ITC's Digital Trade Hubs

Join our ecomConnect Learning Programme (ELP)
for micro, small and medium-sized
businesses to boost online sales.

The ecomConnect Learning Programme offer the perfect combination of proven methodology, stimulating curriculum, personalized advisory, technical and networking events, and a supportive community to drive your online sales.

Proven methodology and curriculum

Our programme follows a step-by-step methodology, which allows you to work directly on your business and put in practice what you just learnt, as well as explore the most up to date e-commerce techniques and strategies.

Free training and coaching

Online and offline technical advisory

Certificate of completion

Personalized advisory

The hubs offer localized training content and the support of local organizations with experience in trade and e-commerce. Depending on the phase, you will be trained and coached by e-commerce experts who will personally guide you, in groups or individually, through video call sessions. This ensures, your business plan will be continually validated as you progress through the online learning.

Community building

We provide a space to foster a dynamic entrepreneurship ecosystem where connections between entrepreneurs, trainers and partners happen. This community building can happen in-person through our local partner organizations or virtually, through our online community for e-commerce entrepreneurs ecomconnect.org, which offers additional resources such as events, video tutorials, tools and business opportunities.

Technical and networking events

We organize face-to-face and virtual events to strengthen the technical and soft skills of the participants. The topics are selected according to the needs of each hub and in collaboration with leading national and international companies and organizations in e-commerce and entrepreneurship.

Learning pathway

The hub will address capability building at four levels and will step enterprises through the skills and abilities they need to develop their journey to mastering e-commerce. The conduct of these phases is sequential – starting with the awareness level and taking selected enterprises through the various levels.

Higher Impact

Lower Impact

What you will learn

The hubs build on a curriculum that takes you from identifying your online market and target customer to setting up your most suitable sales channel and activating online sales with modern digital marketing techniques.

In Phase I, you will build the foundations of e-commerce for each block, in Phase II you will dive deeper into each block and in Phases III and IV you will benefit from personalized coaching to activate sales.

Research and market strategy for e-commerce

You will learn to identify a market niche, characterize the target customer and define a positioning that allows your brand to connect with that customer.

E-commerce channel
set up

You will configure your first e-commerce channel. If you already have a sales channel, you can improve your brand presence or open a second channel.

E-commerce channel
activation

Now that you have your first online sales channel, you will activate the best digital marketing tactics to drive your target customers to your brand’s e-commerce channel.

Don't just take our word for it

Our partners

Questions about the programme

Hide

When will the programme start?

Each hub has different starting dates. The relevant information will be displayed under the tab “Hubs”.

What is the sector focus?

Each hub will focus on different sectors, either product or service or both, based on the needs of the country and the businesses. Check the Hubs tab for more information.

Is this programme opened to all businesses?

Yes, as long as you are a micro, small or medium-sized business up to 100 employees based in the country where the hub is located and selling legally accepted products or services. You do not need to be a formalized business to join the programme, but you will need to register formally to be able to benefit from e-commerce (e.g. to open a store on a marketplace, to deal with logistics providers, etc.)

Will I be able to benefit from all the phases?

No, only selected businesses will benefit from all the phases. In each phase, there will be a selection process that will consider motivation, work done and a specific evaluation.

What is the time commitment to the programme?

The whole programme takes 18 months and requires a minimum number of hours per week depending on the phase you are at. The more time you’re able to dedicate to the training, the better the results and the more phases you will likely benefit from. The amount of dedication will depend on the number of phases you are able to participate in:

Phase I: 6-8 hours in total – participation in virtual events
Phase II: 4-6 hours per week for 4 months – self-driven training course and live events
Phase III: 4-6 hours per week for 6 months – small group coaching
Phase IV: 4-6 hours per week for 6 months – small group coaching and mentorship programme

Hide

Will there be other parallel activities?

Throughout the programme, ITC, together with the support of the corresponding local institutions, will organize live sessions to dive deep into topics of interest. In addition, networking events will be organized to create a space where the beneficiary companies can meet and motivate each other and exchange learnings.

What does the programme ask in return of my participation?

Motivation and time commitment are paramount to the success of your participation: this is an intensive 18-month curriculum blending tested methodologies and formats to maximize tangible progress towards e-commerce success.

What technology will I need for the programme?

We advise you to have a laptop or desktop computer and preferably one of these browsers: Google Chrome, Safari or Mozilla Firefox. Even though our platform is also suitable for cell phones and tablets, to learn how to use e-commerce platforms, we suggest you use a laptop or desktop computer.
We also expect you to have a stable and reliable internet connection both for your work on the platform as well as to participate in the online meetings. Our local partners may offer a connectivity access point to assist you with stable internet connection and a laptop.

Who can I contact for more information?

For general questions, you can contact the ITC team at ecomconnect@intracen.org. For specific questions on hubs, you can contact the leading local institution directly. Their contact details are available on their corresponding hubs page.

Our work supports the following Sustainable Development Goals

About us

About ecomConnect

ITC ecomConnect programme empowers micro, small and medium-sized businesses in developing and least developed countries to sell online through its personalized learning programme, technical assistance, digital tools and innovative solutions, together with local and international partners. It offers an online community for learning and networking.

About us

About the Hubs

The ecomConnect team is embedding its presence in key countries with which it has developed strong relationships and expertise through the creation of ITC’s Digital Trade Hubs. The hubs act as a focal point for the support of local enterprises. Together with local and international partners, the hubs offer online and offline resources to support the development of e-commerce in the country.

About us

About ITC

The International Trade Centre (ITC) is the joint agency of the United Nations and the World Trade Organization fully dedicated to supporting the internationalization of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. Its joint mandate combines expanding business opportunities for these companies while fostering sustainable and inclusive development.