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Eastern Partnership: Ready to Trade. Brest, Belarus

Week-Long workshop on how to E-export to the EU MarketBrest, Belarus, 17-21 May 2019

The ‘Eastern Partnership: Ready to Trade – a EU4Business Initiative’ is a three-year project and marks a new collaboration between the EU, ITC, and the six Eastern Partnership countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine.

The Ready to Trade project will help companies target and access foreign markets, with a special focus on the European Union. Participating SMEs will receive assistance and technical support in producing value-added goods per international and EU market requirements. The project will also connect producers to international markets and help strengthen the capacity of local business support organizations to improve services provided to SMEs.

Within the project, a specific set of activities are dedicated to Digital Technologies and how they can enhance market connection potential for the selected SMEs. This component can cover multiple aspects ofsmall business life, from digitizing the whole supply chain (ERP system) to connecting to online and export markets.

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Prepared for Elena BOUTRIMOVA, Chief, DCP/OEECA

Prepared by Mohamed Es Fih (International Consultant) and Andrei Fedarau (National Coordinator)

Eastern Partnership: Ready to Trade. Brest, Belarus.

CONTENTSBackground & Summary......................................................................................................................... 3

Location & organization of the event......................................................................................................4

About the training objectives..................................................................................................................7

Methodology, pedagogy and learning tools used...................................................................................8

Introduction activities (day 1)................................................................................................................11

Introduction and opening of the event...............................................................................................11

Potential of EU ecommerce market for Fashion SMEs (presentation)..............................................12

Mapping of problems and solutions (group exercise)........................................................................14

Thematic workshops (day 2 to 5)..........................................................................................................19

How to create/edit/publish content for ecommerce (interactive cartoon + Q&A)...............................19

Corporate Internationalization & EU Market (presentation + SMEs based scenarios)......................21

E-Logistics & Returns management for Fashion industry (presentation + scenarios).......................23

E-commerce Engineering & pricing strategies (exercise + online benchmarking tool)......................25

Labels & packaging for ecommerce exports (presentation + templates + exercise).........................28

Omnichannel Customer Support (presentation + ticketing exercise)................................................30

Digital Marketing Strategies for Fashion Industry (presentation + discussions)................................32

Training data and analytics................................................................................................................... 34

Participants demographics................................................................................................................34

List of participants............................................................................................................................. 34

Training final agenda........................................................................................................................ 36

Conclusions & discussions................................................................................................................... 38

Suggestions for future activities............................................................................................................39

Invitation of other stakeholders from the Public & Private sectors....................................................39

Potential cooperation with Estonia E-residency program..................................................................39

Exchange of experience with Azerbaijan Trade House project in Poland.........................................40

Improvement of the current e-commerce training offer.....................................................................40

Other identified areas of assistance: Supply Chain Digitization........................................................42

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Background & Summary

Former activities and studies in the country have highlighted a strong demand for e-commerce and digital solution training from the participating SMEs and partners. The textile and fashion industry can indeed greatly benefit from such activities as SMEs have the opportunity to expose their brand on international markets while increasing their sales volume by tapping into the online retail segment. Being visually and commercially active in a target market also increases chances to conclude higher quality B2B leads (price negotiation) and could allow small enterprises to reach sustainability more effectively.

Initially, most of the participants and partners required access to practical knowledge about web marketing and leads generation. However, based on experience, marketing activities should be considered only when key preparations have been met. To be ready to have a great ROI (return on investment), a company needs to master all the fiscal, logistics, pricing, returns, payments, and customer support activities of their business. Without understanding and addressing all these points, an SME development can be hindered by a very low transformation ratio, with few leads transformed into sales. In other words, offering web marketing training, before solving the other mentioned preparations, could prove counter-productive even if this is the initial and ultimate priority of the SMEs.

It is relatively easy to publish a product online nowadays, yet most SMEs have been having an online presence for years but did not manage to generate a significant number of export sales. Being online and not making sales costs time and money to small enterprises and can create a frustrating situation. It often leads to the marginalization of B2C channels and a focus on price-sensitive B2B, a situation which is not favorable to SMEs as they cannot compete with large scale manufacturers.

Given the opportunities and challenges that cross-border e-commerce can bring to SMEs, it has been decided to address all the concerned themes in a single week-long training. Participants, mainly decision-making people, will be walked through key knowledge and practical solutions that can allow them to define their strategy for e-exports to EU. Likewise, we have opted to structure our report around the themes themselves, which offers a better context for understanding the results and feedbacks. Conclusions, recommendations, evaluation results, and a detailed agenda of the training is also shared at the end of the document, in the annexes section.

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Location & organization of the event

Training location & infrastructure:

The non-resident participants stayed at the Hermitage Hotel, a picturesque four stars hotel. The training also happened in one of the meeting rooms booked at the hotel, on the ground floor.

Built in 2011, the HERMITAGE hotel stands out for its gorgeous design that was inspired by the way Brest looked at the beginning of the 20th century when the city was a part of Poland. The HERMITAGE hotel seats on a peaceful street surrounded by greenery and parks. The city center and all the main sights, including The Brest Fortress, lie within a 10-minute walk.

Belarusian Fund for Financial Support to Entrepreneurs is the partner organization facilitating the implementation of the activities of the “EaP. Ready to Trade. EU4 Business’s project in Belarus. Fund has been operating for 27 years and has accumulated rich experience in supporting business entities for the entire period of its work. The main objectives of the Fund are to provide small business entities with state financial support, with funds provided in the various state programs.

Financial instruments of state support of small business entities by Belarusian Fund for Financial Support to Entrepreneurs expressed in the provision of loans, financial lease of property (leasing), as well as guarantees on privileged credits. The Fund has financed more than 1,500 projects of small business entities for more than twenty years of work.

Belarusian Fund for Financial Support to Entrepreneurs has developed and introduced gradually new mechanisms of providing non-financial instruments of state support to small and medium-sized business entities. It includes information activities of the Fund, consultations on various issues, the development of contact and cooperation ties between the industrial sector and small business entities, the evaluation and the examination of investment and business projects, the export promotion, the promotion of innovative products production, the participation in startup-events, an other activities.

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Andrei Fedarau, 06/20/19,

Brief description of the Fund main activities


Evaluation of the Organization of the event

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Understanding & accessibility of the translation (1=poor, 5=exellent)

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Quality of meals and coffee breaks (1=poor, 5=exellent)

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Accommodation for nonresident participants (1=poor, 5=exellent)

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Venue (location) of the training (1=poor, 5=exellent)

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General level of organization & conduct of the training -- (1=poor, 5=exellent)

The overall and the singular evaluations are all consistently scoring a 100% satisfaction rate with more than 90% of all participants judging it to be excellent. Participants were extremely satisfied with the organization of the event in all aspects of the evaluation.

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About the training objectives

Selection of SMEs:

Overall there were 23 participants, among them 21 SME`s and 2 BSO`s of which 1 BSO was attending using distance learning mode. These SMEs already had some experience and knowledge on e-commerce and required the next level of information and tools to expand their online presence and sales.

Venue:

The training was held in Brest, which is the area where most of the Fashion producers are located. Additionally, the city of Brest is located on a key road transport route towards the EU market (via Poland).

Training type:

The training has been designed as a condensed crash-course with practical sessions, to allow the SMEs to acquire key and advanced knowledge in multiple areas necessary to deploy proper cross-border e-commerce strategy.

Structure of the training:

The week-long training will address six themes of knowledge about digital trade and exports. For each theme, the trainer will present and interact with the participants at a strategic level on how a company needs to organize itself to better leverage its e-commerce potential. Good practice and key information will be shared with participants.

