On May 16th, 2023, we had the opportunity to conduct the second workshop on eCommerce for small and medium-sized enterprises in cooperation with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.

 

The workshop was led by Jasmin Marić – president of the “eComm” Association and business development manager of the OLX group, and Haris Komić, an expert in business development.

 

The topic of the workshop was: “The importance of availability of data on the internet trade market”, and the participants mainly included representatives of the public sector, with a representative of the domestic IT company Ant Colony also joining the workshop in order to gain perspective from the private sector as well. Institutions whose representatives we had the opportunity to host at this training are: Chamber of Commerce of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (PKFBiH), Brčko District Office at the Council of Ministers, Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of Bosnia and Herzegovina (MVTEO), Ministry of Science and Technology Development, Higher Education and information society (MNRVOID).

 

The first training on eCommerce of small and medium-sized enterprises focused on: The importance of understanding legal practices in the eCommerce sector and the security of online commerce. When it comes to the importance of legal practices in this sector, some of the main topics discussed with the participants are the acceleration of the adoption of the Law on eCommerce, and the amendment of the currently insufficiently detailed Law on Consumer Protection, while within the framework of consumer safety in online sales the importance of passing the Law on Cyber Security was emphasized as well. The lecturers also emphasized the necessity of strengthening the capacity and awareness of all eCommerce participants through education and promotion of both regulations and trends in this sector.

 

During the second training, the topic: “Data relevant for understanding trends in eCommerce, available analyzes and trends” was primarily covered. Through his presentation, Haris Komić pointed out to those present which key groups of information should be paid attention to when analyzing this sector: market size, consumer behavior, payment and delivery systems, cyber security, cross-border trade, and competition and innovation. And after that, he analyzed each of those groups individually, pointing out the important parameters that are taken into account and how they are important for understanding the bigger picture of the entire sector.

 

After that, the currently available sources of information that representatives of the public and private sector can pay attention to when analyzing the market are presented:

 

    • Shoppersmind research that the Association itself realized in cooperation with the company Valicon and MarketMakers project of the Swiss government. The research includes over 3,000 respondents and provides a detailed look at the trends and patterns of behavior during online shopping.
    • Research of the online trade market of Bosnia and Herzegovina from the perspective of consumers (individuals), but of the business sector, which the MarketMakers project carried out with Valicon in 2019 (but which is not publicly available)
    • Research “Improving the framework of fees for transactions in BiH“, MarketMakers Project from January 2023 (not publicly available)
    • Analysis of the postal and courier services market in BiH, carried out by the eComm Association and the MarketMakers Project, in May 2023 (which is not publicly available)
    • Legal framework for online trade in Bosnia and Herzegovina: analysis of the position of consumers in online trade, MarketMakers Project, April, 2021 (not publicly available)
  • Reports from card companies such as VISA, MasterCard, and various banks

 

You can find out more about each of the mentioned sources by sending an inquiry to info@ecomm.ba

 

During the second part of the lecture, the lecturers pointed out the differences between the data that the public sector pays attention to versus the private sector, and why precisely such data are crucial for any form of subsequent activity of the institutions. Mr. Komić emphasized the significant role of the public sector in the implementation and promotion of eCommerce analysis in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the benefit of their proactive action.

 

In order to gain an insight into the views of the participants, a time frame was given for the discussion, where they could, among other things, exchange their opinions and any problems they encountered in their work on the development and promotion of Internet trade in Bosnia and Herzegovina.