What Is an Amazon Virtual Assistant: A Guide for Phoenix E-commerce Business

Running an Amazon e-commerce business can become overwhelming when you have excessive data entry, customer support, and logistics needs.

A viable solution to growing business requirements is hiring a virtual assistant (VA) in Phoenix. A third-party remote professional fulfills the responsibilities of a full-time or part-time assistant. You can delegate work and free up your schedule for higher-level tasks by adding a VA to your business pipeline.

An Amazon VA for your Phoenix e-commerce business can streamline workflows. This article guides you on what Amazon VAs are, how they support operations, and where to outsource them.

What Is an Amazon VA for E-commerce?

An Amazon VA works remotely for your Phoenix e-commerce business to keep operations running smoothly. Their main role is to help generate more sales by managing various processes related to running your Amazon store. In return, you can be more productive with core business functions.

Amazon VAs have varying degrees of skills, knowledge, and experience. Depending on your budget and needs, you may hire a remote assistant to handle time-consuming, low-level tasks such as data entry or manage more critical areas such as customer support. 

E-commerce customer service outsourcing is popular among e-commerce stores because of the numerous tasks it can cover and the different benefits it can offer. More on these later.

What Are the Business Functions an Amazon VA Can Handle?

After deciding to hire an Amazon VA for your Phoenix e-commerce business, the next step is to identify what role and responsibility you will offload to them. Experienced VAs can handle almost any task you entrust to them, but you must carefully decide which function to assign for a successful outsourcing venture.

To do so, list the tasks and activities that take up most of your time. Then, determine which functions require your expertise and attention. The rest of the work can then be delegated to your VA.

Here is a list of outsourced e-commerce services to help you decide:

Product Research

Product research is integral to any Amazon business, and a VA can help you obtain relevant information. Product research may include finding products to acquire at a wholesale rate, acquiring samples, getting the best bargains, negotiating with manufacturers, and making products available in your store.

In addition to product research, your Amazon VA can assist you with researching and understanding the newest trends in your industry. This approach gives you insights you can use to design strategies to compete with your rivals. You can create and implement a solution to help you stand out amongst competitors while your VA focuses on laying the groundwork.

Product Listing and Optimization

Product listing and optimization are crucial functions in driving sales. An Amazon VA can help ensure your listings are accurate and cohesive based on platform guidelines. They can also help you monitor and assess your previous listings to verify if they are optimized.

Additionally, an Amazon VA can assist in tracking your store’s performance—from tracking keyword rankings to optimizing listings. Amazon may amend its rules and regulations on product listings. Your remote assistant can help you understand the changes and implement them in your store.

Order Processing

Processing orders is time-consuming. You can hire an Amazon VA to perform this task for your Phoenix e-commerce business while you handle more pressing matters.

Examples of tasks that your remote assistant can handle are sending in Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) inventory, acquiring barcodes for each unit, getting shipping labels, tracking shipments, and verifying received units.

Ad Campaigns

Amazon shop owners can agree that running ad campaigns for their stores is a great way to drive traffic, leading to increased sales. However, this can be difficult if you are not knowledgeable about ad campaigns.

An Amazon VA with experience running ad campaigns is a great asset for your business. They can set up ad campaigns after you give them access to your Seller Central tools as well as enter negative key terms to minimize unnecessary spending. Additionally, they can track your analytics to assess your campaign performance and make adjustments to your ads accordingly.

Translation

Amazon is a global platform. Your store may be geographically based in one region, but your customers could come from another. So language sometimes becomes a barrier to marketing and sales.

As an e-commerce store owner, you must communicate effectively with customers about your products and services. A remote assistant can translate your message to your target market. Moreover, bilingual or multilingual VAs can help you understand what a buyer is trying to say if they speak the same language.

Customer Support

Although customer service is crucial, most store owners know that building an in-house team to handle support tickets is time-consuming and requires considerable investments. Business owners will also be responsible for training agents. A good alternative is to entrust customer support to a VA while your internal team takes care of other business functions.

The Amazon VA can write message templates, answer customer inquiries, respond to reviews, address negative feedback,  locate past orders, verify fulfilled by merchant (FBM) orders, and handle product replacements or refunds. One outsourced customer service tip is to work with a reliable VA agency to match you with the best candidate.

An Amazon VA can do more for your Phoenix e-commerce business besides the functions discussed above. You decide which tasks will be best delegated to your remote assistant.

What Are the Benefits of Hiring an Amazon VA?

The best Amazon VAs offer many services to store owners. E-commerce businesses can expect excellent performance when hiring a skilled assistant. The remote worker can help in managing the e-commerce store and driving more sales.

Here are some advantages of hiring an Amazon VA for your Phoenix e-commerce business.

An Amazon VA Saves Time

Having an outsourced assistant allows you to concentrate on key areas of your online store without stressing about trivial tasks. An Amazon VA helps you save and allocate time to expand and grow your store. Moreover, remote workers are 47% more productive than in-office workers.

Your VA also minimizes the time you spend replying to buyers by implementing automated and personalized replies. A remote assistant for customer service can leave a positive impression on shoppers, resulting in brand recognition and growth.

An Amazon VA Is an Expert at Your Disposal

You can leverage in-demand services from a skilled and experienced professional by hiring an Amazon VA. Remote assistants usually spend years mastering the ins and outs of the Amazon platform. Who else can you rely on to boost your online presence other than these experts?

Outsourced assistants with knowledge in various aspects of an Amazon business also bring significant advantages. They can handle almost anything you delegate to them—from customer service to content marketing. Legacy in-house staff may only be skilled in one or two business areas, decreasing your options and forcing you to hire more people. You can avoid this by hiring an expert VA.

An Amazon VA Reduces Expenditures

One of the best upsides of hiring an Amazon VA for your Phoenix e-commerce business is that you do not need to invest in compensation and tools. With an in-house employee, you must shoulder expenses on equipment, office rent, transportation, and food. Conversely, an Amazon VA works from home and charges fixed hourly or monthly rates, reducing overhead expenses.

Outsourced assistants provide independent services on demand. As a client, you only need to pay for services rendered, which is a more affordable option than hiring a full-time employee. Lastly, remote workers are more flexible than internal teams and can work whenever needed.

An Amazon VA Minimizess Dependencies

When you recruit a full-time employee, you must compensate them with a fixed salary and benefits, such as health insurance, paid time off, and other financial gains. Hiring a remote worker can minimize or eliminate many of these dependencies. Since the Amazon VA is not your employee, they do not need insurance, medical expenses, taxation, or other perks.

Suppose you are hiring a remote assistant in the Philippines. Instead of spending on salary and benefits, you only need to pay around $477 monthly or $1.47 hourly for VA services. 

Since outsourced assistants are individual contractors, they are responsible for their own well-being. Moreover, they are not entitled to other compensation except for what you agreed upon during the initial agreement. The contract ensures you only have to compensate them for the services they offer, nothing more.

An Amazon VA Bridges Skill Gap

Most Amazon store owners are not skilled in creating content, managing social media accounts, or writing product descriptions. Yet these are crucial functions when running an e-commerce shop. An experienced Amazon VA can perform these tasks for your Phoenix e-commerce business instead.

You can easily find a suitable remote worker online. However, not all VAs work as individual freelancers. You can also hire through a third-party agency or company. Such is the case for translation services or software localization solutions requiring real native experts.

When Should You Hire a Remote Assistant for Your Amazon Business?

Hiring a remote assistant is best when you are wasting too much time on trivial tasks while running your Amazon store. Expanding your business is impossible when you are always busy with support functions. Hiring a VA can reduce redundancy and improve productivity.

Considering the economics of the strategy, an Amazon VA is crucial for Phoenix e-commerce businesses. Time is gold, and you should not waste it on non-core activities that only burden you and hinder your business’s growth.  

How Do You Find an Excellent Amazon VA for Your Store?

Finding the ideal Amazon VA for your Phoenix e-commerce store can be tedious and challenging. You can search candidates independently, or you can partner with business process outsourcing (BPO) firms. 