Objectives of the training:

The objective, given the condensed aspect of the training, is to provide to the SMEs management strategic level knowledge on how to prepare their offering and their company strategy to better leverage their cross-border e-ecommerce potential.

Outcomes of the training:

By the end of the training, the SMEs and participants will be able to:

Understand the corporate, legal and fiscal requirement to access the EU market Know how to access key EU or International payment solutions and marketplaces Design a specific e-logistic strategy to reduce costs/time of delivery and returns Better prepare their marketing material (product information, packaging, policies) Design competitive prices & offers using an e-commerce engineering methodology

Expected result:

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This set of knowledge shall allow the enterprises to understand how to access the EU online marketplaces and increase their transformation ratio (from visitor to paying customer) for cross-border e-commerce

Methodology, pedagogy and learning tools used

The fact that all the themes related to e-export are addressed in one single training creates new learning challenges. The first challenge is the very high and week-long concentration level required from the participants in order to be able to understand the complex and new business concepts underlying the EU market access problematic. The ITC team addresses such complexity in the following manner:

1- Availability of training materials: All the resources have been shared on an online e-learning platform. This reduces printed materials to the minimum needed for the exercises and frees participants from having to read while listening. Tools, Softwares, and templates are also shared with participants so that they can download, adapt, and use them for their business.

2- Interactive & gamified online learning content:Using the online Learning Management System (LMS), participants are following the physical training on their laptop or mobile device in a fun and interactive way. Videos, cartoons, and animations are shared with participants, allowing the trainer to break-down complex concepts into visual and rich-media elements which can be better digested by the learners.

3- Focus on Q&A, SMEs real examples & practical exercises:Participants have been very actively engaged in asking questions, & sharing their own experiences. Using real products & scenarios of participating SMEs, the trainer offers a contextualized knowledge. For almost every theme, participants were engaged in online and or physical exercises to put the knowledge into practice using tools provided by the trainer.

4- Flexibility in the training agenda:Some problems are understood more or less easily, depending on the country and the situation of the SMEs. For instance, logistics mechanics can be very different depending on the distance to the EU and the logistics context of the county. EU import and VAT regulations can also differ in complexity, depending on the participant's background. Some training

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themes may require more time than planned, while others can be reduced or followed online. SME managers still need to handle their daily business operations, especially for a week-long full-time training, and therefore training hours during the day can and have been slightly adapted to accommodate for the entrepreneurs timing and maximize their concentration during their presence in training.

Participants Evaluation & Feedbacks (methodology, pedagogy & learning tools)

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Accessibility & clarity of presentation/material by the trainer (1=poor, 5=exellent)

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Trainer interaction with participants (1=poor, 5=exellent)

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Quality of used video and PP (1=poor, 5=exellent)

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Accessibility of explanations & mathematical (1=poor, 5=exellent)

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Understanding how to improve your business (1=poor, 5=exellent)

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Quality of provided answers to the questions (1=poor, 5=exellent)

Results summary (overall average):

100% find it good if not excellent 75% find it excellent

Results analysis:

The training approach and tools have been well received by participants, although this is the first time such online learning system is being used as an assistance tool to the physical training.

Additionally, the participants appreciated the fact that they would still have access to the learning materials, shared links and documents over the year, therefore, being able to come back to the learning material shall they need a refreshment of the memory. This tool can be continuously improved in order to free more time for interaction with the trainer and more contextualized learning.

Participants have most favorably graded the clarity/availability of the training material (95% find it excellent) as well as the interactivity of the trainer (86% find it excellent).

Because of the non-matching language of participants and trainer, we could have expected a higher understanding and interactivity difficulty, but this was not the case at all. The quality of the translator and the engagement of the participants were of high quality and intensity.

For the anonymous feedback questionnaires, participants were able to leave their comments and provide an evaluation of the whole training and for specific sections. Below are the transcribed comments of the participants:

- Thank you very much for the training; - I would like to recommend participants to study the legislation of the Republic of Belarus

on the sale of goods and the possibility of starting a business;- We will always be happy to receive additional information on the topic of marketing and

product promotion in social networks;- If it is possible to arrange simultaneous translation for those who do not speak English, as

much time is lost in translation and get more information;- Presentations, spreadsheets, and videos need to be supplemented with a translation into

Russian; this will facilitate the perception and save our time;- Not enough time for delivering information, many discussions

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Feedback questionnaires comments translation


Introduction activities (day 1)

Introduction and opening of the event

The event started with a presentation of the project by Andrei Fedarau (national coordinator), introducing the partners of the project and giving the context in which, this training is being implemented.

On behalf of the co-organizer, welcoming words to the training participants were delivered by the Head of the Business Development Assistance Department of the Belarusian Fund for the Financial Support to the Entrepreneurs Ms. Svetlana Kuchuk, who introduced main areas of Fund`s financial and non-financial support activities to SME`s in Belarus, including overview of governmental programs and other initiatives.

The participants were then informed about the last organizational details and provided with the agenda and training materials. Then followed a presentation on the potential of the EU Ecommerce market and a group exercise on mapping the current SMEs EU market access problems with currently available solutions.

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Potential of EU ecommerce market for Fashion SMEs (presentation)Learning objectives & description of activities (potential of ecommerce)

This presentation highlights the potential of the EU market. This is an important step for training motivation management, as the EU market is also one of the most complex and difficult markets to access. In other words, the first objective to show the reality of this specific market in terms of costs/benefits aspects and pros & cons. Generally, participants have re-confirmed their interest in accessing the EU market, the knowing the challenges that this can bring. Almost none of the SMEs is currently exporting to the EU and even less using ecommerce.

Participants also realized the diversity of the countries within the EU zone. Not only in terms of languages and culture but also terms of e-consumption habits. For instance, each EU country has its preferred e-payment solutions that are more or less required by the consumers of that country. Delivery times and returns preferences can also greatly vary from an EU country to another. Moreover, in terms of targeting, different marketplaces can be used for each country. Contrasting this information with GDP and purchasing power of each market can allow our SMEs to spot the most promising entry points for their EU market venture.

At the end of this session, participants have understood the key differences of EU countries within themselves, as well as the potential of the overall single custom zone that the EU is. An important point that was highlighted and well received is the role that the nearest EU bordering country can play in access to the rest of the EU. For instance, working with/through Poland or Estonia for Belarus SMEs can be a cost-effective solution. Likewise, using Romania as an EU entry hub for Moldovan SMEs can be a great strategy.

Participants have been equipped with the necessary motivation and a general idea about the challenges that the EU market presents both at the union level as well as at the national level for each potentially targeted country.

In Belarus, participants have reacted positively about this presentation and have received access to the full EU ecommerce study materials for further learning or in-depth details about specific EU countries preferences.

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Participants Evaluation & Feedbacks (Potential of Ecommerce)

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5 5 5

3

5 5

3

5 5

4

5 5 5 5

4

5 5

3 3

5

3

e v al u atio n o f P o t e n tial o f Ec o m m e r c e (1 =p o o r , 5 =e x c e l l e n t )

Results summary:

100% find it satisfactory at the least 76% find it good if not excellent 66.67% find it excellent

Results analysis:

Although more than ¾ find it to be good or excellent, we have about 24% of participants who qualified this activity as being just satisfactory. Compared to the overall evaluation of all the themes of training, this particular component is one of the lowest scoring items.

A lesson learned could be that this particular section can be further improved to create higher interest and motivation for the EU market. Success stories or case studies of non-EU-sellers being successful in the EU market could play a role in building such motivation.

