Two free webinars will be held next week to encourage more businesses in the UK to sell internationally online.
Hosted by the Institute of Export & International Trade (IOE&IT) as part of ‘E-commerce Week’ – a new campaign to raise awareness of digital export opportunities – the webinars will cover:
- Tuesday 19 March, 11am: ‘How businesses can use e-commerce to grow internationally’
- Wednesday 20 March, 11am: ‘What is the social value of e-commerce trade?’
‘Heavyweight panels’
IOE&IT UK public affairs lead Grace Thompson said the webinars were a great opportunity for businesses to hear from some of the e-commerce industry’s leading experts.
“These are set to be two really engaging and interesting webinars for UK SMEs, with two heavyweight panels of e-commerce experts.
“Research by the Social Market Foundation has found that there are 90,000 SMEs in the UK that could, but don’t yet, trade overseas. If we could get these firms exporting, this would add £9.3bn GVA to the UK economy, and e-commerce platforms have a key role to play in enabling this international growth.
“With speakers from eBay and Shopify on the panels, alongside inspiring case studies, these webinars are a great opportunity for businesses to get practical and inspiring advice to take their next steps in e-commerce.
“For those who don’t yet export, this is a great chance to hear how e-commerce can be an enabler for you; for those who do already export, it’s an opportunity to hear how you can enhance and further grow your international online sales.”
Panelists for the Tuesday 19 March webinar include Kostas Rossoglu, director of international public policy & government affairs at Shopify, Barry Tong, CEO of Stephenson's Online, and Samantha Hodgkins, a customs consultant at IOE&IT.
The panel for the session the next day (20 March), on the social value of e-commerce trade, includes Renee Parker, an advisory board member at British Beauty Council, and Josh McWilliams, head of UK exports at eBay.
Commission
E-Commerce Week is being run by the E-Commerce Trade Commission – an industry-government partnership convened by IOE&IT to encourage SMEs to trade internationally using e-commerce platforms.
The Commission counts Amazon, Alibaba, eBay, Google and Shopify among its members, alongside the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) and Association of International Courier & Express Services (AICES).
It advises the Department for Business and Trade and has a two year remit, running to June 2025.