Here are three ways to find talented Amazon VAs:

• Freelancing websites. You can find an independent VA on an online freelancing platform if you prefer to hire someone on your terms. You can access a vast pool of independent specialists and generalists. Make sure to measure their work ethic and the quality of their work by looking at their portfolios and reviewing client testimonials.
• VA agencies or BPO Firms. An agency has many skilled VAs for hire that you can choose from. For instance, you can partner with an offshoring provider in the Philippines, browse its service packages, and switch your VA anytime if your budget or requirement changes. It ensures you get a VA with excellent qualifications and commitment to quality.
• Direct contact. Your final option is to hire a VA through direct contact. You can find potential staff on local networks, job posting sites, and social media platforms. However, it is best to avoid this route as much as possible because directly dealing with freelancers and independent contractors puts you at risk of scams and fraud.

How Do You Hire and Manage Your Amazon VA?

Before employing a remote assistant, you must determine the tasks you want to assign. You must be clear when listing your requirements and identifying each task. Put simply, you must clarify the process to ensure customer-centric outsourcing.

Performing the tasks yourself first is recommended to better understand each function and assess your VA’s skills.

Here are a few tips for hiring and managing an Amazon VA for your Phoenix e-commerce store.

Set Expectations

Firstly, you need to identify the root cause of your requirements. Why do you want to outsource the task to an Amazon VA? Here are some common reasons:

• It requires too much time to accomplish.
• It is a low-value task.
• You lack the necessary skills to complete the tasks.
• You do not enjoy doing it.

Asking yourself why you want to outsource each task under consideration lets you determine if it is worth transferring to an Amazon VA.

Define the Scope of Work

Not defining the complete range of VA duties is a big mistake. Suppose you hire an Amazon VA for data entry. You expect them to enter all product details in a listing and develop creative, keyword-optimized product descriptions.

However, you do not share this with the VA and simply assume that this is something they should be doing. This lack of communication leads to a mismatch of deliverables and expectations and a waste of revenue and resources. Defining even the most minor responsibilities helps avoid any confusion.

Create a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP)

An SOP contains step-by-step instructions for VAs to follow when performing complex, recurring tasks. This guide details the ins and outs of the process and shows the best practices based on experience.

Business leaders develop SOPs for professionals responsible for doing the work alone. Without standards, the worker may complete the task using their own methods, which can be faulty or inefficient. Thus, it is crucial to outline the task and develop a detailed SOP.

Conduct a Trial Run

Giving your Amazon VA a trial test is a good practice because it lets you verify their skills. It also acts as a buffer between their delivery capacity and your service requirements. Lastly, it gives the remote professional an idea of your expected work quality.

Train your VA in your store’s unique selling point during the trial run. Give them time to properly understand your business and align their skills with your goals.

Clarify Details and Track Progress

Sorting out details from the beginning makes the transition easier for you and your remote assistant. Decide how you will evaluate your Amazon VA. Be clear on the following aspects:

• Number of hours they would spend working
• Tasks they need to accomplish
• Goals they must meet in a month, quarter, or year
• Their payment criteria and rate
• Communication rules and check-in constraints
• Process of monitoring and progress report format

Additionally, tracking the progress of your Amazon VA is important. Tools such as Trello and Asana are excellent task management boards that let you see every step of the process. Tracking progress and comparing results against daily, weekly, and monthly expectations keep you and your VA on the same page.

The Bottom Line

Delegating tasks to an Amazon VA can be one of the most rewarding decisions you can make for your Phoenix e-commerce business. By entrusting some of the duties involved in running an online store to others, you can free up more time to do what matters most to you and your business.

However, choosing a VA is a challenging task. It involves risks, especially if you choose the wrong person for your business. Therefore, taking the right steps is extremely important. To be successful, you must create a plan, search for the best talents, hire the right professional, and monitor their performance.

Unity Communications is a one-stop solution for all your Amazon VA needs. We match you with skilled experts who can successfully accomplish your e-commerce tasks. Whether setting up an account or managing promotional activities, they can help you.

Rely on our remote assistants to streamline your operations and grow your Amazon store. Let’s connect to learn the options available to you!