An alternative interpretation could be the EU Market being itself not the main priority of the SMEs exports. Indeed, most of the SMEs who do export are mainly exporting Russia and or CIS countries. Almost none of the participants did any form of official export to the EU market, and most complained about the complexity of accessing the EU market (certification, import rules, and market knowledge). As mitigation and consequence, the trainer has also informed the SMEs about ITC practical guide for SMEs to access the China B2C market, which is the largest ecommerce market in the

world. The link to the publication has been shared on the online learning tool:http://www.intracen.org/publication/How-to-reach-Chinese-e-consumers

Incidentally, during discussions that followed the course on import de-minimis rules, participants themselves identified Azerbaijan as a great potential target market for B2C exports, for the following reasons:

1- High import de-minimis ($1,000 per month per consumer): No import duties/taxes2- Russian speaking market and CIS country3- High purchasing power (especially for Baku)4- Proximity market for Moldova (and Georgia)

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http://www.intracen.org/publication/How-to-reach-Chinese-e-consumers/


Mapping of problems and solutions (group exercise)

Learning objectives & description of activities (Problems Solutions Mapping)

The objective of the exercise:

This exercise is a bottom-up the study of the red-tapes and challenges that SMEs and entrepreneurs are facing when targeting a foreign market using e-commerce. The idea is to bring up all types of problems, including the unspoken off, the informal, the rumors, or any fears that may concern the entrepreneurs when it comes to e-export. At the same time, this exercise aims at capturing the different ways and solutions local entrepreneurs have found or are using so-far to circumvent the given difficulties. This rapid assessment will guide the fine-tuning of future activities.

This exercise is being done in groups of three to four persons, with each group working on a specific theme of problems/solutions. The six themes that are studied are: Payments & Finance, Logistics & Warehousing, Knowledge 6 Skills, ICT & Technologies, Corporate & Fiscal, and Branding & Marketing.

Organization of the groups:

There are six themes of study, around six tables or areas. Participants should be grouped to match the number of themes, in groups of 2 to 5 persons maximum. It is important that people do not go in a group based on their affinity, or their interest in a particular theme. Instead, participants should join the theme where they think they have had experimental knowledge, especially if they are suffering or have overpassed a given difficulty.

Brainstorming Activity (2H):

For the theme that is assigned to each group, the requirement is to write down key short notes on:

1. Problems & Causes: Here we can focus on the 1 or up to 3 most important problems.o Define the problem(s) in one short sentence. o List the three most important causes/reasons for the problem(s).

2. SME Solutions: Here, we will identify current solutions known, considered or used by SMEs.o Grey zone: Solutions that work but are not legal for sureo Workaround: Solutions that are legal but not-practical or expensive.o The technique: The right solution we should use (legal & cost-effective)

3. Private Sector Solutions: Identify possible suppliers.o Available Service Providers: Name local companies which may solve the problem and

list their cost/conditions/limits.

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o Needed Services: If no such services are available in the local market, then define what such service could be or identify services that are offered in other markets.

4. Policy / Legal Solutions These are long term policy changes that enhance the situation.o Existing laws: Identify the laws/policies creating the difficulties and suggest realistic

amendments, exemptions, or straight removal of those laws.o Future laws: If no regulation/law exists or if new laws could help the situation propose

in one sentence what that law could be.5. Presentations Activity (2H):

o Each group has 20 minutes to present their discoveries and highlightso Each group has to take a photo of their paper & share it on the learning platform

6. Open discussion & exchange (1H): All participants & the instructor will interact, challenge & comment about the findings of each other and highlight the information which is verified from those which need verification.

Key specific results & learnings for Belarus:

In Belarus, participants were surprisingly very involved in this exercise, and as a result, we could not finish the session on the allocated timing. Thanks to the high motivation and interest of the participants, we decided to use the coffee and lunch poses during the week to continue and complete this activity. The exchanges and discussion between the participants and the ITC team were intense, deep, and very interesting. Specific and unique problems of the Belarusian SMEs have surfaced, of which the most important ones are summarized below:

1. Payments & Finance:a. There is a law that forces the Belarussian payment systems to display & charge

foreign customers “exclusively” in the Belarussian ruble. Such a situation creates confusion for EU buyers as they see a different price/amount and or a different currency than what they expect (EUR all-inclusive prices). Main PSP: www. paysec.by

i. Reference & comment:According to the Article 23 of the Resolution of the management board of the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus from December 19, 2018 № 612 On some issues of currency transactions, - “foreign transactions between an entity of currency transactions – resident of Belarus and the subject of currency transactions - non-resident of Belarus should be provided with Belarusian rubles are carried out: in a cashless form - during all foreign exchange transactions1;

b. PayPal and other major international payments systems are not available for Belarus sellers, therefore exacerbating the problem above.

c. Businesses in Belarus can have a EUR or USD account with their local bank but they are charged income tax on FX fluctuation shall their foreign currency account gain in value (as compared to Belarussian ruble), while no compensation is offered when foreign currencies lose value against the national currency. Such situation forces businesses to convert all their foreign currency sales to ruble (to avoid potential taxation), but as a result, they suffer the currency exchange fees especially once they need to obtain EUR to pay for an EU based service. Such FX creates an additional 3 to 6% payment fees on all international transactions of SMEs, therefore reducing their competitiveness. Furthermore, this law may be the reason why PayPal and other payment solution are not yet available in Belarus while they are available to Moldovan businesses for instance

1 http://pravo.by/document/?guid=12551&p0=B21833673&p1=1&p5=0

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This is absolutely correct input. Currently according to the legislation of Belarus, foreign customers should pay prices nominated “converted” according to the official rate of the Belarusian ruble to foreign currencies.

http://pravo.by/document/?guid=12551&p0=B21833673&p1=1&p5=0

http://www.paysec.by/


i. Reference and comment:This is according to Section 5 of Art. 31 of the Tax Code of the Republic of Belarus2 taxation proceeds from the sale (income) of goods (works, services), property rights under contracts in which rules about dealings in foreign currencies are expressed

d. Businesses Belarus cannot use a VISA or Mastercard for online purchases other than for travel arrangements. Such situation blocks SMEs from buying key online services for their companies and leads to the informal use of personal cards for such purposes.

i. Reference and comments:Legal entities in Belarus can use corporate banking cards for a restricted number of purposes, mainly for paying costs of business trips. This is according to the Resolution of the board of the national bank of the Republic of Belarus from January 18, 2013, № 34 “On approval of the Instruction on the procedure for conducting operations with bank payment cards.”3

2. Logistics & Warehouses:a. For any export, Belarussian SMEs must repatriate the full payment within six months

of the date of exit of the products. In the case of exporting (but not selling) an inventory to be placed under e-fulfillment in Europe (such as Amazon FBA) SMEs would be infringing this law if they do not manage to sell the whole stock within six months. A situation that creates stress and cost, which reduces SMEs competitiveness.

i. Reference and comment: The obligation to repatriate the full payment or receive the goods or services (subject of contract) is regulated by the Law of the Republic of Belarus from July 22, 2003 № 226-З “About currency regulation and currency control in Belarus4” which along with Criminal Code of Belarus stipulates criminal responsibility for non – return of contract payments to Belarus.

b. There are almost no 3PL nor 4PL logistics providers to whom an SME could delegate its logistics operations from factory to client door.

c. There is no culture nor any local solution for ecommerce e-fulfillment. d. Free Trade Zones exist, near Brest especially, but capital/guarantee requirements to

access such facility make it inaccessible to Belarussian SMEs (requirement of EUR 1 Million in social capital to be achieved within three years). Only foreign direct investment (FDI) organizations can benefit from these incentives and end-up competing with local textile SMEs. These requirements may vary from an FTZ to another.

3. Knowledge & Skillsa. Belarussian SMEs mainly rely on Russian companies for ecommerce servicesb. Local talents either work as freelancers or migrate to foreign countries (brain drain)c. The current education system has not upgraded to match modern challenges.

4. ICT & Technologies

2 http://pravo.by/document/?guid=3871&p0=Hk09000713 https://www.nbrb.by/legislation/documents/PP_34_199.pdf4 http://www.pravo.by/document/?guid=3871&p0=H10300226

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http://www.pravo.by/document/?guid=3871&p0=H10300226

https://www.nbrb.by/legislation/documents/PP_34_199.pdf

http://pravo.by/document/?guid=3871&p0=Hk0900071


a. Belarus being a “relatively” small market leads to very few IT & Services offeringb. National internet infrastructure digitalization efforts are positive.

5. Corporate & Fiscala. Fiscal laws in Belarus are confusing and have a sort of “unpredictability” in their

enforcement with complex and non-transparent (or weakly advertised) exemptions, non-application or full withdrawal in some instances.

b. Local tax advisors unaware and not trained to deal with exports to the EUc. Electronic VAT reporting solution exists but underused due to bugs & complexity.

6. Marketing & Brandinga. A national law forces all digital communications to go through a “.by” domain name,

therefore, blocking Belarussian SMEs from fully using other domain names or communication channels. This leads to SMEs delegating international communication to a foreign subsidiary or partner, creating more complexity, costs, and risks.

i. Comment & reference:Not completely true. Companies in Belarus can register international domains.

b. A national law forces billboard advertising companies to exclusively use Caucasian/Belorussian looking models, therefore, creating a quasi-absence of photos and models with Asian, African or other ethnic looks that can be needed for international marketing material. In addition to this, the could be a risk of being labeled as “lacking diversity” for the SMEs branding efforts and especially for the fashion industry.

i. Reference and comment:Exclusive use of Belarusian looking models is not obligatory by Belarusian legislation. (Ref. LAW OF THE REPUBLIC OF BELARUS May 10, 2007, N 225-W ON ADVERTISING)5 however, former practices based on former regulations may have affected or contributed to such interpretation.

The problems and consequences listed above have been discovered and intensely discussed and debated among participants during the exercise. These problems have then been researched and assessed by Andrei Fedarau, who has a legal background (Lawyer) and documented/referenced to the concerned legal text.

For every problem that is confirmed, we suggest ITC and its local partner organize a round table with concerned government institutions or regulating authorities, about these “unusual” laws and regulations that greatly hinder Belarussian SMEs export potential.

5https://airport.by/sites/default/files/PDF/press_center/Закон%20Республики%20Беларусь%20о %20рекламе%20от%2010.05.2007%20г.%20№%20225-З.pdf

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https://airport.by/sites/default/files/PDF/press_center/%D0%97%D0%B0%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BD%20%D0%A0%D0%B5%D1%81%D0%BF%D1%83%D0%B1%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B8%20%D0%91%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%83%D1%81%D1%8C%20%D0%BE%20%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%BA%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%BC%D0%B5%20%D0%BE%D1%82%2010.05.2007%20%D0%B3.%20%E2%84%96%20225-%D0%97.pdf

https://airport.by/sites/default/files/PDF/press_center/%D0%97%D0%B0%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BD%20%D0%A0%D0%B5%D1%81%D0%BF%D1%83%D0%B1%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B8%20%D0%91%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%83%D1%81%D1%8C%20%D0%BE%20%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%BA%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%BC%D0%B5%20%D0%BE%D1%82%2010.05.2007%20%D0%B3.%20%E2%84%96%20225-%D0%97.pdf


Participants evaluations & feedbacks (problems & solutions mapping)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21

5

4 4 4

5

4 4

5 5

3

5 5 5

4 4

5

4 4 4 4

5

Pr oble ms & Soluti ons (1=poor , 5=e xe lle nt ):

Results summary:

100% find it satisfactory at the least 95% find it good if not excellent 43% find it excellent

Results analysis:

Given the self-decided general vote of participants to continue this exercise during lunch and coffee, pauses speaks about their interest in the matter. In terms of evaluation statistics, we have the following results:

We can, therefore, conclude two things out of this experience:

1- This activity should be given additional time and could take a full day2- The relevance of this activity is to be taken into account in next training3- This activity should involve/concern relevant Public & Private authorities

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Thematic workshops (day 2 to 5)

How to create/edit/publish content for ecommerce (interactive cartoon + Q&A)

Learning objectives & description of activities (Content for Ecommerce)

Using a simple cartoon, the trainer has presented to the participants the different problems and requirements which go un-noticed by primo e-exporters. The trainer then engaged the SMEs in matching the situations of the cartoon with their own experiences and discuss ways of resolutions.

The objective of this session is for the participants to realize about the “mistakes” they may unconsciously be doing when dealing with cross-border e-commerce. The cartoon tells the real story of an entrepreneur who starts to sell his products online and encounters various problems.

Along with the cartoon, an interactive set of questions and gamification rewards (points) guide the users in their learning process.

An important learning is for SMEs to realize how much content creation (text, documents, photos, videos, policies, FAQ sections) are important for any ecommerce venture. Furthermore, content creation has a marketing dollar value as it can position the SMEs websites and list higher in the searching engines results pages.

Also, the ITC Trade compass episode 12 (ecommerce caravan) was featured and highlighted how creating digital content (including 360 and virtual reality) can immerse buyers into the life of the producer.

The basics of Search Engine Optimization has been shared and discussed with participants, and they have understood the central position that content creation takes in any web marketing strategy. This issue of content will be further addressed all along with the training as it can also affect

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logistics mistakes, higher returns and refunds, and higher costs in human resources dedicated to customer support.

Participants evaluations & feedbacks (Content for Ecommerce)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21

5

4

5 5 5 5

3

5 5

2

5 5 5

3

4

5 5 5 5

4

5

cont e nt for Ecomme r ce (1=poor , 5=e xe lle nt )

Results summary:


Results analysis:

The content of the story, and the gamified cartoon, have been very well received by participants. More than 70% have found it refreshing and excellent, as this offers a different way to access critical knowledge without having to read through dozens of text documents.

Many of the participants could recognize themselves in the cartoon as they do practice such initial bad habits, and have realized how they can optimize their approach to ecommerce.

Using a cartoon and interacting with the participants also created and more fun and friendly atmosphere, although very serious questions and discussions ensued.

In this session, we touched upon different types and forms of content that is necessary for cross-border ecommerce, and each type will be addressed in the next sessions of the training.

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Corporate Internationalization & EU Market (presentation + SMEs based scenarios)

Learning objectives & description of activities (Internationalization to EU market)

The main objective of this session is to expose the SMEs to the very complex VAT regulations that are controlling the entrance and movements of goods and services into the EU zone. This subject is almost unknown to participant SMEs as they have never dealt with the EU market, and even less with the retail market. It is also one of the most complicated themes as there are multiple regulations coming into play and it is the responsibility of the sellers to ensure the full compliance of their business with any VAT rule for their cross-border ecommerce activities.

Some of the key points related to EU VAT regulations that have been offered are:

1- Import Duties and VAT de minimis (value under which no tax is applied)2- Import VAT and Duty calculation depending on the country of entry and product HS code3- Importer on record and responsibility of declaration and payment of import taxes4- VAT registration thresholds for intra-EU states sales and movements5- VAT Nexus depending on the location of products storage

Participants have also been presented with the different tools and services providers that they can use to facilitate their understanding and management of the EU VAT matters. For ecommerce sales or sales that are done through online marketplaces such as Amazon, a scenario on how to manage VAT reporting has been shared, discussed and contextualized to Belarussian SMEs entering the EU market through Poland.

