29 of the Best Ecommerce Courses For Leveling Up Your Online Store

The ecommerce landscape evolves at a rapid pace. To keep up with it, you must continuously learn and expand your online selling skills.

Trying to stay up to date and keep your brand at its best may seem overwhelming, but many ecommerce courses are available to help you out.

As you read, we’ll explain why you should pursue ecommerce educational courses and how to pick the right one.

We’ll also share some great courses that cover various topics to narrow your choices—from business strategy and accounting to SEO and content marketing.

Read on to learn:

• Why education is essential in ecommerce
• What to look for in a great ecommerce course
• The best ecommerce courses to check out

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The role of education in ecommerce

Although many merchants learn by testing and seeing what works in their stores, this isn’t always the most efficient way to optimize a business.

Sometimes you need expert ecommerce training.

Formal instruction provides an alternative, sometimes less costly, avenue for enriching your brand.

Investing in courses lets you learn ecommerce tips from the instructors’ mistakes, so you pick up what works and skip what doesn’t.

Professional development classes save you time and money in the long run and reveal new ideas that can inspire your future growth tactics.

How to identify a first-rate ecommerce course

Before you enroll in any courses, there are certain factors you should consider to find one that’s right for you.

Subject matter difficulty

If you are a beginner, you don’t want to find yourself in advanced ecommerce classes that are way over your head. Likewise, for more experienced merchants landing in a 101 course.

Grasping a course’s subject matter level is typically obvious, as providers usually state it outright.

Take this Marketing Strategy course from the Actionable Marketing Institute Powered By CoSchedule as an example:

“Experience” is the first item listed so visitors can quickly gauge if they’re at the necessary skill level.

If the course you’re considering isn’t this clear, other indications can help determine its difficulty.

For example, beginner courses usually have titles like “Introduction to [broad concept]” and cover the basics of the specific topic.

Alternatively, advanced courses assume you know the general workings of the ecommerce topic at hand.

For instance, complex advertising courses dive deeper into topics like ad optimization for businesses that spend $100K or more per month for campaigns.

Quality of the instructors

Review the backgrounds of a course’s instructors to determine their caliber.

Teachers should have the credentials to back up their claims, such as being part of an agency or having experience working for a company that relates to their teaching.

Providers often show off an instructor’s qualifications, but you can also check their credibility.

To support their technical authority, they should have experience either doing it themselves, helping others do it, or observing the procedure at their own companies.

For example, if someone teaches how to structure logistics, their background could feature:

1. Previously running an ecommerce warehouse
2. Founding their own brand and creating a robust logistics setup
3. Working with a logistics company that helps clients optimize fulfillment
4. Starting a fulfillment SaaS or building a warehouse management software system

Also, an instructor’s current credentials could have changed since their course was published.

Outdated credentials are sometimes displayed, so double-check LinkedIn for the most recent information (if taking a live course).

Publisher reputation

Sometimes, a company will publish a course rather than the instructor hosting and uploading it on a learning platform. In these cases, look at the brand’s reputation and consider whether or not they’re running the course to sell their services rather than teach.

A sales pitch can be part of it, but the course should also provide plenty of valuable learning.

For example, if a company that sells subscription software offers a course on customer retention, you know they’ll have unique insights since it falls within their business operations.

However, if they’re trying to sell a course on a topic irrelevant to their niche—like how to sell on TikTok—you might take it with a grain of salt.

Read testimonials (good and bad)

Look at what past participants said about the course.

Reviews are typically displayed further down on a course’s homepage, as seen in the image below from Skillshare.

If you know someone in your network who has taken the course you’re interested in, reach out to them through LinkedIn or email.

Ask them for candid feedback and whether or not they believe it’s a good option for you.

Free vs paid

Although the saying goes, “You get what you pay for,” there are plenty of great free ecommerce courses available.

Some even offer ecommerce certifications as well.

These require a little more vetting, as it’s easy to waste your time on tons of “free” courses that end up trying to sell you something without teaching anything useful.

So, if you have a budget, check the course’s cost to ensure you can afford it.

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29 Amazing ecommerce courses to help level up your business

With the above knowledge in mind, choosing an appropriate ecommerce course should be easy.

To help you out, though, we’ve compiled a list of informative classes from reputable institutions and instructors—some of whom are industry leaders.

We categorized them according to their respective subject matters.

Business strategy

The courses in this section focus on overall business strategy, from launching new products to building and growing your brand.

1. Scale School (DTC Media)

The result of a partnership between Pilothouse Digital and DTC Media, Scale School teaches proven strategies for Instagram and Facebook advertising that have helped small and global brands alike exponentially scale their business.

