eCommerce consultation centre launches with introductory marketplace training

The EU4Digital eCommerce consultations centre will provide practical training and consultations, enabling 30 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Eastern Partnership to register and sell their products on major marketplaces. The ultimate aim of the centre is to scale up for a larger number of EaP SMEs and support a 50% increase in EU-EaP cross-border eCommerce. This journey began on 16 March 2023, when the eTrade stream launched the eCommerce consultations centre and a first training session was completed.

As the Eastern Partnership region aims to connect with EU markets, the easiest way for EaP SMEs to start selling in the EU is through international marketplaces. However, entering and expanding in these marketplaces requires resources, research and analysis if SMEs are to best fit their product to each marketplace, learn how to register there, and devise the most successful tactics for product listing and digital marketing to increase sales.

The eCommerce accelerator activity in EU4Digital Facility phase II tests how EaP

SMEs can boost eCommerce sales on EU marketplaces. EU4Digital will facilitate digital commerce, using established EU marketplaces as a tool to reach EU customers. Some EaP SMEs already have eCommerce experience on local and international levels, while others simply decided to try out the eCommerce channels. For this reason, EU4Digital developed a two-fold concept. The first part is the national pavilion account, which facilitates the product selling of less experienced SMEs through single national account on the marketplace(s). Secondly, for the more experienced SMEs, EU4Digital developed the eCommerce consultations centre. This provides a series of group training events and individual consultations about the marketplaces, covering varied topics from registration and tax-related questions to advertising campaign strategies, product placing and more. Testing of the national pavilion account is starting soon, while training and consultations for more experienced companies start now.

These days, it would be difficult to find someone who is unaware of such giant marketplaces as Amazon and eBay, which have the largest pool of users in the EU. But how many people know that some products are not a great fit for these platforms and could achieve much higher popularity in smaller EU marketplaces? For this reason, the eCommerce consultations centre team of European experts will cover not only the big name sites, but also Etsy, Zalando, Pigu.lt, Allegro, OTTO, Bol and Kaufland

To prove that the eCommerce consultations centre could support companies in achieving their eCommerce goals – i.e. register on the marketplaces, sell their goods to EU customers and increase overall sales – the training and consultations will be tested on 30 selected EaP SMEs. After successful testing, the EU4Digital team will then develop recommendations to help support more EaP SMEs.

During the launch event on 16 March, the eCommerce consultations centre was presented in detail together with the team of EU4Digital practitioners. The first training then followed. This introduced the marketplaces, presented which products fit best on each marketplace, and covered registration procedures, payment possibilities, special functions and other topics. After the session, representatives of the participating companies began booking individual expert consultations to get advice on their specific cases.

Further information

Read more about the EU4Digital eCommerce accelerator and how it will contribute to boosting eCommerce sales of the EaP Region.

About 600 teachers from all over the country, teaching various subjects, participated in a course in which they were trained to use the "flipped classroom" teaching method, considered to be one of the most effective and innovative teaching practices in the world. Being guided by five mentors from the south of the country, the teachers were trained on the distinctions and similarities between "flipped classroom" and "online learning," obtaining guidance on how to execute these approaches.

In contrast to a conventional class where teaching occurs in the classroom and students complete activities independently at home, the "flipped classroom" model has teaching taking place at home and activities being conducted in school.

During the organised trainings, the 600 teachers in the country, including 100 from the Cahul region, were guided on classroom management in the context of blended learning, as well as on the methods of evaluation and providing effective feedback to the students. The mentors who guided the participants are teachers from the south of the country. Natalia Popa, Aurica Bacalov, Alla Nebunu, Stela Chetroi and Andrei Miculschi successfully implement the "flipped classroom" method in their academic work.

"I demonstrated and explained to them that the flipped classroom method is divided into seven models and I explained what each model consists of and how it can be applied to lessons. We also came up with examples of didactic projects, where this "inverted classroom" model is used, and we tried to address all the models provided by the guide proposed to teachers", said Natalia Popa, computer science and mathematics teacher in the "Mihai Eminescu" Gymnasium in Cantemir town and mentor in the training courses.

"It is a method in which I would say that the students help the teacher. Even if the lessons are not explained by the teacher, the students come with a much greater interest in the lesson, they try to look for more information, and sometimes you learn from them much more useful things than you knew", said Nina Crintea, teacher of mathematics, informatics and physics in the "Mihail Kogălniceanu" Gymnasium in Cotihana village, Cahul rayon.

The trainings were organised by "Startup City Cahul" and "Tekwill in Every School".