The key learning that participants could take away is the pros/cons of different scenarios which they can use to start selling online in the EU market, which can be resumed below:

1- Store and ship from Belarus using the National Post2- Register for EU VAT in Poland, import & store in Poland then break to EU countries

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3- Register with specific EU country & place inventory in storage/fulfillment in that country

Participants evaluations & feedbacks (Internationalization to EU market)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21

5

3

5

4

5

3

4

5 5

3

5 5 5 5

3

5 5

2

4

3

5

Cor por at e Int e r nati onalization (1 =poor , 5 =e xe lle nt )

Results summary:


Results analysis:

To a certain extent, this knowledge has had a “shock & awe” effect on participants as they are surprised how VAT rules can have so much impact on EU ecommerce activities. Understanding the underlying concepts beneath the EU VAT rules and how they affect ecommerce sales and marketing is a form of “insider” knowledge, which has been shared with participants.

Although this theme has taken twice the time it was allocated for initially; participants have made a great effort to make sure they do understand this subject. Dozens of interactions and dozens of questions and scenarios have been discussed, shared, drawn, commented, and repeated to make sure all participants can grasp this complex, yet very powerful knowledge.

At the end of this almost day-long chapter, participants have testified to the high value of accessing this knowledge as it can give them an edge in competitivity and can avoid for them to fall into the many possible mistakes and problems of entering the EU market without enough preparation.

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E-Logistics & Returns management for Fashion industry (presentation + scenarios)

Learning objectives & description of activities (E-logistics & Returns)

Logistics is often a key problem in cross-border trade. Here the participants will be introduced to strategies, solutions, and techniques to be able to efficiently deal with their international shipping and returns.

The objective of this chapter is to walk the participants through the different ways that they can organize their logistics, warehousing, and returns needs. In order to be able to solve the logistic problems of SMEs, one needs to understand the underlying fiscal rules of trade, which is why we had done the EU VAT chapter before logistics. Indeed, now, participants were able to understand how they could match their fiscal organization with their logistic organization, for instance:

1- Store and ship from Belarus using the National Posta. I do not need any EU VAT number & client handles the import process

2- Register EU VAT in Poland, import/store/break from Poland to EU countriesa. I import & pay VAT & Duties in Poland & then use the VIES system to report

3- Register with specific EU country & place inventory in storage/fulfillment in that countrya. I can store inventory for fulfillment only in EU countries where I am VAT registered

In addition to the fiscal/logistic strategy, the trainer also introduced different ways to reduce the costs of logistics and the good practices for shipping goods to customers.

A key difficulty for non-EU sellers is the return of products as it can translate into a double loss:

1- Loss of the sale because of the refund2- Loss of shipping and return fees and potentially import duties when back to the country

The trainer explained and gave links/names of services providers that can cost-effectively assist SMEs in mitigating the costs and probability of such returns. One of them is by using Relay Points or Mail-forwarding addresses in Europe to offer a local return address to the customer and from

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there optimize the management of the returned products (destroy, resell, repackage, return to the country of origin in bulk).

Participants evaluations & feedbacks (E-logistics & Returns)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21

5

2

5

4

5 5

4

5 5

3

4

5 5

4

3

5

4 4

5

3

5

E-Logistics & Re t ur ns (1=poor , 5 =e xe lle nt )

Results summary:


Results analysis:

Overall, participants were satisfied with the training theme and content, and for most of them just discovered about the possibilities of using E-fulfilment providers and Relay Points in Europe to reduce their shipping time and costs.

For the fashion industry, if properly done following our training knowledge, shipping costs can be divided by three, from more than €40 per door to door shipping to about €12 (for a dress below 1Kg). However, to achieve such a result, the SME would have to invest in being fiscally registered in the target market in the EU in order to benefit from more competitive last mile logistics partners.

The current requirement from consumers in Europe is that they expect Free and Fast Shipping, but also free returns and no questions asked. Such purchasing requirement is very difficult to be met for non-EU SMEs unless they incur a loss on the transaction. Such reality of the retail market in Europe is often a “bad surprise” for our SMEs who feel “powerless” given their geographic and economic situation.

The trainer has provided the participants with different ways and tools that can be used to solve this situation, and further optimization can be done thanks to the following chapter of Ecommerce Engineering.

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E-commerce Engineering & pricing strategies (exercise + online benchmarking tool)

Learning objectives & description of activities (E-commerce Engineering)

Pricing a product is a big unknown variable in the equation of e-exports to EU. SMEs often do not realize or know their cost structure and can find themselves in situations that either can make them lose money, or miss an opportunity of higher margin. Pricing is a very sensitive science in an ever-evolving and very competitive market that is the ecommerce.

The most difficult to do is not to publish a product and a price online, but the fact of being competitive in order to generate real sales while making sure one is making a profit or at least avoiding a loss.

A methodology has been shared with the participants on how they can design commercial offers and pricing strategy that is adapted to the target market while maintaining profit margins or avoiding loss. Entrepreneurs have been invited to think as “commerce offer” instead of “product price,” whereby a commercial offer is adapted to a specific target context (B2C sales to 30-50 years old executive Women in the UK).

The objective of this exercise is to be able to calculate the right price and the costs structure of each commercial offer and understand if such an offer can be competitive and profitable or not.

Each participant goes through this exercise using the excel and word templates provided by the trainer. The objective is to be able to quickly and visually verify if a given product/offer can be competitive in the target market. Moreover, if not optimize or change the offer or the target market, in order to gain in competitivity.

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This methodology is about scoring the current offer of the participants on six key parameters:

Shipping costs compared to the sale amount: o The ratio of the delivery/shipping costs as compared to the sale amount

Market Price (benchmark): o A benchmark of the offer with successful competitors in the target market

Margin (net profit): o Depending on the margin a seller has he/she can absorb more or fewer risks

Price scale: o Selling items below €30 in cross-border can increase difficulty and risks

Content quality: o Content quantity (number of words/photos/videos) & quality are scored.

Buyer’s expectations: o Some products have higher expectations from the customer than.

Returns anticipation: o This score translates the probability of getting returns in order to anticipate the cost

One the participants score their current or initial offer (price on their website), they quickly realize the weakness of their offering thanks to the spider graph generated. The more the graph is large, the more a given commercial offer has chances to be successful.

Participants are then invited to think about ways in which they can enhance their commercial offer performance, looking at ways to optimize their logistics and shipping costs, reduce their probability of returns, combining or bundling products, etc. Once the commercial offer has been improved (with justifications), the participants then run again their commercial offer through the scoring tool to see the progress.

In order to help them in their market benchmarking study and demand verification, the participants were given access to a premium analytical tool called JungleScount.com (screenshot above) which gives real-time insights on how a given product is selling or not, when, by whom, at how

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much and where. The great flow of information allows participants to spot if their commercial offer can compete with the successful sellers and can even see a projection of next month sales volumes.

Participants evaluations & feedbacks (E-commerce Engineering)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21

5

2

5

4

5 5

4

5 5

3

4

5 5

4

3

5

4

5 5

3

5

Ecom Engine e r ing & pr icing (1=poor , 5=e xe lle nt )

Results summary:


Results analysis:

Although very unfamiliar or even strange, this exercise has been designed based on a decade of ecommerce experience and backed by analytical data, but simplified so one can quickly score his or her commercial offer before deploying it to a given online marketplace.

