Online merchants are about average in terms of happiness.

At CareerExplorer, we conduct an ongoing survey with millions of people and ask them how satisfied they are with their careers. As it turns out, online merchants rate their career happiness 3.2 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 47% of careers.

To put this into perspective, we compared how happy online merchants are to similar careers in the industry. Take a look at the results below:

Salaries and satisfaction ratings in similar careers

Career Satisfaction Avg Salary
Network administrator
3.2
$65k
Consultant
3.2
$87k
IT security consultant
3.2
$60k
Distance learning coordinator
3.2
$79k
Desktop publisher
3.2
$44k
Online merchant
3.2
$44k
Search marketing strategist
3.2
$90k
Social media manager
3.1
$40k
Marketing manager
3.1
$66k
Advertising manager
3.1
$88k

So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:

  • Salary: Are online merchants happy with their salary?
  • Meaning: Do online merchants find their jobs meaningful?
  • Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as online merchants?
  • Work environment: How enjoyable are online merchant’s work environments?
  • Skills utilization: Are online merchants making the best use of their abilities?

Are online merchants happy with their salary?

Online merchants rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.9/5. Online merchants tend to be quite unhappy with their salary, with very few reporting satisfaction with their pay.

We asked online merchants how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:

2.9 out of 5 stars

522 online merchants

5 Star
11%

11% of online merchants rated their compensation 5 stars

4 Star
18%

18% of online merchants rated their compensation 4 stars

3 Star
35%

35% of online merchants rated their compensation 3 stars

2 Star
21%

21% of online merchants rated their compensation 2 stars

1 Star
15%

15% of online merchants rated their compensation 1 stars

Do online merchants find their jobs meaningful?

On average, online merchants rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.7/5. While most online merchants aren’t very fulfilled by their work, some people may still manage to find meaning in it.

We asked online merchants how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:

2.7 out of 5 stars

520 online merchants

5 Star
13%

13% of online merchants rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars

4 Star
13%

13% of online merchants rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars

3 Star
26%

26% of online merchants rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars

2 Star
25%

25% of online merchants rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars

1 Star
22%

22% of online merchants rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars

How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as online merchants?

Online merchants rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.6/5. The majority of online merchants find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.

We asked online merchants how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:

3.6 out of 5 stars

570 online merchants

5 Star
23%

23% of online merchants rated their career fit 5 stars

4 Star
36%

36% of online merchants rated their career fit 4 stars

3 Star
25%

25% of online merchants rated their career fit 3 stars

2 Star
9%

9% of online merchants rated their career fit 2 stars

1 Star
6%

6% of online merchants rated their career fit 1 stars

How enjoyable is an online merchant’s work environment?

As a whole, online merchants rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.7/5. A solid majority of online merchants enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as an online merchant.

We asked online merchants how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:

3.7 out of 5 stars

570 online merchants

5 Star
28%

28% of online merchants rated their work environment 5 stars

4 Star
34%

34% of online merchants rated their work environment 4 stars

3 Star
22%

22% of online merchants rated their work environment 3 stars

2 Star
12%

12% of online merchants rated their work environment 2 stars

1 Star
5%

5% of online merchants rated their work environment 1 stars

Are online merchants making the best use of their abilities?

Former online merchants on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.0/5. Online merchants tend to feel that they don’t manage to use their abilities to their fullest, when compared to other careers.

We asked online merchants how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:

3.0 out of 5 stars

569 online merchants

5 Star
14%

14% of online merchants rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars

4 Star
20%

20% of online merchants rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars

3 Star
29%

29% of online merchants rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars

2 Star
24%

24% of online merchants rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars

1 Star
13%

13% of online merchants rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars