Your E-Commerce Virtual Assistant.
Run Your Store Without Running Yourself Into the Ground.
A dedicated e-commerce virtual assistant who manages your Shopify, Amazon, or eBay store day-to-day: listings, orders, returns, inventory, and customer messages.
Trusted by businesses
Our Clients
What your e-commerce VA gets done in a week
A typical weekly rhythm. Work arrives, your VA follows it through inside your tools, and what reaches you is the outcome. Tools shown are examples. Your VA works in your stack.
Yesterday's orders processed, tracking numbers out, exceptions flagged to you.
Returns approved and refunded inside your policy window: review risk down.
Product questions answered on the listing before they cost you the sale.
Twelve listings updated with fresh copy and images; prices matched across channels.
Bestseller stock counted, reorder placed with your supplier before it sells through.
Overnight customer messages answered, queue clear before 10am.
Weekly trading summary ready: sales, returns, stock risks, and the listings that need attention.
Who an e-commerce virtual assistant is built for
Built for e-commerce founders who
- Spend more time on operations than on growth
- Are losing reviews because returns aren't processed quickly
- Run out of stock on bestsellers because nobody's watching inventory
- Need product listings updated but never get around to it
- Are doing it all themselves and don't have time to scale
- Want to launch on a second marketplace but can't add the workload
Six tasks your e-commerce VA owns from day one
Product listings
Creates, updates, and optimises product listings with titles, descriptions, images, and attributes across Shopify, Amazon, eBay, and your other marketplaces.
Order processing
Processes orders, tracks fulfilment, handles cancellations, updates shipping statuses, and coordinates with couriers.
Inventory monitoring
Watches stock levels across SKUs and channels, triggers reorders before bestsellers go out of stock, flags slow movers.
Reviews & messages
Responds to customer reviews and marketplace messages on Amazon, eBay, and your store, protecting your seller rating.
Returns & exchanges
Processes returns, manages exchanges, handles refunds within your policy, and identifies patterns to reduce return rates.
Supplier coordination
Liaises with manufacturers, freight forwarders, 3PLs, and couriers to keep your supply chain moving smoothly.
No employer NI, no pension, no desk or equipment overhead.
Shopify, Amazon, eBay and the tools your e-commerce VA works in
Your e-commerce VA works inside the store you already run, not a system of ours. Product listings, orders, inventory and customer messages are handled in your own admin, marketplace seller account and support inbox, so nothing moves out of your control and nothing needs rebuilding. Name the platforms and tools you use on the first call; the VA is matched to them before day one.
What an e-commerce VA costs
| What you get | RecommendedAnt Assist | UK in-house hire | UK agency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost, full time | Standard price £1,040 a month, introductory price £800 for the first 6 months | ~£3,100 | approx. £3,500 to £4,500 |
| Monthly cost, part time | Standard price £544 a month, introductory price £400 for the first 6 months | Not shown on this page | approx. £1,750 to £2,250 |
| Cost | |||
| First six months | IncludedStandard rate £6.50, introductory offer £5/hour promotion | Not includedNo | Not includedNo |
| Employer NI and pension | IncludedNone to pay | Not includedYou pay both | PartlyBuilt into the rate |
| Office and equipment | IncludedIncluded | Not includedYou provide | PartlyVaries by agency |
| Management | |||
| Who manages the work | IncludedOur UK team supervises | Not includedYou do | PartlyThe agency |
| Recruitment and onboarding | PartlyOne-off onboarding fee | Not includedYou recruit and train | IncludedThe agency matches |
| Cover and risk | |||
| Holiday and sick cover | IncludedLeave coordinated, cover arranged where practicable | Not includedYou find cover | PartlyVaries by agency |
| Replacement if it is not right | IncludedReplaced at no extra cost, on our replacement terms | Not includedRe-hire from scratch | PartlyVaries by agency |
| Data | IncludedConfidentiality obligations; Data Processing Annex | PartlyYour policies | PartlyVaries by agency |
| Flexibility | |||
| Contract | Included12-month term, 3-month probation | Not includedEmployment contract | PartlyVaries by agency |
| Scale hours up or down | IncludedMonthly | Not includedContract change | PartlyVaries by agency |
| Part-time option | Included80 hours a month | PartlyDepends on role | PartlyVaries by agency |
Entry offer: standard rate £6.50, introductory offer £5/hour for your first 6 months.
UK agency figures are an approximate range around the £25 per hour agency benchmark our calculator uses.
What the £5/hour entry rate includes
- Dedicated VA, never shared
- UK-hour aligned support
- Management & supervision included
- Office infrastructure included
- VA replacement available
- No NI, pension, or holiday costs
- 3-month probation, free VA replacement
These are typical estimates. Get your exact numbers in the full calculator. Or read how much a virtual assistant costs in the UK.
Calculate your exact savingsHow to hire an e-commerce virtual assistant
Five clear steps. No guesswork.
Why managed virtual assistant support beats a marketplace
Recruitment and supervision are part of the service. That's the difference between hiring help and getting a managed service.
What clients say about their Ant Assist e-commerce VA
Real teams using Ant Assist to clear inboxes, follow up leads, and ship orders without the hiring drama.
Dr Cem Baysal · Clinic Director · drcembaysal.com
Is an Ant Assist VA right for you?
A managed VA is brilliant for some teams and wrong for others. Here’s the honest split.
A great fit if you…- Have recurring weekly work a VA can own end-to-end
- Want recruitment and supervision handled for you
- Are ready to hand over real ownership of a workflow
- Sell on, or are expanding to, more than one marketplace
- Need a one-off project rather than ongoing support
- Want to hire and manage a freelancer directly yourself
- Are only chasing the lowest possible rate, whatever sits behind it
- Need warehouse or physical fulfilment labour
Explore more VA types
Not the right fit? Compare other VA types
Shopify virtual assistantA dedicated Shopify virtual assistant for your UK store from £5 per hour.
Amazon virtual assistantA dedicated Amazon virtual assistant for UK sellers from £5 per hour.
eBay virtual assistantA dedicated eBay virtual assistant for UK sellers from £5 per hour.
Product listing virtual assistantA dedicated product listing virtual assistant for your UK store from £5 per hour.
Order processing and returns VAA dedicated order processing VA from £5 per hour: orders, shipping updates, returns.
Inventory management VAA dedicated inventory VA from £5 per hour: stock checks, reorder flags, channel sync.
What to know before you hire an e-commerce virtual assistant
What is an e-commerce virtual assistant?
An e-commerce virtual assistant is a dedicated remote team member who runs the daily operations of an online store: product listings, order processing, inventory monitoring, customer reviews and messages, returns and exchanges, and supplier coordination. At Ant Assist your VA works full time from our managed offices in Egypt, with a UK team managing their adherence and productivity, from £5 per hour.
What to prepare before your first call
Bring the platforms you sell on, your weekly order and message volume, the tasks you want off your desk first, and who on your side will hand over. From that we match a VA to your tools, agree the first week's task list, and set the handover so nothing stalls while the VA settles in.
Common questions about hiring an e-commerce virtual assistant
Anything else on your mind? Visit our Help Center for the full FAQ.
Grow the store, without drowning in operations.
A dedicated e-commerce VA runs orders, returns, and listings inside your platforms, so operations keep pace with your sales.
A free 15-minute call, no obligation. Or get an instant estimate with the calculator.