Participants have taken the exercise at heart and have engaged in heavy discussions and exchanges on how they could enhance their performance or reduce their costs or risks. Some may have felt disappointed at first but were then invited to capitalize on all the knowledge we have been studying to find solutions and optimizations.

The trainer assisted participants by brainstorming real case scenarios based on products brought to the training by participants. This exercise is a first opportunity to put into practice the knowledge that the participants acquired in an earlier session. Most of the answers to their questions and problems were discussed or covered in earlier sessions.

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Labels & packaging for ecommerce exports (presentation + templates + exercise)

Learning objectives & description of activities (Labels & Packaging)

E-logistics and import regulations rely extensively on the technical quality of the labels and packaging so that control and administrative processes can be applied quickly and efficiently. In this section, participants learn about the requirements and are provided with print-ready compliant template labels (with SKU, Barcode, QR code…)

The objective of this activity is for participants to understand the underlying requirements of e-logistics and ecommerce solutions for inventory management. In a highly digitized supply chain such as the ecommerce retail industry, inventory handling has to be automated or at least very human cost-effective. Labels that are not compliant with this high-performance industry translate into the rejection of working with SMEs.

Understanding the e-logistic main inventory requirement passes through a proper methodology of generating and applying SKUs (Stock Keeping Units) to all the products and variants of a company. The SKU, which is a unique alphanumeric value for each possible variant of a product, is the basis on which other elements of a label are built, such as the barcode or the QR code.

Additional information is required by different stakeholders in the supply chain, and such information should be readily available in the label in order to avoid delay or mistakes in the handling of the inventory.

For instance, customs authorities and transport companies will expect the HS code and the details about the composition of the product as well as other elements.

Participants have been made aware of all the types of information that is needed by each stakeholder of the ecommerce logistic chain.

Using PowerPoint templates, SKU generator tool, Barcode generator tool and other resources that were shared, participants were invited to put into practice the knowledge by designing a new “compliant” label for one of their product, then share and discuss their label with the group.

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Participants evaluations & feedbacks (Labels & Packaging)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21

5

4

5 5 5 5

4

5 5

4 4

5 5 5

4

5 5 5 5 5

3

Labe ling & Packaging for e comme r ce -- (1=poor , 5=e xe lle nt )

Results summary:


Results analysis:

This theme and activity have been the most highly rated and appreciated. A reason can be that, to the contrary to other themes, this activity provided to participants an immediate and applicable solution to their label problem: Ready to use label templates

Additionally, using participating SMEs catalogs and physically available products, the trainer was able to show all the different information and requirements of a good label and relate it to the present products.

Participants were able to quickly understand what to do next, often they do have the information required, but they do not gather it into one.

The methodology for creating and managing SKUs was also well received as it gives immediate clarity to SMEs as to how to structure the references of their current or future catalog.

Participants were also provided with excel and other tools to be able to generate EAN13 barcodes for free, as well as QR codes and apply them to their labels immediately.

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Omnichannel Customer Support (presentation + ticketing exercise)

Learning objectives & description of activities (omnichannel customer support)

Fashion companies often build their brands through their creativity but more and more through the engagement of their public through different channels of communications. The trainer introduced the good practices and the advantages of implementing an omnichannel customer support strategy.

A practical session for SMEs is offered through the use of a CRM system whereby participants discover hands-on how different communications channels (live chat, email, phone calls) can be aggregated into a single system where a team can collaborate and attend to all the different communications from a central customer support system. The CRM system used is a free and opensource solution called OsTicket.

Unfortunately, because of the common decision to give more time to the Internationalization activity (EU VAT regulations) and the Problems vs. Solution Mapping exercise, we have had to reduce this activity to a rapid introduction of the main principles of customer support. Without spending time on case studies or exercises.

Participants evaluations & feedbacks (omnichannel customer support)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21

5

3 3 3

5 5

1

5 5

3 3

5

3

4 4

3

5

3

4 4

3

Omnichanne l Cust ome r Suppor t (1=poor , 5=e xe lle nt )

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Results summary:


Results analysis:

Many participants were confused or forgot that we did not actually do this activity, and therefore, the scores are one of the lowest.

Key learning for future sessions is to reduce the number of themes or to have the participants go through an online eLearning or webinar for clearing the basic knowledge of each theme so that we can focus on hands-on activities during the physical presence training.

Technically we can consider that this theme was not done and merits to be run again in a future session.

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Digital Marketing Strategies for Fashion Industry (presentation + discussions)

Learning objectives & description of activities (Digital Marketing)

One of the first demand from SMEs, especially in Fashion, is about generating traffic and marketing. The trainer will introduce old and new marketing tools and techniques which can be implemented cost-effectively by SMEs. (SEO/SEM, IRL2WEB, social media, affiliates).

The objective of this section is to understand the requirement to solve all the business-related performance issues addressed in earlier themes before one can design a marketing strategy. Otherwise, SMEs stand to spend much money in marketing while not having a proper transformation ratio.

Web marketing is a whole industry in itself and can not be covered in a half-day session. However, the trainer has gathered specific knowledge, tools, and software that can be used by SMEs in a “virtually free” way, or where marketing dollars are spent only once sales results have been achieved. Such an approach to marketing can make a great difference for SMEs, especially when they have a limited cash flow.

An exercise is proposed and is about using an affiliate tracking system in order to achieve two cost-effective marketing techniques for SMEs:

1- Build a network of affiliates, resellers; introducers paid on sales commission 2- Link offline activities with online sales by using discount vouchers to track campaigns

Unfortunately, this activity was also reduced as the training reached its end, and some of the participants having to leave earlier on Friday afternoon (road trip). The energy level was also getting low since the participants surprisingly maintained a very active attendance every day of the week.

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Participants evaluations & feedbacks (Digital Marketing)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21

5

4

3 3

5 5

3

5 5

2

4

5 5

4

3

5 5

4

3 3 3

Mar ke ti ng St r at e gie s for Fashion (1=poor , 5=e xe lle nt )

Results summary:


Results analysis:

In similar fashion to Omnichannel marketing, this chapter could be not be covered as planned and had only the theoretical presentation done, followed by an open discussion. No exercise or practical activity was proposed, due to time being short.

Technically we can consider that this theme was not done and merits to be run again in a future session. Since Marketing is the most demanded theme by Fashion SMEs and now that this group has the proper basics about the other themes that can ensure a better transformation ratio, we believe that a full two days practical web-marketing training could be proposed.

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Training data and analytics

Participants demographics

A total of 23 participants attended the training, representing 20 SMEs from the textile and fashion industry.

One Business Support Institution (BSO), the Belarusian Fund for Financial Support to Entrepreneurs, have assisted with the training organization and two representatives have been technically trained in the process. Mrs. Svetlana Kuchuk and Mr. Maksim Ryabcev have been very involved in the event.

A high representation of Women Entrepreneurs has been recorded, with 13 participants or about 56% being Women. Among the Women participants, a great number are business owners or hold management and or senior marketing positions. The other 10 participants were men and representing 44%.

