks can be done remotely (Dingel–Neiman), which tends to track with higher digital and AI exposure.
A pre-LLM (2013) estimate of how automatable this job is by computerization and robotics. Shown for historical context only — it is not part of any current AI ranking.
Frey–Osborne probability 0.2 · 35th percentile among occupations · Moderate
Among measured AI assistant conversations mapped to this occupation (Anthropic Economic Index, 2026-01-15), these task types came up most. These are shares of observed AI conversations — not shares of the job, of worker time, or of what could be automated.
| Compose descriptions of merchandise for posting to online storefront, auction sites, or other shopping Web sites. | 6.3% | |
| Implement security practices to preserve assets, minimize liabilities, or ensure customer privacy, using parallel servers, hardware redundancy, fail-safe technology, information encryption, or firewalls. | 4.4% | |
| Compose images of products, using video or still cameras, lighting equipment, props, or photo or video editing software. | 3.3% | |
| Collaborate with search engine shopping specialists to place marketing content in desired online locations. | 1.3% | |
| Design customer interface of online storefront, using web programming or e-commerce software. | 1.0% | |
| Develop or revise business plans for online business, emphasizing factors such as product line, pricing, inventory, or marketing strategy. | 0.9% |
Independent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics employment projection for 2024–2034 — a labor-market forecast, not an AI-impact forecast.
| Outlook | About average · +3.0% by 2034 |
| Projected annual openings | 108,200 |
| Employment 2024 → 2034 | 1,205,700 → 1,242,000 |
“Annual openings” counts new jobs plus replacements for workers who leave the occupation, so it can be large even when growth is modest.
The ILO's 2025 global study scores generative-AI exposure on the international ISCO-08 occupation system, not US SOC. Bridged through the published (and approximate, many-to-many) IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 crosswalk, this US occupation corresponds to the international 2 occupations below. Exposure here means how much of the work's tasks today's AI can attempt — task overlap, not automation, adoption, or jobs lost.
| International occupation (ISCO-08) | Task exposure (2025) | Most tasks fall in |
|---|---|---|
| Business Services Agents Not Elsewhere Classified · 3339 | 45% | Gradient 2 |
| Policy Administration Professionals · 2422 | 42% | Minimal |
Read the whole six-band gradient on the GenAI exposure gradient page. The crosswalk is approximate: a US occupation can map to several international ones, and the ILO scores describe the international occupation, not this exact US role.
How people actually apply AI to this occupation's tasks, from Claude.ai (Free and Pro) conversations in the Anthropic Economic Index, 2026-01-15. This is one AI assistant's consumer sample — not all AI, not the whole workforce. Autonomy and the collaboration mix are model-rated estimates; figures below the sample floor are hidden.
| Augmentation vs. automation | 42.2% working with AI · 47.4% handed to AI |
| Most common way people use AI here | Directive · AI does it; you give the instruction |
| Typical AI autonomy | 4.0 / 5 · higher = AI acts more independently |
| Used for work (vs. personal / coursework) | 68.3% |
The role's most common tasks in AI conversations, each tagged with how people work with the AI on it. “Usage” is the share of observed conversations, not of the job.
| Task | How | Usage |
|---|---|---|
| Compose descriptions of merchandise for posting to online storefront, auction sites, or other shopping Web sites. | Directive | 7.4% |
| Compose images of products, using video or still cameras, lighting equipment, props, or photo or video editing software. | Iteration | 4.5% |
| Collaborate with search engine shopping specialists to place marketing content in desired online locations. | Directive | 1.9% |
| Implement security practices to preserve assets, minimize liabilities, or ensure customer privacy, using parallel servers, hardware redundancy, fail-safe technology, information encryption, or firewalls. | Learning | 1.5% |
| Prepare or organize online storefront marketing material, including product descriptions or subject lines, optimizing content to search engine criteria. | Iteration | 0.9% |
| Design customer interface of online storefront, using web programming or e-commerce software. | Iteration | 0.9% |
| Determine and set product prices. | Directive | 0.6% |
| Investigate products or markets to determine areas for opportunity or viability for merchandising specific products, using online or offline sources. | Directive | 0.5% |
Tasks where the model most often judged that a person remained necessary — a useful read on the current boundary, not a guarantee.
| Investigate products or markets to determine areas for opportunity or viability for merchandising specific products, using online or offline sources. | 100.0% | |
| Promote products in online communities through weblog or discussion-forum postings, e-mail marketing programs, or online advertising. | 100.0% | |
| Collaborate with search engine shopping specialists to place marketing content in desired online locations. | 98.4% | |
| Determine and set product prices. | 98.3% | |
| Select and purchase technical web services, such as web hosting services, online merchant accounts, shopping cart software, payment gateway software, or spyware. | 97.9% | |
| Prepare or organize online storefront marketing material, including product descriptions or subject lines, optimizing content to search engine criteria. | 97.8% |
Example prompts phrased from the tasks people most often delegate to AI in this occupation (Anthropic Economic Index). Each shows the underlying measured task and its share of observed AI use. They are suggested phrasings of real tasks — starting points, not endorsed instructions.
Help me compose descriptions of merchandise for posting to online storefront, auction sites, or other shopping Web sites. From: Compose descriptions of merchandise for posting to online storefront, auction sites, or other shopping Web sites. · 7.4% of measured AI use · directive
Help me compose images of products, using video or still cameras, lighting equipment, props, or photo or video editing software. From: Compose images of products, using video or still cameras, lighting equipment, props, or photo or video editing software. · 4.5% of measured AI use · task iteration
Help me collaborate with search engine shopping specialists to place marketing content in desired online locations. From: Collaborate with search engine shopping specialists to place marketing content in desired online locations. · 1.9% of measured AI use · directive
Help me implement security practices to preserve assets, minimize liabilities, or ensure customer privacy, using parallel servers, hardware redundancy, fail-safe technology, information encryption, or firewalls. From: Implement security practices to preserve assets, minimize liabilities, or ensure customer privacy, using parallel servers, hardware redundancy, fail-safe technology, information encryption, or firewalls. · 1.5% of measured AI use · learning
All 34 tasks O*NET lists for this occupation, ordered by importance. Each links to its own page with AI-exposure and observed-use detail.
O*NET importance rating, from 1 (not important) to 5 (extremely important).
| Written Comprehension | 3.8 | |
| Oral Expression | 3.5 | |
| Written Expression | 3.5 | |
| Problem Sensitivity | 3.5 | |
| Oral Comprehension | 3.4 | |
| Deductive Reasoning | 3.4 | |
| Near Vision | 3.4 | |
| Speech Recognition | 3.4 | |
| Speech Clarity | 3.4 | |
| Inductive Reasoning | 3.3 | |
| Information Ordering | 3.1 | |
| Fluency of Ideas | 3.0 | |
| Category Flexibility | 3.0 | |
| Mathematical Reasoning | 3.0 | |
| Number Facility | 3.0 |
| Reading Comprehension | 3.6 | |
| Active Listening | 3.5 | |
| Speaking | 3.5 | |
| Critical Thinking | 3.5 | |
| Writing | 3.4 | |
| Monitoring | 3.1 | |
| Mathematics | 3.0 | |
| Active Learning | 2.9 |
| Persuasion | 3.4 | |
| Service Orientation | 3.4 | |
| Judgment and Decision Making | 3.3 | |
| Social Perceptiveness | 3.1 | |
| Negotiation | 3.1 | |
| Coordination | 3.0 | |
| Complex Problem Solving | 3.0 |
Skills employers ask for in job postings for this occupation (Lightcast), with whether each is a common or specialized skill.
Showing the top 40 of 61.
Showing the top 40 of 76.
How characteristic each condition is of the job, on O*NET's 1–5 context scale (higher = more present in day-to-day work). Each condition links to how it varies across all occupations.
What to study: Business, Management, Marketing, and Related Support Services . Fields of study crosswalked to this occupation (NCES CIP–SOC), not a requirement.
Share of people in this occupation at each level of education.
| Bachelor's Degree | 41.3% | |
| High School Diploma | 32.7% | |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 12.1% | |
| Some College Courses | 8.7% | |
| Associate's Degree (or other 2-year degree) | 5.2% |
The interests and personal qualities O*NET associates with people who do this work.
| Conventional | 6.0 | |
| Enterprising | 5.8 | |
| Realistic | 2.4 | |
| Social | 2.3 |
| Business Initiatives | 5.1 | |
| Office Work | 5.0 | |
| Management/Administration | 4.7 | |
| Accounting | 4.1 | |
| Marketing/Advertising | 3.6 | |
| Sales | 3.5 | |
| Finance | 2.6 | |
| Information Technology | 2.4 | |
| Media | 2.0 |
| Dependability | 2.4 | |
| Attention to Detail | 2.2 | |
| Achievement Orientation | 2.0 |
U.S. · annual wages (BLS OEWS)
| 10th percentile | $46,230 |
| 25th percentile | $60,820 |
| Median (50th) | $81,270 |
| 75th percentile | $110,030 |
| 90th percentile | $147,830 |
| People employed | 1,128,200 |
Wages and employment are reported by BLS for the broader occupation group this specialty belongs to (SOC 13-1199), not for the specialty alone.