Publisher: Pilothouse Digital

• Digital marketing agency trusted by global brands like Unilever and Kellogg’s

Main topics:

1. Foundational scaling concepts and skills
2. Creatives for conversions
3. Pilothouse’s six-step strategy for maximizing campaign profitability
4. Scaling strategies
5. Building your marketing team
6. Navigating the digital landscape after Apple’s iOS15 update

Certification? No

Price: $995

2. E-Commerce Essentials: How to Start a Successful Online Business (Skillshare)

Instructor Tracey Wallace takes you through a step-by-step process for planning, launching, and growing your online business. She even used it for her own brand, proving its efficacy.

Instructor: Tracey Wallace

• Director of Content Strategy at Klaviyo
• Former Editor-in-Chief at BigCommerce
• Founder of Doris Sleep

Main topics:

1. Finding your product’s niche
2. Evaluating market viability
3. Conducting competitive analysis
4. Setting up your store
5. Making your business profitable

Certification? No

Price: Seven-day free trial, $159 annual membership

SEO

The courses in this section focus on optimizing your website and blogs for search to appear higher in your target audience’s search results.

3. SEO Writing Masterclass by Surfer

The SEO Writing Masterclass is an SEO-focused content creation class published by Surfer, a premium SEO tool designed to help customers craft content that ranks.

Instructors:

• Tomasz Niezgoda – Marketing Executive and Partner at Surfer
• Danni Roseman – Content Marketing Strategist and Copywriter at Surfer

Main topics:

1. The foundation of great content
2. How to organize, write, and optimize content
3. Going above and beyond
4. Implementing your content for the broadest reach

Certification? Yes

Price: Free

4. Complete Agency Playbook for SEO and Content Strategy with Andy Crestodina (Semrush Academy)

In this course, Andy Crestodina discusses combining the best marketing tactics practically into a unified strategy to drive high-quality leads for your business.

Instructor: Andy Crestodina

• Co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer of Orbit Media
• Named in Semrush’s Top 100 Influencers in Content Marketing for 2022

Main topics:

1. Content strategy for B2B lead generation
2. Best practices for digital content
3. Account-based content marketing

Certification? Yes

Price: Free

5. SEO Training Certification Course: Learn SEO (HubSpot Academy)

This class from HubSpot covers a broad overview of SEO to help you evaluate and improve your website. It also offers insights into proper research, effective strategies, and implementing reporting data.

Instructors:

• Rachel Sheldon – Inbound Professor at HubSpot Academy
• Matthew Howells-Barby – Director of Acquisition for HubSpot

Main topics:

1. SEO basics
2. On-page and technical SEO
3. Keyword research
4. Link building
5. Website optimization
6. Reporting

Certification? Yes

Price: Free

6. SEO Training Masterclass 2022: Beginner SEO To Advanced SEO (Udemy)

This course covers basic to advanced SEO concepts and skills. It also discusses the most recent changes in Google’s SEO algorithm.

Instructor: Alex Genadinik

• Three-time Amazon best-selling author
• Top 1% Udemy instructor

Main topics:

1. SEO keyword research and tools
2. Google Search Console
3. Google Analytics
4. On-page SEO for various platforms
5. Backlink strategies
6. SEO auditing

Certification? Yes

Price: $74.99

Content marketing

In this section, you’ll find ecommerce marketing courses designed to help you create stronger, more persuasive content.

You’ll learn everything from planning an editorial calendar to employing content strategically to draw leads to your brand.

7. Marketing Strategy Certification Course (Actionable Marketing Institute Powered By CoSchedule)

This course teaches knowledge and skills for planning and implementing a marketing strategy. It explains concepts from stages like ideation to the measurement of your results.

Publisher: CoSchedule

• CoSchedule is a multi-functional content tool that provides everything from a project management solution to a full marketing suite.

Main topics:

1. Marketing project planning
2. Marketing strategy workshop
3. Developing a content brainstorming process
4. Properly timing blog posts
5. Building and managing your content calendar
6. And more

Certification? Yes

Price: $199

8. Free Blogging Course: How to Start and Grow Your Blog Past 100K Visitors (Ahrefs)

Here, Ahrefs CMO Tim Soulo teaches you how to formulate blogging strategies, attract consistent search engine traffic, and other concepts and skills to drive business growth through content marketing.

Instructor: Tim Soulo

• CMO at Ahrefs

Main topics:

1. Content marketing’s effect
2. Strategies for blog growth
3. Analyzing a keyword’s ranking difficulty and traffic potential
4. Content ideation
5. Article optimization

Certification? No

Price: Free

9. Increasing Average Order Value Through Owned Marketing (Klaviyo)

Klaviyo’s course is about increasing your AOV by actively nurturing customer relationships across your channels.