List of participants

# Company Focal point Contact information

1Bel Bimbo

http://bellbimbo.byKolot Anna –Head of the marketing

department

[email protected]. 8 029 689 03 33

2 Lea Leahttp://lealea.by.

Evtihov Mikhain – CEO


3 Alena Goretskya http://en.alenagoretskaya.ru

Slyshkkov Alexandr – CEO

[email protected]. 8 029 240 4200

4 Nelva http://nelva.by

Varenik Yulia – head of marketing department


5 Belarushochka http://belarusachka.by

Muzychenko Viktoria – head of sales

department


6 Balunova https://balunova.by

Savchic Evgenia – head of marketing

department


7 Pandawww.panda.by

Yuhnov Alexei – deputy director on commercial affairs


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Correct list of E-commerce training participants in Belarus

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.panda.by/


http://belarusachka.by/

http://nelva.by/


http://en.alenagoretskaya.ru/

http://lealea.by/


http://bellbimbo.by/


8 Emsewww.emse.by

Mahovenko Maxim – deputy director

[email protected];[email protected]. 8 029 607 52 87

9 Oval www.oval.by

Alihanov Dmitry – CEO


10 Bonadi www.bonadi.by

Pestis Anastasiya – CEO

[email protected] mob. 8 029 778 50 65

11 Condra DeLux condra.ru Condtratuk Olga –

CEO

[email protected]моб. 8 033 331 99 88

12 Lakbi www.lakbi.by

Bolshelapova Inna – head of marketing

department

[email protected][email protected]. 8 029 641 25 39

13 Mirdada www.mirdada.by

Bychko Evgeni – CEO [email protected]. 8 029 725 09 97

14 Vesna Letto www.vesnaletto.by

Yaroshevich Tatyana – deputy CEO

[email protected] 029 2059378

15 Vladini www.vladini.by

Erofeenko Denis – deputy CEO

[email protected]. 8029-229-76-26

16 Motiff https://motifbrest.com

Shulgan Igor – CEO


17 Prestige https://prestigemoda.ru

Tur Olga – director [email protected]

mob. 8 029 625 29 45 18 Merri

www.merri.by Shalashen Dmitry –

sales manager [email protected] [email protected]. 8 029 547 15 10

19 Belarus Fashion Council www.bfw.by

Hancharova Yanina –

chairwomen

[email protected] mob. 8 029 604 99 86

20 Young Designers Association of Belarus

https://kanceptkrama.byOlga Denisova –

chairwomen

[email protected]. + 375 29 619 19 10

21 LLC Eledi Grouphttp://elady.by

Sonidu Bella – deputy director

[email protected]. 8029 679 28 68

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http://elady.by/


https://kanceptkrama.by/


http://www.bfw.by/



http://www.merri.by/


https://prestigemoda.ru/


https://motifbrest.com/


http://www.vladini.by/


http://www.vesnaletto.by/


http://www.mirdada.by/



http://www.lakbi.by/



http://www.bonadi.by/


http://www.oval.by/



http://www.emse.by/


22 Belbynet LLC Smetankin Valentin – head of marketing

department

[email protected]моб. 8029 207 44 44

23 Dinamo program LLC

www.dinamo.by

Bandarovskaya Margarita – haed of

department

[email protected]моб. 8029 522 43 47

Training final agenda

Day 1 (Half Day)

14h00 to 14h30 Introduction of the eventThe national coordinator and local partners will recall key information about The project and introduce the objectives of this training. The themes of the training will also be quickly introduced.

14h30 to 15h30 Potential of EU ecommerce market for Fashion SMEs

A PowerPoint presentation will introduce the latest figures and trends in global e-commerce and highlight the great opportunities. An ITC video about the E-commerce

16h00 to 17h30 Mapping of Problems and Solutions (session 1/2)

In this session, the trainer will present to participants the main barriers of cross-border e-commerce and will collect from the participants their feedbacks and classification of problems by order of priority according to their context. This will allow for the fine tuning of consecutive training.

Day 2

09h00 to 12h30 Mapping of Problems and Solutions (session 2/2)

In this second session, the trainer will finalize and discuss the map of problems vs. solutions and engage the participants in know-how sharing and suggestions on how to overcome their current e-exports problems. The problems and solutions will then be linked to specific sections of the themes of the training.

14h00 to 17h30 How to create/edit/publish content for ecommerce (presentation)

Using a simple cartoon, the trainer will present to the participants the little problems and requirements which go un-noticed by primo e-exporters. The trainer will then engage the SMEs in matching the situations of the cartoon with their own experiences and discuss ways of resolutions.

Day 3

09h00 to 12h30 Corporate Internationalization & access to EU Market: Session 1

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http://www.dinamo.by/



In this section, the trainer will inform the participants on the obvious and hidden requirements that they need to take into consideration before truly being able to advertise and sell in a given target market such as the EU

14h00 to 17h30 Corporate Internationalization & access to EU Market: Session 1

The second session of this theme dived into the complex issues of EU VAT rules and management, which depends on which EU country the goods are entering from as well as many other parameters. Participants will be exposed to all the different scenarios available to them to enter into and distribute into the EU market.

Day 4

09h00 to 12h30 E-Logistics & Returns management for Fashion industry

Logistics is often a key problem in cross-border trade. Here the participants will be introduced to strategies, solutions, and techniques to be able to efficiently deal with their international shipping and returns.

14h00 to 17h30 E-commerce Engineering & pricing strategies

The most difficult is not to publish a product and a price online, but the fact of being competitive in order to generate real sales. A methodology will be introduced to the participants on how they can design a commercial offer and pricing strategy that is adapted to the target market while maintaining profit margins or avoiding loss.

Day 5

09h00 to 12h30 Labelling & Packaging for cross-border e-commerce exports

E-logistics and import regulations rely extensively on the technical quality of the labels and packaging so that control and administrative processes can be applied quickly and efficiently. In this section, participants will learn about the requirements and will design & print compliant labels (with SKU, Barcode, QR code…)

14h00 to 16h30 Digital Marketing Strategies for the Fashion Industry

One of the first demand from SMEs, especially in Fashion, is about generating traffic and marketing. The trainer will introduce old and new marketing tools and techniques which can be implemented cost-effectively by SMEs. (SEO/SEM, IRL2WEB, social media, affiliates)

14h00 to 16h30 Closing of event

Closing remarks, evaluation and group photo

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Conclusions & discussions

The week-long training was a very intense and enriching experience for all the stakeholders. Overall the participants and partners are highly satisfied by the training and have demonstrated a very high level of concentration, attendance, and participation, debating on every subject.

The event was a great challenge from the very beginning when it was decided to “pack” all the themes into a single week of training. This intensely engaging week has produced so much content to deal with, both for the participants, as well as for the trainers and organizers.

The satisfaction of the participants has been met, and probably exceeded as the evaluations and feedbacks have been very positive:

1- An average of at least 75% have found the training excellent2- Attendance and participation have been at almost 100%, almost the whole time

The objective of the training, to provide to the SMEs management strategic level knowledge on how to prepare their offering and their company strategy to better leverage their cross-border e-ecommerce potential, has been successfully met.

The use of a translator has proven effective, even in the face of complex subjects such as the EU VAT regulations. We, therefore, could encourage non-English-speaking participants to join such training for future instances. A participant requested/demand if the live translation could be offered (like in seminars).

Belarussian companies that were selected were already advanced in branding and ecommerce and commercially active. They were also pragmatic and very motivated to learn and implement the learnings immediately. Such a public expects highly specialized and practical knowledge and shall not be offered generalities or principles or desk-research information.

Packing 23 very active entrepreneurs, in one room, during one week, with six training themes is a high-stake bet which proved to be a winning one in our case. However, some limitations need to be highlighted and possibly addressed:

1- Each theme requires a certain way of thinking, and alternating two radically different thinking processes on the same day can prove challenging.

2- The knowledge shared is of deep and practical nature and works better with smaller groups. We advise a group size of 12 to 18 participants at max.

3- Friday afternoon becomes impracticable, given the accumulated tiredness and travel obligations of participants.

4- The trainer is only a human and started to get tired but did not show it publicly 😊

This conclusion is completed by the next section on recommendations and new assistance areas that were identified.