Where these workers are employed, by number of jobs (national, BLS OEWS). Pay shown is the occupation's national median, not industry-specific.
| Industry | Workers | National median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services · Sector | 155,730 | $85,150 |
| Educational Services · Sector | 100,750 | $66,200 |
| Finance and Insurance · Sector | 76,760 | $83,480 |
| Health Care and Social Assistance · Sector | 71,430 | $68,010 |
| Manufacturing · Sector | 70,690 | $101,460 |
| Management of Companies and Enterprises · Sector | 67,210 | $85,920 |
| Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services · Sector | 62,030 | $66,550 |
| Other Services (except Public Administration) · Sector | 46,900 | $66,050 |
| Wholesale Trade · Sector | 40,900 | $79,180 |
| Information · Sector | 37,210 | $101,650 |
| Retail Trade · Sector | 22,110 | $50,040 |
| Temporary Help Services · National industry | 20,690 | $64,790 |
Industries where this occupation is far more common than in the economy as a whole. The location quotient is how many times more concentrated it is here (a value of 5 means five times its economy-wide share).
| Industry | Concentration | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Nuclear Electric Power Generation · National industry | 4.27× | 1,160 |
| Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities · National industry | 4.05× | 1,800 |
| Labor Unions and Similar Labor Organizations · National industry | 3.53× | 2,740 |
| Management of Companies and Enterprises · Sector | 3.27× | 67,210 |
| Wind Electric Power Generation · National industry | 3.17× | 230 |
| Direct Health and Medical Insurance Carriers · National industry | 2.8× | 9,200 |
| Utilities · Sector | 2.06× | 8,750 |
| Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services · Sector | 1.98× | 155,730 |
Part of the Management & Entrepreneurship career cluster.
Side-by-side comparisons place two occupations’ pay, preparation, skills, and AI exposure on the same page — same data, same scale, no forecast.
Options the data surfaces for Online Merchants — not advice or a forecast. Each is a real cross-link you can follow into the evidence.
Capabilities this work builds that are used across many other occupations.
Occupations O*NET rates as related — the nearby moves on the map.
How people typically prepare for this work.
On the global GenAI exposure gradient this work sits around the 80th percentile of 427 international occupations.
Online Merchants show 77th-percentile AI task overlap — and about 108,200 annual U.S. openings
Online Merchants show 77th-percentile AI task overlap — and about 108,200 annual U.S. openings • Online Merchants rank in the 77th percentile (High band) for AI task overlap across U.S. occupations — a measure of how much of the work today's AI can attempt, not how much is automated. (Eloundou et al. (GPTs are GPTs) + Felten AIOE) • The occupation is projected to see about 108,200 U.S. job openings per year (2024–34), counting growth and replacement — a labor-demand projection made independently of AI. (BLS Employment Projections 2024–34) • BLS projects employment to be about average (+3%) from 2024 to 2034. (BLS Employment Projections 2024–34) • Median annual pay is $81,270, across about 1,128,200 U.S. workers. (BLS OEWS (May 2024)) • Of the AI use actually observed for this work, 42% looks like augmentation (drafting, iterating, checking) rather than hands-off automation — from a Claude.ai usage sample, not a census. (2026-01-15-v4-plus-2025-03-27-v2) Source: Singulariki — "Online Merchants". https://singulariki.com/roles/role-13-1199-06 Note: AI task overlap measures what today's AI can attempt, not automation, job loss, or a forecast.
AssetsShare imageMethodology & sourcesPress & newsroomThe newsroom
Every line is built only from figures this page already shows and cites. AI task overlap means what today's AI can attempt — not automation, job loss, or a forecast.
Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.
Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.
Singulariki. "Online Merchants." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/roles/role-13-1199-06
Singulariki. (2026). Online Merchants. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/roles/role-13-1199-06
@misc{singulariki-role-13-1199-06,
title = {Online Merchants},
author = {{Singulariki}},
year = {2026},
note = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026},
url = {https://singulariki.com/roles/role-13-1199-06}
} Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.