UKTI launches online support programme to help SMEs boost exports
OVERSEAS trade agency, UK Trade & Investment has launched a new package of measures designed to help SMEs improve their export capabilities.
UKTI’s new e-Exporting Programme has been created to ensure UK companies are best placed to tap into the huge opportunities that exist online.
The agency said the growth of technology had dramatically changed consumers’ purchasing habits with Britons now spending approximately £91bn a year online making the UK one of the world’s leading e-commerce countries.
UKTI is working with a number of international e-marketplaces including Tmall China, Amazon China, Japanese e-commerce platform Rakuten and Harper’s Bazaar.
Operating through these e-marketplaces presents a cost-effective way for companies to increase their reach in terms of both numbers and geography. The programme encourages UK exporters to reach out to the generation of digitally-capable consumers who are increasingly influenced through online channels.
The programme is the first of its kind in the world and UKTI is the only organisation to hold the operational information of global B2C and B2B e-marketplaces with the central aim of using the information to revolutionise exporting.
Trade Minister Lord Livingston, who launched the support package at the Autumn Fair at the NEC, said: “The UK leads the world in cross-border online sales, but there is still much more we can do to help British business seize this huge opportunity with forecasts of three billion online consumers in just three years.
“Trading online is a great way to start exporting to a new country, enhance distribution in an exciting market and effectively sell while you sleep. This is why we are launching the UKTI e-Exporting Programme to help businesses thrive abroad in some of the world’s largest markets.”
UKTI launched a pilot of the new programme in November 2013 introducing British companies to Chinese e-marketplaces including Tmall, Jumeii and ASOS China. Since this pilot over 100 UK brands have launched in China through an e-marketplace, from Karen Millen to Tangle Teezer and Tyrrell’s Crisps, leading to the development of the latest global programme.
Retailers including Mothercare, organic skincare brand Neal’s Yard Remedies, and fashion brands Emma Willis and Matthew Williamson have also endorsed UKTI’s efforts to support UK retailers and brands with their e-commerce strategy in order to boost exports. The programme is expected to help approximately 50,000 UK companies establish online trade channels.
