Sleep aids – Latvia’s best-selling product on the eBay platform
Continuing to support businesses during the COVID-19 crisis, the global e-commerce platform eBay has launched the Always Open programme to help businesses around the world, including those in Latvia, continue operating in the current unpredictable economic conditions. eBay is offering small and medium-sized businesses new retail export opportunities while providing most of the platform’s services free of charge.
To adapt to current market conditions, eBay has developed a new programme for small and medium-sized businesses whose product ranges include more than 100 different items. Businesses eligible to participate in the programme can receive a three-month free Premium- or Megastore-level eBay Store subscription, access to an export training programme, 50 000 free listings for items available for purchase until July, as well as the opportunity to receive support from a personal growth consultant.
Ilja Kretovs, eBay’s General Manager for Global Emerging Markets: “The crisis caused by the pandemic is forcing entrepreneurs to seek alternative ways to develop their businesses, and our data show that exports are one such opportunity. This year, we have already organised a seminar for several hundred sellers from the Baltic states, giving us the opportunity to learn about their experiences and day-to-day operations. This inspired us to launch the Always Open programme in Latvia as well, because this rapidly growing market is particularly important to eBay at present — it has strong export potential and unique products to offer the rest of the world. There are approximately 8,000 active sellers in Latvia, and many of them have been building their businesses with eBay for more than 10 years. We want to help even more small and medium-sized businesses overcome the crisis and continue operating during the quarantine period, enabling them not to fear any obstacles, either now or in the future.”
In certain eBay platform categories, Latvian sellers have experienced a significant increase in sales volumes during the pandemic. As many buyers are currently experiencing considerable stress, the best-selling type of product offered by Latvian sellers to customers around the world is sleep aids, with an increase of as much as 1,128%. Video games are also a popular means of relieving stress, and people are actively using them – this category has seen an increase of 80%. Other buyers, meanwhile, want to improve their homes and gardens, resulting in increases of 17 % and 78 % respectively in the Home Décor and Furniture and Plants and Seedlings categories. The most active consumers of Latvian products live in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada and France – between March and May 2020, they purchased more than 200 000 different products.
More information about the eligibility requirements for eBay’s support programme is available on the Always Open website. The latest information about exports and support for existing sellers is available on the eBay Export Centre website.
