OPS DESK SCALE · FOR BRANDS AT $8M TO $15M
Fractional ecommerce COO: operations leadership and the team that does the work
A weekly operating review with your leadership, and a dedicated pod that runs the daily work across Amazon, Walmart and Shopify, for a fixed monthly fee.
Ops Desk Scale from $4,499 a month · 3-month first term, then month to month
Quick answer
A fractional ecommerce COO is a senior operator who runs operations part time: the cadence, the systems and the decisions that keep stock, orders and cash in line. Ecom Relays offers this as Ops Desk Scale: a named ops lead, a dedicated pod and a weekly operating review across Amazon, Walmart and Shopify, from $4,499 a month.
The main difference: a fractional COO is usually one person who sets direction and leaves the doing to your team. Ops Desk Scale is a team. One person leads, and the pod does the daily work.
What a fractional ecommerce COO does, and what we cover
In an ecommerce brand, the operations leader owns the rhythm of the business: stock, cash, suppliers, the 3PL, the numbers and the procedures. Here is that job split between Ops Desk Scale and you.
| Responsibility | Ops Desk Scale | Stays with you |
|---|---|---|
| Weekly operating cadence | Yes: a weekly operating review with your leadership, plus a weekly KPI review | |
| Inventory and cash planning | Yes: Stock Flow, Profit and Cash Pulse and a 13-week cash forecast | Final purchase and cash decisions |
| 3PL and supplier management | Yes: coordination, SLA tracking and monthly invoice checks | Contract changes and new suppliers |
| Decision rights and approval thresholds | We write them | You set them |
| KPIs and reporting | Yes: weekly KPI summary and a written monthly report | |
| Procedures | Yes: written in your workspace and kept current | |
| Channel expansion planning | Yes: reviewed every quarter | Whether to add a channel |
| Hiring and managing your staff | Stays with you | |
| P&L ownership and board reporting | Stays with you | |
| Banking and financing | Stays with you |
Ops Desk Scale does not own your P&L, hire or manage your staff or report to your board. It is a fractional operations function, not an executive on your org chart.
When to bring in fractional operations leadership
The need usually shows up when the business has outgrown the way it is run. These are the common signals.
- The founder is still the operations system: every reorder, refund and supplier question goes through one person. (The founder is the operations system describes the pattern.)
- You sell on three channels and use a 3PL, and nobody owns how they fit together.
- Cash is tight while revenue grows, because stock, freight and payouts are out of step.
- Landed costs are moving with freight and tariffs, and prices have not been rechecked.
- A channel launch is planned, and the current team is already full.
If revenue is growing and margin is not, revenue up, margin down covers where to look first.
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What does a fractional ecommerce COO cost?
Ops Desk Scale starts at $4,499 a month. These are different scopes, not like-for-like prices, so read the right-hand column as "what you get for it".
| Option | Published cost | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Full-time general and operations manager | Median pay $105,770 (BLS, May 2025). Benefits are 30.0% of total compensation in private industry (BLS, Jun 2026), so about $151,100 a year loaded ($105,770 ÷ 0.70) | One person, full time, who still needs a team to do the work |
| Full-time ecommerce manager | $130,000 to $180,000 total compensation, plus ramp-up time (vendor figure: Chameleon Collective, checked Oct 20, 2026) | One person, full time |
| Fractional ecommerce manager | $12,000 to $28,000 a month at two to three days a week (vendor figure: Chameleon Collective, checked Oct 20, 2026) | Part-time senior direction; your team does the work |
| Ops Desk Scale | From $4,499 a month, after a one-time 14-Day Ops Foundation at $2,500 | A named ops lead, a dedicated pod that does the daily work and a weekly operating review |
The BLS figure covers all general and operations managers, not only ecommerce roles. Put your own numbers into the in-house ops team cost calculator to compare against your actual team. We make no claim about savings or payback; the comparison is about scope and cost only.
The weekly operating review
The weekly operating review is a standing meeting with your leadership that looks at the whole operation, not one channel. It runs on a fixed day and ends with a written summary of what was decided.
The agenda, every week:
- Margin by SKU and channel, after every fee.
- The 13-week cash forecast: lowest week, purchase orders and freight due.
- Stock, inbound and reorders, with days of cover on top SKUs.
- Response times and account health on Amazon and Walmart.
- Decisions needed this week, with our recommendation and the numbers behind it.
The numbers come from Profit and Cash Pulse and Stock Flow, built in your accounts, with the period and source on each. The inventory side is described on inventory and 3PL management.
Your first 90 days
The first 90 days follow the same dated plan as every Ops Desk engagement.
| When | What happens | What you have at the end |
|---|---|---|
| Week 0 | Free Profit Leak Scan from read-only access | A written report within 48 hours of working access, with leaks priced in dollars a year and founder hours a week |
| Weeks 1 to 2 | 14-Day Ops Foundation: channels and data connected, one stock count, routing rules, procedures, live profit dashboard | Live in 14 business days from full access, or we keep working at no charge until it is |
| Week 3 | Ops Desk Scale goes live; first weekly operating review | Daily work log; first written review summary |
| Weeks 4 to 8 | First Relay Modules, if you choose them | Each module tested against its written spec; fixes free for 60 days |
| Week 12 | Quarterly review against your scan baseline | A written review and the plan for the next quarter, including channel plans |
More detail on how onboarding runs is on How we work.
