Will AI replace Online Merchants?
AI reaches most of this job’s work.
56/100
Very high exposure
More exposed to AI than 87% of US workers.
- AI already used in
- 42% of the work
- As AI tools mature: up to
- 81% of the work
What the job involves
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.
Where AI reaches the work
The job’s main tasks, heaviest first, by how far AI reaches them.
Already happening(14)
- Deliver e-mail confirmation of completed transactions and shipment.
- Cancel orders based on customer requests or inventory or delivery problems.
- Upload digital media, such as photos, video, or scanned images to online storefront, auction sites, or other shopping Web sites.
- Compose descriptions of merchandise for posting to online storefront, auction sites, or other shopping Web sites.
- Prepare or organize online storefront marketing material, including product descriptions or subject lines, optimizing content to search engine criteria.
and 9 more
Within reach(14)
- Fill customer orders by packaging sold items and documentation for direct shipping or by transferring orders to manufacturers or third-party distributors.
- Correspond with online customers via electronic mail, telephone, or other electronic messaging to address questions or complaints about products, policies, or shipping methods.
- Create, manage, or automate orders or invoices, using order management or invoicing software.
- Calculate purchase subtotals, taxes, and shipping costs for submission to customers.
- Calculate revenue, sales, and expenses, using financial accounting or spreadsheet software.
and 9 more
Out of reach(6)
- Receive and process payments from customers, using electronic transaction services.
- Determine and set product prices.
- Purchase new or used items from online or physical sources for resale via retail or auction Web site.
- Order or purchase merchandise to maintain optimal inventory levels.
- Maintain inventory of shipping supplies, such as boxes, labels, tape, bubble wrap, loose packing materials, or tape guns.
and 1 more
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
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What these numbers mean
The score is the share of this job’s work, weighted by how important and frequent each task is, that AI could do in half the time: tasks an AI model could do alone count in full, tasks that need software built on AI count half.
“AI already used” is the share of the work in tasks where people are recorded using AI today. “As AI tools mature” counts every task AI could halve, with or without extra software.
The percentile compares the score with every job’s, weighted by how many people in the US do each one. Exposure means AI could change how the work is done, not that the job goes away. These are estimates for the typical job, not predictions.
Sources
- O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration
- GPTs are GPTs: Labor market impact potential of LLMs (task labels), Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin & Rock (2023), OpenAI and University of Pennsylvania
- Anthropic Economic Index: labor market impacts (task penetration), Anthropic
- Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (national and metropolitan areas), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics