Alibaba launches e-commerce bootcamp for Singapore social enterprises

ALIBABA Group, in collaboration with the Singapore Centre for Social Enterprise (raiSE) and Nanyang Polytechnic's Singapore Institute of Retail Studies (NYP-SIRS), launched its first e-commerce bootcamp in Singapore.

The bootcamp aims to provide local social enterprises with the necessary digital commerce knowledge and skills to serve the interests of the communities they champion.

The training will be conducted by Alibaba Group's Taobao Education training arm, and sponsored in full by the group.

Subashini Balakrishnan, head of Ecosystem Development at raiSE, said: "With a strong push for digitalisation in the past year, many businesses are recognising the need to pivot or grow their online presence and sales channels . . .

"We hope that the participants would be able to establish new sales channels or improve existing ones after the bootcamp. Many are looking forward to learning the best practices in terms of brand development . . . and even inventory and warehouse management for effective order fulfilment."

Megan Ong, director, Singapore Institute of Retail Studies, Nanyang Polytechnic, said: "As a partner of Alibaba's Taobao Education unit in Singapore, we have been supporting and localising their various training programmes for small and medium enterprises, retailers, and C-suite executives over the past five years. The e-commerce space is constantly evolving with new technologies and trends that would help social enterprises further their cause."

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Representatives from 31 social enterprises from raiSE's network are attending the 10-week programme, which started last Wednesday.

Ms Balakrishnan added that most of the participants said they were unfamiliar with the e-commerce or digital marketing space. Some cited the lack of skilled personnel or resources within the team to further develop their online channels. For those that have started their own online sales channels, most are still early in the journey and lack the operational experience and expertise to scale quickly.

"The theory component of the bootcamp will provide a good introduction to the e-commerce landscape and share best practices in terms of choosing the right platforms to build customer relationships and their brand. The practical component will set a strong operational foundation for them to start or grow their online sales," she said.

The curriculum covers theoretical and practical aspects of consumer e-commerce, including emerging trends, brand development and financial operations. At the end of the bootcamp, participants will be able to start their online operations to expand fundraising efforts and possibly even attract their beneficiaries to help and learn about e-commerce.

Huang Lei, general manager, Taobao Education, said: "Alibaba's mission is to make it easy to do business anywhere, and we believe the vast opportunities in digital commerce should be accessible to everyone. We are proud to partner with raiSE and NYP-SIRS to support the development of local digital talent in Singapore and help local social enterprises to leverage online platforms in service of their communities."