Instructors:

• Julia LiMarzi – Program Manager at Klaviyo
• Shoshana Antunes, MBA – Senior Product Marketing Manager at Klaviyo

Main topics:

1. Calculating AOV
2. Increasing AOV through your on-site experience
3. Leveraging owned marketing to increase AOV
4. Nurturing relationships through social media

Certification? No

Price: Free (requires Klaviyo sign-in)

10. Inbound Marketing Certification (HubSpot Academy)

In this HubSpot course, you gain a deeper understanding of inbound marketing techniques.

It emphasizes creating content that guides and nurtures leads along the buyer’s journey and optimizing marketing processes through automation and AI.

Instructors:

• Jorie Munroe – Senior Inbound Professor at HubSpot
• Adriti Gulati – Senior Inbound Professor at HubSpot
• Kara Susvilla – Inbound Professor at HubSpot
• Christine Lee – Associate Inbound Professor at HubSpot

Main topics:

1. Inbound marketing fundamentals
2. Knowing your customer
3. Creating content for the buyer’s journey
4. Content distribution strategy
5. Incorporating automation and AI

Certification? Yes

Price: Free

Social media

Social media courses teach the ins and outs of online social platforms, from the basics of setting up your accounts to techniques for generating interest and engaging with your followers.

11. Social Media Strategy Certification (Actionable Marketing Institute Powered By CoSchedule)

This certificate course teaches you how to formulate social media strategies like planning and scheduling your posts and quantifying your campaign’s outcome.

Instructor: Not stated

Main topics:

1. Choosing the right social platform
2. Planning your social media strategy
3. Developing, planning, and executing creative campaigns
4. Scheduling your posts
5. Measuring results

Certification? Yes

Price: $199

12. Developing a User-Generated Content Strategy (Klaviyo)

In this class, students learn how to collect UGC and harness it to build a community that champions their brands.

Publisher: Klaviyo

• Klaviyo is a customer communications tool that facilitates an open dialogue with your subscribers. They provide marketing automation for email and SMS communications.

Main topics:

1. What UGC is
2. How to collect and promote UGC in Klaviyo
3. How to collect and promote UGC outside of Klaviyo

Certification? No

Price: Free (requires Klaviyo sign-in)

13. TikTok Academy (TikTok)

At the time of this writing, TikTok Academy has only two classes: TikTok 101 and a Small Business course.

Both delve into the basics of operating successfully on the social media platform, then explain how to wield it to share marketing content and grow your brand.

Instructors: Various TikTok experts

Main topics:

1. What differentiates TikTok from other platforms
2. TikTok best practices
3. Advertising and marketing your business
4. Using Ads Manager for better results
5. Maximizing the platform’s creative tools

Certification? No

Price: Free (requires sign-in)

14. Influencer Marketing with Daymond John (Shopify)

Daymond John shares his tips for finding the right brand ambassador in this course so you can capitalize on influencer marketing’s potential.

Instructor: Daymond John

• Founder and CEO of FUBU
• Investor on Shark Tank
• New York Times best-selling author

Main topics:

1. Leveraging an influencer’s network
2. Creating a partner in a brand
3. Managing exponential growth

Certification? No

Price: Free (requires Shopify sign-in)

Ads

These courses teach students how to optimize ads, set budgets, and select the right advertising channels for their goals.

15. Introduction to Social Media Advertising | Learn with Buffer (Skillshare)

In this course, Brian Peters talks about the essentials of social media advertising. He discusses everything from the basics to campaign execution.

Instructor: Brian Peters

• Senior Global Partnerships Lead at Shopify
• Former Director of Strategic Partnerships at Buffer

Main topics:

1. Social media advertising terms and vocabulary
2. The marketing funnel
3. Campaign goal setting
4. Targeting audience segments
5. Creating copy and visuals
6. Campaign optimization and iteration

Certification? No

Price: Seven-day free trial, $159 annual membership

16. Digital Advertising 101 (HubSpot Academy)

HubSpot’s free certificate course teaches how to advertise at every stage of your buyer’s journey, arming you with the skills to construct and evaluate effective strategies and campaigns.

Instructors:

• Corey Braccialini – Senior Web Strategist at HubSpot
• Dayne Topkin – Senior Content Designer at HubSpot
• Jorie Munroe – Senior Inbound Professor at HubSpot
• Davis Mastin – Senior Product Manager at HubSpot
• And more

Main topics:

1. Fundamentals of digital advertising strategies
2. Journey-based advertising
3. Strategizing paid media campaigns
4. Mastering ad copy, creative, and conversion
5. Monitoring ad performance

Certification? Yes

Price: Free

17. The Digital Advertising Masterclass 2023 | Udemy

This in-depth course covers everything you need to know about advertising on various platforms, including Google, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and more.