Fractional COO, agency or operations manager?
Three common choices, compared on who does the work, who owns the systems and how it is priced.
| Fractional COO | Marketplace agency | Full-time operations manager | Ops Desk Scale | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who does the daily work | Your team | The agency, for its scope (often ads) | The manager and your team | Our dedicated pod |
| Who owns the systems | You, if documented | Often the agency's tools | You, if documented | You: every workflow, dashboard and procedure lives in your accounts |
| How it is priced | Monthly retainer for days a week | Retainer, often plus a share of ad spend or revenue | Salary plus benefits | Fixed monthly fee, never a percentage of sales or ad spend |
| Cover when someone is out | None | Depends on the agency | None unless you hire twice | The pod covers |
The full in-house comparison is on in-house vs outsourced ecommerce operations.
Who it is for
Ops Desk Scale is built for $8M to $15M brands on three channels, with a team and a 3PL.
Right for you if:
- You sell $8M to $15M a year across Amazon, Walmart and Shopify.
- You have a team, but nobody whose whole job is the operating rhythm.
- You want the work done, not only directed.
Not the right fit if:
- You need an executive to manage people and own the P&L. Hire one; we can support them.
- You sell under $8M a year. Ops Desk Growth at $2,499 a month fits better.
- You want a named full-time person who works only on your business. That is Dedicated Ops Team.
Price and terms
Ops Desk Scale is from $4,499 a month, after a one-time 14-Day Ops Foundation at $2,500 (half credited to your first month if you sign within 21 days of go-live). The first 3 months at list, including the Foundation and its credit, come to from $14,747.
- First term 3 months, then month to month with 30 days' notice by email. No exit fee.
- Billed monthly in advance; a 12-month prepay is 10% off.
- Above $15M, or with unusual scope, we quote in writing.
- Ops Desk fees are fixed and published, never a percentage of your sales or ad spend. Prices exclude sales tax where it applies.
Founding offer: 20% off launch fees, add-ons and the Foundation, plus 20% off monthly plans for the first 6 months, for our first 25 clients or until Jan 31, 2027, whichever comes first. Founding price for Scale: from $3,599 a month for the first 6 months. Every price is on Pricing.
What you can check before you sign
Ecomrelays LLC is a Texas company. Part of our team works outside the US, as one managed team with a named US-facing lead.
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The published price and terms.
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The weekly operating review agenda above.
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Sample operating review notes, labeled as a sample.
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Your named ops lead in your proposal, and a call with them before you sign.
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Ecomrelays LLC, 597 Mountcastle Dr, Rockwall, TX 75087. +1 (469) 331-3129.
How much does a fractional ecommerce COO cost?
Ops Desk Scale starts at $4,499 a month, after the 14-Day Ops Foundation at $2,500, half of which is credited to your first month. For comparison, one fractional firm publishes $12,000 to $28,000 a month for a fractional ecommerce manager at two to three days a week (vendor figure: Chameleon Collective, checked Oct 20, 2026).
Is this one person or a team?
A team. A named ops lead leads the work and runs the weekly operating review, and a dedicated pod does the daily operations across your channels. That is the main difference from a fractional executive, who directs but usually relies on your staff to do the work.
How much time do we get?
A weekly operating review with your leadership, a weekly KPI review and daily operations run by the pod, logged every business day. It is not sold as a fixed number of executive days, because most of the value is in the daily work being done, not in hours of advice.
Who owns the P&L?
You do. We report against it every week, with margin by SKU and channel and a 13-week cash forecast, and we run the operations that move it. Board reporting, financing and final budget decisions stay with you and your finance lead.
Will you manage our staff?
No. We work alongside your team and agree who does what in writing, but hiring, performance and management stay with you. Where your staff and our pod share a job, the procedure names who owns each step. If your people take over tasks from us later, the written procedures make the handover straightforward.
How long is the engagement?
A 3-month first term, then month to month with 30 days' notice by email from either side. There is no exit fee. If you leave, you get a handover pack within 5 business days of the end date and keep every system, because it was always in your accounts.
What if we pass $15M?
Scale is priced "from" $4,499 a month. Above the $15M band, or with more channels or entities, we quote in writing before anything changes. Nothing moves to a higher fee without your written agreement. If the scope has grown, we raise it at the quarterly review with the numbers behind it.
Can you work with our CEO and finance lead?
Yes. The weekly operating review is built for them: margin, cash, stock and the decisions needed that week, with the source on every number. Your finance lead gets the same reconciled data we use, so everyone in the meeting works from the same numbers.
Start with a free Profit Leak Scan, or see every service on the services page. Adding a channel? See Channel Launch.
Sources3 sources
- 01bls.govMay 2025 wage data; checked Oct 20, 2026Primary
- 02bls.govJun 2026 data, released Sep 9, 2026; checked Oct 20, 2026Primary
- 03chameleoncollective.comvendor figures; checked Oct 20, 2026Vendor
Amazon, Walmart and Shopify are trademarks of their owners; Ecom Relays is not affiliated with them.
Next step
Start with a free look at your numbers.
Grant read-only access and get a written Profit Leak Scan within 48 hours of working access. No sales call required. You keep the report whether or not you hire us.
A real person replies within one business hour, 9am to 6pm US Central, Monday to Friday.