Back in 2020, Enterprise Greece, the official agency of the Greek State, and eBay joined forces to boost Greek exports through digital transformation. A few day ago, during an online event organized on Wednesday, February 24, 2021, the strategic partners announced the expansion of their collaboration.
During the first phase of their cooperation last September, they implemented a targeted program aiming to promote a set of mature and e-commerce savvy Greek export enterprises in the 190 markets where the eBay platform operates. Upon the completion of this first phase, both parties identified the significant opportunities created for the Greek market. Currently, approximately 12,500 Greek sellers are present on eBay, while during the past year they exported over 900,000 items and there was a 10% growth in new sellers following the pandemic of Covid-19. Although this is a significant number, the first phase indicated that there is a much larger potential via the provision of training and consultation to a larger segment of Greek SMBs and thereafter further support, for the creation of online stores and B2C export channels. In this context, Enterprise Greece, announced the Second Phase of its cooperation with the global e-commerce platform, supporting more Greek enterprises and SMB’s, by strengthening their digital transformation and their global promotion.
A comprehensive training program
During this second phase, Enterprise Greece and eBay, will provide a specialized training program, along with customized consulting and technical support, so that Greek enterprises develop the necessary skills and tools for a successful digital presence on global e-platforms.
Enterprise Greece, with its rich expertise in supporting Greek export enterprises via a multitude of iniatives including training programs, as well as its use of the most innovative digital tools, has created this customized training program. eBay strengthens this effort of its eBay expert trainers to ensure that Greek SMB’s receive the best and most updated practices for success on eBay, in addition to its enormous global network which offers access to 185 million active buyers worldwide.
This training program addresses all Greek companies addressing mainly the consumer products sector that wish to expand to international markets, regardless of their prior export activity and e-commerce experience. The program is tailored to the needs of each enterprise, and will offer consulting, guidance and technical support services. eBay will train the program trainers while monitoring the development of the companies in the program, preparing them for a successful digital presence and related revenues on its platform.
New revenue streams in uncertain times
Ms Betty Alexandropoulou, Executive Director and Board Member of Enterprise Greece, stated: “E-commerce has shown a special dynamic in recent years, with the pandemic accelerating this trend. Its impact on global trade is enormous and expected to also impact exports in a positive way…In this second phase of our strategic partnership with eBay, through an innovative training program, we are equipping the Greek enterprise ecosystem with the necessary knowledge and resources in order to enter global markets and expand their exports via e-commerce”.
Mr. Ilya Kretov, GM global emerging markets, eBay, commented that: “We are proud to cooperate with our colleagues from Enterprise Greece in order to enable Greek sellers create new revenue streams and business continuity during this turbulent and uncertain times. Greece is one of our top markets target, and we wish to further extend our support to grow local sellers. With over 185M buyers from all over the world, 250M product searches a day and access to more than 190 markets worldwide, eBay offers Greek SMB’s the opportunity to go global from their own laptop”.
