With innovative partnerships, ITC connects small businesses to the world of digital trade

By partnering with major online marketplaces, the International Trade Centre (ITC) links small businesses directly to global consumers. It’s the capstone to our Digital Moonshot, building on policy, marketing and logistics work that lets trade flourish.

Some 2.6 billion people around the world don’t have access to Internet. And many small businesses that do have access, don’t know how to set up and manage a shop online. That effectively stunts them from participating in the digital economy.

ITC works with small businesses to develop world-class visuals and improve how they tell their story. Once they have beautiful digital content, ITC connects them to international buyers through partnerships with online platforms like NOVICA and eBay, as well as our own ecomConnect Market.

These marketplaces curate a selection of the best products from around the world, allowing entrepreneurs even in remote villages to find international customers. The businesses showcased have all received extensive support from ITC ecomConnect.

eBay Discoveries

ITC and eBay partnered to create eBay Discoveries. The ecomConnect team guides entrepreneurs from Africa, Central Asia and Latin America to create storefronts on eBay. Their top-quality artisanal goods have boasted $150,000 in sales since 2019.

‘They receive specific training on how to open a store, to upload products at competitive price points, to create an appealing storefront, and get the first orders in,’ said ITC e-commerce expert Annabel Sykes. ‘It’s a great testing ground for their businesses to see if there’s a market for them in international sales.’

ITC has even stepped into logistics, bulk shipping products from Central Asia to local fulfillment centers in the United States and Europe for quicker deliveries within those regions.

Through ITC’s partnerships with Payoneer and DHL, businesses gained preferential rates and access to essential e-commerce services. In Central Asia, this enabled businesses to ship globally and receive payments from international customers with ease.

NOVICA

NOVICA is the world’s largest fair-trade platform, featuring thousands of works from artisans in developing nations. The platform takes on many aspects of running an online store on behalf of the small business, including taking product photos and writing descriptions. Once the goods are online, they also manage shipping and customer service. This allows for less digitally able sellers to benefit from e-commerce.

Under the EU-funded Ready4Trade Central Asia project, the e-commerce store Artisans Connectwas created as part of the partnership between ITC and Novica.

Through the project, NOVICA created an Artisan Empowerment Hub in Uzbekistan, giving artisans from Central Asia new economic opportunities.

‘Before I signed up, the art studio used to be more of a hobby for me than a real business,’ said Sheker Akiniyazova, founder of Keshde Art Studio in Turkmenistan. ‘Through the programme, I began to look at it differently. Now I see the potential that lies in my work, as well as the work of other craftsmen whom I help with sales.’

Since the opening of the Artisan Empowerment Hub in 2023, close to $200,000 in sales have been achieved through these new online channels.

‘This is a fantastic opportunity for artisans of the region who currently have limited access to international marketplaces that cater for the European and US markets. It opens up a whole new online sales channel for them and additionally enables them to benefit from NOVICA’s extensive product development and business support services,’ explained Annabel Sykes.

ecomConnect Market

Serik Rysbekov is one of the well-known jewellery designers in Kazakhstan.

Serik combines and synthesizes styles and uses a mix of contemporary and traditional Kazakh techniques to produce unique items.

ecomConnect Market showcases our team’s work, demonstrating best practice for creating attractive and impactful ecommerce content and visuals.

Entrepreneurs value success stories of other entrepreneurs. They want to see what works, and inspire themselves. This collection shows businesses using best practices, based on our years of work with entrepreneurs around the world.

We worked with these entrepreneurs to polish their presentation, find out together what works, and boost their sales. Some of these companies have modest beginnings, but they now exemplify good practice — how to list effectively on popular ecommerce sites, and to stand out in their own webshops and social media.

They’re often now leaders in their countries, working with us as coaches or by providing engaging contributions to our ecomconnect.org online community.

ecomConnect Market celebrates what works.