Which Virtual Assistants Are Best for My Shopify Store

When my Shopify store started getting traction, I assumed I just needed “a VA who knows Shopify.”

That turned out to be wildly incomplete.

I hired someone who technically knew the platform, but orders still needed babysitting, customer emails piled up, and inventory issues kept surprising me. What I eventually learned is this:

The best virtual assistant for a Shopify store isn’t defined by Shopify access; it’s defined by the role they hold inside your store.

Here’s how I now break down which virtual assistants are best for Shopify stores, depending on what you actually need help with.

First: Shopify Stores Don’t Need “One VA” They Need Lanes

Before anything else, this was the mental shift that fixed my hiring.

Shopify work naturally falls into distinct lanes:

Customer support

Order & fulfillment ops

Product & inventory management

Marketing ops

Reporting & backend hygiene

When I tried to hire one VA to do all of this, quality dropped everywhere. Once I was hired by Lane, things finally stabilized.

Lane 1: Customer Support VAs (Best First Hire for Most Stores)

If your Shopify store has steady order volume, this is usually the highest-impact role.

What the best Shopify support VAs handle

Order status and tracking questions

Returns, refunds, exchanges (within rules)

Product questions using templates

Ticket tagging and escalation

Following up on unresolved issues

Why this works

80% of Shopify support tickets are predictable. With macros and escalation rules, a trained VA can handle Tier 1 support without hurting customer experience.

Who this is best for

Stores are doing consistent daily orders.

Founders stuck in the support inbox.

Any store where response time affects reviews

Key trait I screen for

Clear written communication + calm escalation (not “friendly at all costs”).

Lane 2: Order & Fulfillment Ops VAs (Quietly Critical)

This is the lane I underestimated the most.

What strong Shopify ops VAs handle

Order processing and status checks

Coordination with 3PLs or suppliers

Flagging fulfillment exceptions

Managing cancellations or address changes

Updating orders and notes inside Shopify

Why this works

Order issues don’t feel “strategic,” but when they break, they cost money and trust. A good ops VA prevents fires instead of reacting to them.

Who this is best for

Stores using dropshipping or 3PLs

International shipping setups

High SKU or variant complexity

Key trait I screen for

Attention to detail + habit of flagging anomalies early.

Lane 3: Product & Inventory VAs (Best Once You’ve Grown)

I waited too long to delegate this and paid for it with oversells and messy catalogs.

What product-focused Shopify VAs handle

Product uploads and updates

Variant and SKU management

Inventory syncing checks

Image and description formatting

Tagging and collection hygiene

Why this works

This work is repetitive but unforgiving. Consistency matters more than creativity.

Who this is best for

Stores with frequent product changes

Seasonal inventory shifts

Large catalogs

Key trait I screen for

Process discipline. This role lives in checklists.

Lane 4: Marketing Ops VAs (Execution, Not Strategy)

I keep the strategy, but I no longer execute it.

What Shopify marketing ops VAs handle

Email and SMS scheduling

Campaign setup in tools like Klaviyo

Product tagging for campaigns

Landing page updates

Promo calendar maintenance

Performance reporting

Why this works

Marketing execution is time-consuming but rules-based once the strategy is set.

Who this is best for

Stores running frequent promos

Founders who plan campaigns but don’t want to build them

Key trait I screen for

Follow-through and accuracy over creativity.

Lane 5: Shopify Reporting & Admin VAs (Underrated, High Leverage)

This role doesn’t feel urgent until you don’t have it.

What these VAs handle

Daily/weekly sales reports

Refund and return tracking

Dashboard updates

App cleanup and audits

Flagging unusual trends

Why this works

You get visibility without logging into Shopify constantly.

Who this is best for

Data-blind founders

Stores past the “gut feel” stage

Key trait I screen for

Comfort with numbers and summaries, not just raw data.

So… Which Virtual Assistants Are “Best” for a Shopify Store?

Here’s the honest answer I wish I’d heard earlier:

The best Shopify VA is the one hired for a single, well-defined lane supported by SOPs and escalation rules.

In practice, this usually looks like:

Start with customer support or order ops

Add product/inventory support as the catalog grows.

Layer in marketing ops and reporting later

Where I’ve Had the Best Results Hiring Shopify VAs

I’ve tried all three models:

Freelancers → good for one-off cleanup or testing a lane

Direct offshore hires → great value if you have SOPs and time to manage

Managed VA services → best when you want trained Shopify VAs and reliability from day one

The “best” option depends on how hands-on you want to be.

What I’d Do If I Were Hiring Again Today

If I were starting from scratch with a Shopify store:

Hire a Tier 1 customer support VA

Add an order & fulfillment ops VA.

Document workflows as we go

Expand into product, marketing, or reporting lanes later.

Trying to do everything at once is what made my early hires fail.

Summary: Choosing the Right Shopify VA Without Guesswork

The biggest mistake I made was hiring “a Shopify VA.”

The biggest win was hiring by function.

My non-negotiables now

One clear Shopify lane per VA

SOPs + escalation rules

Daily or weekly summaries

Ownership of outcomes, not just tasks

Once I stopped treating Shopify help as generic “VA work” and started treating it like store operations, delegation finally worked, and the store stopped depending on me to run smoothly.