It even talks about sales psychology.

Instructors: Robin and Jesper

• Best-selling instructors in digital marketing and business

Main topics:

1. Sales psychology
2. Google ads
3. Facebook ads
4. Instagram ads
5. Twitter ads
6. And more

Certification? Yes

Price: $109.99

Accounting

In these courses, merchants learn the importance of keeping organized financial records and staying profitable.

Starting from the basics, the classes teach how to analyze reports, how to use tools like QuickBooks to keep operations running smoothly, and other related practices.

18. Amazon Seller Course (Seller Accountant)

This course, taught by Tyler Jefcoat, is primarily for Amazon sellers, covering the basics and complexities of accounting for Amazon.

Instructor: Tyler Jefcoat

• CEO of Seller Accountant

Main topics:

1. Amazon accounting basics
2. Amazon bookkeeping basics
3. Setting up QuickBooks online
4. Handling other sales channels
5. Amazon sales and A2X accounting
6. Other Amazon accounting issues

Certification? No

Price: $497

19. Accounting & Financial Statement Analysis: Complete Training (Udemy)

In this training course, Nedo Krastev explains fundamental accounting concepts and skills, from planning finances to assembling financial statements and conducting financial analysis.

Instructor: Nedko Krastev

• Founder of 365 Careers
• Co-founder of 365 Data Science

Main topics:

1. Understanding bookkeeping
2. Building an income statement and balance sheet
3. Other fundamental accounting concepts and skills
4. Navigating financial reports
5. Vertical and horizontal analysis

Certification? Yes

Price: $109.99

20. How to Build a Profitable Ecommerce Business (Shopify)

In this course, Jason Andrew teaches how to manage finances properly—from cash flow to profits and losses—with the primary goal of building a profitable ecommerce business.

It’s great for aspiring entrepreneurs as well.

Instructor: Jason Andrew

• Founder of SBO Financial and Chartered Accountant

Main topics:

1. Calculating your profit and break-even point
2. Cash flow and inventory tips
3. When to engage an accountant and bookkeeper
4. Determining when you can afford to quit your job and focus on your business

Certification? No

Price: Free (requires Shopify sign-in)

B2B selling

The following courses focus on B2B selling for merchants who target wholesale accounts or sell to other businesses.

Look to these lessons to learn how to secure your biggest accounts yet.

21. B2B Sales Masterclass: People-Focused Selling | Udemy

This certificate course discusses core concepts and skills necessary for effective B2B selling, such as building the right mindset, objection handling, and more.

Instructor: Kevin Dorsey

• Practice Lead for Revenue Leadership at Winning by Design
• Former VP of Inside Sales at PatientPop Inc.

Main topics:

1. Mindset fostering
2. Methods of influence
3. Understanding your prospect
4. Pitching and follow-up
5. Objection handling

Certification? Yes

Price: $94.99

22. Digital Marketing B2B: Ultimate Digital Marketing Course (Udemy)

This class educates learners on crucial digital marketing skills that fit the B2B context.

It discusses effective practices for channels such as LinkedIn, Facebook, email, and more, while employing real-world examples and case studies to facilitate understanding.

Instructor: Dekker Fraser, MBA

• Top-selling, top-rated Marketing Instructor
• Former VP of Marketing for Talkatoo
• Former Global Product Marketing Manager for Sony PlayStation

Main topics:

1. Demand generation and lead generation planning across channels
2. Social platform marketing
3. Cold email marketing and execution
4. B2B copywriting
5. Account-based digital marketing (ABM)

Certification? Yes

Price: $84.99

Store design

In this section, classes focus on how to build beautiful websites that are easy to navigate and help facilitate conversions.

23. Ecommerce Website & Store Design Course (Shopify)

Stephan Peralta teaches the fundamental concepts of ecommerce website design in this course.

By the end, even with no prior experience, you’ll be able to build an attractive and optimized online store.

Instructor: Stephan Peralta

• Co-founder and Product Lead of Eqpme Marketplace
• Founder and former Creative Director of SOVI Creative

Main topics:

1. Foundational principles of ecommerce design
2. Crafting your brand identity
3. Launching your “Coming Soon” page
4. Designing your Shopify store

Certification? No

Price: Free (requires Shopify sign-in)

24. Deliver a Customer Experience Worth Remembering by Teresa Harris (Shopify)

This free course is all about crafting a superb customer journey built off of consumer experiences, both good and bad, to nurture trust.

Teresa Harris explains how to examine the overall customer journey, then leverage the information you glean to improve your theme.

Instructor: Teresa Harris

• Product Marketing Lead at Mysa
• Former Head of Marketing at Pixel Union

Main topics:

1. Understanding your customer needs
2. Site evaluations from your customer’s point of view
3. Resources for logging important information

Certification? No

Price: Free (requires Shopify sign-in)

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Fulfillment

These courses tackle the less glamorous side of ecommerce—operations and logistics.

However, you’ll learn valuable lessons like how to build a strong supply chain, manage shipping and logistics, how to use freight forwarders, and more.

25. How to Develop and Manufacture Your Product by Jason Wong (Shopify)

In this class, Jason Wong talks about how to handle the procedures for developing and procuring your products for ecommerce.

He walks students through a step-by-step process, beginning with design through to logistics.

Instructor: Jason Wong

• Co-founder of Pughaus (previously Wonghaus)
• CEO of Doe Lashes

Main topics:

1. Conducting proper research to find a credible manufacturer
2. Developing your idea into a winning product
3. Managing the logistics of shipping to your customers
4. Why manufacturing your own products is valuable

Certification? No

Price: Free (requires Shopify sign-in)

26. Logistics & Supply Chain Learning – Freight Forwarding 101 (Flexport)

In Flexport’s short course, Cory Sanderson introduces you to the world of freight forwarders.

He provides a basic overview of what these services are, what they do, and why you should use them.

Instructor: Cory Sanderson

• Director of Client Solutions at Flexport’s San Francisco office

Main topics:

1. Introduction to what a freight forwarder is
2. How freight forwarders fit into the larger transportation world
3. Reasons to use a freight forwarder

Certification? No

Price: Free

27. Logistics & Supply Chain Learning – Supply Chain 101 (Flexport)

This second addition from Flexport gives an overview of supply chains and why they’re important to businesses.

The course also shows you how data and technology, as well as global geopolitical and market conditions, shape the evolution of supply chains.

Instructor: Cory Sanderson

• Director of Client Solutions at Flexport’s San Francisco office

Main topics:

1. What a supply chain is
2. Why businesses care about it
3. How a data-driven, technology-first approach shaped the evolution of supply chains
4. How supply chains evolved due to global geopolitical and market conditions

Certification? No

Price: Free

Omnichannel

The courses in this section are geared toward merchants who sell or want to sell on multiple interconnected channels.

They go over how to maintain a positive brand experience in an omnichannel ecosystem, how to manage supply chain challenges, and more.

28. Intro to UX: Creating Great Omnichannel Experiences (Skillshare)

This course explains how touchpoints work together to deliver the best customer experience.

It shares frameworks and tools that’ll help you identify, evaluate, and optimize touch points in your buyer’s journey across all your channels.

Instructor: Stef Miller

• Senior Director of Demand Generation at Udemy
• Former Lead of Global SMB Business Marketing at Facebook
• Former Director of Marketing at Everwise
• Former Marketing Manager of Demand Generation at UserTesting

Main topics:

1. What an omnichannel experience is
2. Phases and touchpoints
3. Journeys, opportunities, and improvements
4. Buy-in and closing

Certification? No

Price: Seven-day free trial, $159 annual membership

29. Omnichannel Retail Strategy (Coursera)

Learn the fundamentals of building retail strategies from professors at the University of Pennsylvania.

The primary goal of this course is to help you build a successful omnichannel business that fits the current retail landscape.

Instructors:

• Barbara E. Kahn – Professor of Marketing and Director of Jay H. Baker Retailing Center at the University of Pennsylvania
• Santiago Gallino – Charles W. Evans Distinguished Faculty Scholar, Associate Professor of Operations, Information and Decisions at the University of Pennsylvania
• Matthew Bidwell – Associate Professor of Management at the University of Pennsylvania

Main topics:

1. Switching from a product-focused to a customer-focused retail strategy
2. Managing human capital in the retail industry
3. Understanding the challenges and opportunities of a digital supply chain

Certification? Yes

Price: Seven-day free trial, $79 per month after the trial ends

Meet ecommerce’s dynamic landscape with the right training

Trying to keep pace with the swift, continuous shifts in ecommerce can be a daunting challenge. However, constantly educating yourself strengthens your business to overcome this obstacle.

With so many courses available, both free and paid, you can readily expand your skills and take your business to the next level.

We provided a shortlist to help you begin your educational journey, but your options branch off from there.

Whether you want to learn more about marketing, accounting, fulfillment, or any other aspect of ecommerce, simply do your research and, if necessary, develop a small budget to find the right course for you.

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