According to Business Insider, e-commerce is capturing a larger share of retail sales than ever before. Media, sporting, and hobby goods and electronics and appliances account for the largest percentage of online retail sales. BI expects these categories to experience steep increases in sales between 2014 and 2020. Is this trend reflected in hiring demand?

Percent Of Retail Sales Attributable To Online In Selected Merchandise Categories (U.S) (see above image Source: U.S Census, Internet Retailer, BI Intelligence Estimates)

Across all sectors, hiring for e-commerce specialists is up 28% over May 2013, according to data from WANTED Analytics. In the retail sector specifically, hiring has grown 25%. It's an increase, but not yet matching the explosion of sales that is expected. Of the retail companies with the most demand, Amazon had the greatest need for e-commerce talent, which is expected since they've been the leader of online sales. Hiring at Amazon is up 79% over last year. New car dealers and shoe stores experienced the most growth since May 2013, increasing 824% and 385% respectively. However, retail only accounts for 12% of all e-commerce hiring. Retail Recruiters will be facing competition for talent from professional, scientific, and technical services; information; finance and insurance; and wholesale trade; among other industries.

Demand for E-Commerce Talent by Industrial Sector

SOURCE: WANTED Analytics

Retail, as well as all other industries, most commonly advertised for Web Developers, Software Developers, and Marketing Managers with e-commerce experience. How will employers from different industries be able to compete for this talent? Generally, e-commerce skills are somewhat hard-to-recruit, scoring a 60 on our Hiring Scale. Our Hiring Scale score ranges from 1 to 99, with 99 indicating hardest-to-fill. The degree of recruiting difficulty will vary depending on the position. The 3 most in-demand e-commerce jobs are likely to be difficult-to-recruit: Marketing Managers score a 91, Software Developers (Applications) score an 83, and Web Developers score a 93. To remain competitive in the market, employers can look to source talent from cities with less challenging recruiting conditions.

Best Cities to Recruit the Following Talent with E-Commerce Skills

SOURCE: WANTED Analytics

With recruiting likely to be challenging for these occupations, employers may want to find candidates that have the other necessary skills and offer training or advanced education for e-commerce skills.