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Suggestions for future activities

Invitation of other stakeholders from the Public & Private sectors

Given the success of the Problems vs. Solutions Mapping work with the SMEs and the present BSO members, it could prove great to plan to invite stakeholders from the public & private sectors for each of the themes, to either participate along with the SMEs or be interviewed separately by the International Consultant:

- Payments & Finance:o The central bank, fiscal authorities, local PSPs (Payment Services Providers)

- Logistics & Warehousing:o National Post, ministry of transport, customs authorities, logistics providers

- IT & Technologies: o Ministry of Telecom, IT Hubs, IT Universities, local IT&S providers

Such an initiative could allow our project to make very precise and contextualized policy changes recommendations, which have been built bottom-up from the SMEs engagement and verified by experts.

Potential cooperation with Estonia E-residency program

During the internationalization theme, the case of Estonia as an entry hub into the EU has caught the attention of the participants for multiple reasons:

1- Some had heard about the E-residency program and the possibility to open an Estonian company

2- Estonia sharing a border with Belorussia makes it a great logistic gateway.3- Polish and Estonian providers could be put in competition in order to get the best

price/quality scenario

We could discuss with the Estonian mission in Geneva about onboarding the interested SMEs from Belarus into the E-residency program and equip them with an Estonian company, an EU Vat number and an EU based bank account and Paypal account. Such a program could be of high interest and value to our SMEs.

The eSolutions team shall have the contacts of the Estonian mission, and my last discussions with that team were that the Estonian mission was eager to cooperate with ITC and even allocate a budget to practical cooperation were SMEs from developing countries could use Estonia as an entry gate into the EU. The unique condition is to have enough participants to justify the cooperation, and the requirement for the participants to be able to physically visit an Estonian embassy in their country or in a neighboring country (for identity verification purposes)

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Exchange of experience with Azerbaijan Trade House project in Poland

Azerbaijan’s Trade House has opened in the capital of Poland - Warsaw, on Dec. 7th, 2018. The trading house is a multi-brand and multi-company store that store and retails Azeri products directly in Poland.

It is an initiative of the Ministry of Economy in order to supply products under the "Made in Azerbaijan" brand to the Polish market, support the promotion and expansion of export of Azerbaijani goods and sell domestic products in Poland. The Trade House sells various types of products of about 30 Azerbaijani companies producing alcoholic beverages, dried fruits, pomegranate, hazelnuts, tea, jams, fruit juices, mineral water, cosmetic products, etc.

Such an initiative could be studied and shared with other countries of the project. The fact that a physical location for retail, storage, and promotion is opened in an EU country is of great interest as such initiative acts as an “Ice Breaker” for more SMEs and products to enter the EU market.

Store opening news: https://en.trend.az/azerbaijan/business/2990458.html

Improvement of the current e-commerce training offer

Given the verified demand and the current level satisfaction of the parties, we can conclude that this training content and process is very well received and appreciated and that it merits further investment in the form & content and in terms of expansion towards more SMEs/countries/projects.

An ideal evolution of the training is to split our e-commerce proposition into five separate missions/activities (with the first 3 being the minimum), in order to get the best motivation, attendance, practical application of the knowledge and actual sales:

1. A first two days “recognition/motivation” missiona. Brainstorming with partner BSO on needs/modalities /organizationb. Presentation of the EU market potential (motivation pitch)c. Problems & Solution Mapping Exercise (ecommerce environment facts findings)d. Enrollment of participants into the E-learning module & initial assessment/test

2. A 4 days week-long training as done in Belarus & Moldova (1 month later)a. The initial mission would have allowed the trainer to better adapt the contentb. The participating SMEs would have had time to go through the e-learning contentc. The trainer will be able to dive into more into details & cover all the planned themesd. Run a final exam, deliver digital certificates & progress reports (vs. initial assessment)e. The trainer introduces SMEs to services providers who can get them ready for EU

market

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https://en.trend.az/azerbaijan/business/2990458.html


3. A final two days workshop specifically dedicated to “e-marketing” (1 to 3 months later)a. This is the “carotte” for the SMEs to follow the first two sessionsb. Thanks to second mission SMEs would have solved their e-sales channels & logisticsc. Cover all marketing channels: Website, Marketplaces, Social Media & Offlined. Focus the workshop on hands-on activities for practical marketing learninge. Measure current sales performance & put in place results capture strategy

If budget, time, and demand permits, an additional set of optional activities could be proposed:

4. Optional: A follow-up coaching assistance (following 1 to 3 months)a. Assist most active SMEs in the application of the knowledge & achieving resultsb. Ability to measure and report traffic/sales results post-trainingc. Increase the satisfaction of SMEs by following up to the level of activating sales

5. Optional: Leverage participation in a fair trade event in the EUa. Target a trade fair happening in the EU between September and Novemberb. Best performing SMEs rewarded with trade fair participation assistancec. Selected SMEs use the fair trade travel to import a selected inventoryd. Unsold inventory sent to SMEs fulfillments partner in EU for Christmas online sales

This proposal can be adapted to the country and partners expectations as well as to the available budget. Also, such deployment would require SMEs to commit more than just time as they will have to acquire few but critical solutions/tools/services (below $500 investment) such as opening an Amazon seller account or other marketplace accounts.

A cost-effective and scalable alternative would be to offer this week-long course as fully online learning with a 4H live webinar session every day, over 2 weeks. Participants would be able to interact with the trainer live during the webinar sessions and can find a knowledge base and a forum where they can exchange with other learners of the course.

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Other identified areas of assistance: Supply Chain Digitization

Another identified potential area of assistance is about helping the Fashion industry SMEs to digitize their supply chain. At the moment the best of the SMEs are using some form of the production management system, but none of them has integrated their sourcing, manufacturing and marketing activities into a single system that would allow them to optimize the complete supply chain of their business. Advantages of digitizing Fashion companies supply chain are:

1- Adapt production to sales analyticsa. Produce according to seasons or pics of salesb. Produce items that do sell faster than othersc. Focus design/creativity to categories of products that make money

2- Enhance SME cashflow capacity:a. Source on time and just what is needed from suppliersb. Reduce inventory/catalog to bestselling or profitable itemsc. Reduce payment collection time and cashflow exposured. Reallocate marketing resources to products that have better margins

3- Enhance SME decision making based on facts and dataa. Take a data-driven decision for sourcing, production & marketing activitiesb. Better planning & management of Human Resources (employment creation)

4- Increase access to finance readiness:a. Better valuation of the business (assets + sales figure and documented forecasts)b. Increase chances for access to finance thanks to documented results & forecasts

Such activity would not have been economically possible few years back but today, given the great quality and availability of ERP systems (Enterprise Resources Planning) and their affordability (open source or subscription based) a Small Enterprise can implement such solution just like all large companies are doing. My experience in setting up, configuring and managing ERP systems allows me to offer such unique and otherwise very expensive knowledge. I can also set up an actual ERP system for each participating SME, which they can continue using for the whole year so that our SMEs can have the lowest entry barrier to this type of solution. I believe I can achieve this activity with the following allocation of resources:

1- Design and preparation of the learning content/material: 10 days (one time only)2- Setup, configuration & hosting of an ERP system: 1 day per SME3- Delivery of 2 days training on ERP systems: 2 days + travel & DSA

For the first deployment, this would require a total of 22 working days for a 10 SMEs group. However, future training would only require about 12 days, depending on the number of SMEs.

Results of implementing a training + equipping SMEs with an ERP system, especially on a long-term perspective, can be a “life-saving” and or a “key-performance” parameter of an SME business life cycle. This proposal can be discussed with our BSO/TSI partners.

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