New trade technologies could support e-commerce businesses to boost their exports – particularly female-led and business-to-business (B2B) firms.
That’s according to industry experts speaking on a webinar hosted by the Chartered Institute of Export & International Trade yesterday (9 October) on ‘how to get more UK SMEs trading internationally online’.
A poll hosted during the webinar also found that ‘knowledge and skills’ was the main hurdle faced by delegates when it came to e-commerce.
Commission report
Hosted in partnership with Alibaba.com, the webinar included a presentation from the Chartered Institute’s UK public affairs lead, Grace Thompson, about a recent report from the E-Commerce Trade Commission.
The ‘Small Business, Big World’ report surveyed 525 SMEs, including those already exporting and those considering it (‘considerers’), to understand the challenges they faced when selling internationally online.
The report found that new technologies – including e-commerce – were enabling businesses “to more easily access customers in overseas markets”, Thompson said.
At a cost
However, Thompson said the “cost of investing” in trade tech was “restraining both existing exporters and considers”.
She said there were additional challenges around “wider trade tech deployment”, explaining that technologies set up by “private entities within the export value chain” did not always “link up” with customs agencies.
“There’s quite a lot of opportunities to break down these challenges, to speed up business processes and consumer interaction,” she said.
Patience needed
Sarah Carrington, trading and procurement manager at Coffeelink, gave practical advice on how businesses could make the most of e-commerce platforms – including Alibaba.com, which her firms uses.
She said patience, strong data and third-party support had all helped her to boost her company’s sales online.
“It takes time to learn how to use the platforms and to understand how the buyers trade within their own countries.
“Definitely focus on the data that the platform provides. This allows you to focus and prioritise the key areas [where you need] to improve your account and improve visibility of your products on the platform.”
She added that her company had used channels like AliOS to support their “onboarding process” onto Alibaba, saying they also got “support in terms of understanding the data to improve and how to be more competitive within your industry”.
B2B opportunity
Margherita Mistura, EU strategic partnerships manager at Alibaba.com, said that business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce opportunities were “underestimated and not well known”.
“The B2B ecommerce opportunity is huge,” she said.
“In terms of size, it’s six times larger than business-to-consumer trade.
“We believe there’s a huge potential out there and one of our missions is to support, through technology, businesses that can make the most of this trade opportunity in global markets.”
Female-led businesses
Thompson also said that new technologies could support more female-led businesses to trade internationally, saying that only 7% of such firms in the UK exported in 2020, compared to 10% in Canada.
“The gap indicates that there’s a lot of potential for increasing the proportion of female-owned SMEs which export,” she said.
She said 86% of female SME leaders had experienced an “additional challenge” when attempting to export compared to male counterparts, and that four in 10 female decisionmakers reported that the “fear of failure” was a hurdle to e-commerce success.
Balancing work and family obligations and access to finance were also cited as hurdles, but Thompson said technology could be a solution.
“Trade tech could play a key role in increasing the number of female-led SMEs that export, particularly because of the speeding up of processes and the eventual reduction of costs, once initial investment is plugged in.”
Emerging markets
Thompson also said that the report highlighted emerging markets as an area SMEs should consider to support growth, but added that certain barriers would need to be addressed.
“These barriers include external obstacles such as customs, demand conditions, regulatory complexity and risks associated with the transportation of products in customers in emerging markets,” she said.
The ‘Small Business, Big World’ report was published by the Social Market Foundation last month and was commissioned by the E-Commerce Trade Commission.
The Commission was established in June 2023 to advise government on how to encourage more SMEs to export using online channels such as e-commerce platforms.
Alibaba.com sits on the Commission’s board, alongside other e-commerce giants including Amazon, Google and eBay.
