# Online Merchants

> 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.

- **SOC code:** 13-1199.06
- **Canonical URL:** https://singulariki.com/roles/role-13-1199-06
- **Also known as:** 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
- **Frame:** "AI exposure" means task overlap (how codifiable the work is), not jobs lost or a forecast. Every figure below is traced to a named public dataset.

## What this work is

**Core tasks** (O*NET):
- Fill customer orders by packaging sold items and documentation for direct shipping or by transferring orders to manufacturers or third-party distributors.
- Create, manage, or automate orders or invoices, using order management or invoicing software.
- Receive and process payments from customers, using electronic transaction services.
- Deliver e-mail confirmation of completed transactions and shipment.
- Correspond with online customers via electronic mail, telephone, or other electronic messaging to address questions or complaints about products, policies, or shipping methods.
- Design customer interface of online storefront, using web programming or e-commerce software.
- Purchase new or used items from online or physical sources for resale via retail or auction Web site.
- Determine and set product prices.
- Calculate purchase subtotals, taxes, and shipping costs for submission to customers.
- Compose descriptions of merchandise for posting to online storefront, auction sites, or other shopping Web sites.
- Compose images of products, using video or still cameras, lighting equipment, props, or photo or video editing software.
- Upload digital media, such as photos, video, or scanned images to online storefront, auction sites, or other shopping Web sites.

## Skills, tools, capabilities

**Knowledge, skills & abilities** (O*NET, highest importance first):
- English Language _(knowledge)_
- Sales and Marketing _(knowledge)_
- Customer and Personal Service _(knowledge)_
- Written Comprehension _(ability)_
- Reading Comprehension _(essential_skill)_
- Communications and Media _(knowledge)_
- Administration and Management _(knowledge)_
- Computers and Electronics _(knowledge)_
- Active Listening _(essential_skill)_
- Speaking _(essential_skill)_
- Critical Thinking _(essential_skill)_
- Oral Expression _(ability)_

**Skills in demand:**
- English Language _(Common Skill)_
- Reading Comprehension _(Common Skill)_
- Microsoft PowerPoint _(Common Skill)_
- Microsoft Excel _(Common Skill)_
- Google Analytics _(Specialized Skill)_
- Critical Thinking _(Common Skill)_
- Active Listening _(Common Skill)_
- Writing _(Common Skill)_
- Speech Recognition _(Specialized Skill)_
- Deductive Reasoning _(Common Skill)_
- Inductive Reasoning _(Common Skill)_
- Mathematics _(Common Skill)_

**Tools & technology:**
- Google Analytics _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Microsoft Excel _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Microsoft Office software _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Microsoft PowerPoint _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Adobe Photoshop _(hot technology)_
- AJAX _(hot technology)_
- Apple macOS _(hot technology)_
- C# _(hot technology)_
- Extensible markup language XML _(hot technology)_
- Facebook _(hot technology)_
- Hypertext markup language HTML _(hot technology)_
- Intuit QuickBooks _(hot technology)_

## AI exposure & outlook

- **AI task-overlap index:** 77th percentile (High) across all occupations — composite of current-era exposure studies (ai-exposure-index-v1).
- **Overall AI exposure (Felten et al.):** 77th percentile (High) — source: felten_aioe.
- **LLM task exposure, γ (OpenAI / Eloundou):** 78th percentile (High) — source: eloundou_gamma.
- **AI assistant applicability (Microsoft):** 73rd percentile (High) — source: microsoft_applicability.
- **Frey–Osborne (2013, historical computerization estimate):** 35th percentile — kept separate from current-era studies.
- **Remote-capable (Dingel–Neiman):** yes — task structure, not who actually works remote.
- **Projected employment (BLS 2024–34):** 3.0% growth (About average); 108.2k annual openings; 1,205.7k → 1,242k jobs.
- **Pay & employment (BLS OEWS, May 2024):** median $81,270; 1,128,200 employed.

## How people actually use AI here

Anthropic Economic Index — measured AI conversations mapped to this occupation's tasks:

- **Automation vs augmentation:** 47% automation, 42% augmentation (usage-weighted).
- **Autonomy median:** 4.0 (higher = AI acts more independently).
- **Dominant collaboration mode:** directive.

**Tasks most handed to AI here:**
- Compose descriptions of merchandise for posting to online storefront, auction sites, or other shopping Web sites. _(7.4% of measured AI use; directive)_
- 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)_
- Collaborate with search engine shopping specialists to place marketing content in desired online locations. _(1.9% of measured AI use; directive)_
- 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)_
- Prepare or organize online storefront marketing material, including product descriptions or subject lines, optimizing content to search engine criteria. _(0.9% of measured AI use; task iteration)_
- Design customer interface of online storefront, using web programming or e-commerce software. _(0.9% of measured AI use; task iteration)_
- Determine and set product prices. _(0.6% of measured AI use; directive)_
- Investigate products or markets to determine areas for opportunity or viability for merchandising specific products, using online or offline sources. _(0.5% of measured AI use; directive)_

**Example prompts (honest phrasings of the tasks above — starting points, not endorsed instructions):**
- Help me compose descriptions of merchandise for posting to online storefront, auction sites, or other shopping Web sites.
- Help me compose images of products, using video or still cameras, lighting equipment, props, or photo or video editing software.
- Help me collaborate with search engine shopping specialists to place marketing content in desired online locations.
- 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.
- Help me prepare or organize online storefront marketing material, including product descriptions or subject lines, optimizing content to search engine criteria.

## Sources

- **O*NET** (30.3) — U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)** (May 2024) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS Employment Projections** (2024–2034) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **Anthropic Economic Index** (v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27)) — Anthropic. https://www.anthropic.com/economic-index
- **Microsoft “Working with AI”** (working-with-ai) — Microsoft Research. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/
- **“GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.)** (arXiv 2303.10130) — OpenAI / academic. https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130
- **AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE)** (Felten, Raj & Seamans) — academic. https://github.com/AIOE-Data/AIOE
- **Frey & Osborne (2013)** (frey-osborne-automation) — academic. https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/publications/the-future-of-employment/
- **Dingel & Neiman (2020)** (dingel-neiman-workathome) — academic. https://github.com/jdingel/DingelNeiman-workathome

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_Generated from Singulariki's joined dataset; data snapshot 2026-06-02T21:00:32.945303+00:00. https://singulariki.com/roles/role-13-1199-06_