At Domaine, we’ve seen this challenge from both sides: running large, complex ecommerce operations in-house and now working alongside brands as their partner. That dual perspective means we’ve experienced many different ways to organize, and we know how much impact the right structure can have on both speed and quality.
When ecommerce teams work smoothly, Marketing, Merchandising, Creative, and Technology operate as one cohesive engine. When they don’t…well, the friction shows up everywhere: slower launches, missed opportunities, unclear ownership, and a lot of “who’s doing what?”
The truth is, there’s no single “right” org structure for every company. It depends heavily on leadership style, business priorities, and the brand’s maturity in digital. That said, there are consistent principles we’ve seen work across industries.
The Trouble with Googled Org Charts
When brands start this process, the first instinct is often to Google “ecommerce team org chart.” We’ve done it too, and what you find is usually unhelpful.
Some charts look polished but leave huge gaps around where strategy meets execution, or how responsibilities are split between teams. Others draw strange boundaries between functions (Brand vs. Content, for example) that will only cause internal turf wars later.
Even the better examples often make two big mistakes:
- Overcomplicating retention, brand, or UX into silos that don’t reflect how modern ecommerce actually works.
- Ignoring how upstream functions (strategy, analytics, creative direction) feed into downstream execution.
How We Recommend Structuring Ecommerce Teams
While every brand is different, there are a few guiding principles we recommend, whether you’re a $20M brand scaling for the first time or a $200M brand fine-tuning your global digital operations.
1. Global Strategy: Clear, shared business objectives are the foundation. Every member of the ecommerce team—not just leadership—should know exactly what they’re working toward. For multi-site or multi-region brands, site design and global merchandising direction also live here. These aren’t day-to-day tasks, but overarching guardrails that keep teams aligned.
2. Global Ecommerce Support: Define what the organization provides for the ecommerce team (and vice versa). Without clear ownership, functions like content creation end up in a gray area, and the ecommerce team ends up scrambling to fill the gaps.
3. Front of House vs. Back of House: Borrowing a term from physical retail: “Front of House” includes everything pre-checkout (site experience, marketing, merchandising), while “Back of House” covers everything post-checkout (fulfillment, service, retention). The handoff between these teams is one of the most critical—and often most disconnected—parts of the customer journey.
4. Responsibilities Before Titles: At Domaine, we always start with responsibilities, not just job titles. First, define the tasks and goals for each function, then map the people or roles to them. This approach exposes gaps, prevents overlap, and ensures job descriptions ladder up to team objectives.
Why This Matters for Our Work at Domaine
We’re not just observers; we’ve directly managed many of these disciplines for our clients. Our focus on Shopify has been intentional: it allows us to spend more time on the work that moves the needle (improving site experience, conversion, and retention) and less time wrestling with platform limitations.
But the most important principle isn’t in any diagram. It’s something one of our UX peers once said:
“The most important thing about a great team is that each member thinks the others are equally valuable.”
That belief is at the core of how we work with clients, and why team structure is about more than boxes and lines. It’s about creating a system where every function sees itself as essential to the whole.
If you want to see examples of the team structures we’ve built for clients, or explore how yours could be optimized, we’re always happy to talk. Reach out to us today.
