The personal touch: Ukrainian wood company polishes its eCommerce strategy

“Wood is the all-time best material for making goods,” says Volodymyr Popovych, founder of ‘LIGNO‘ in Western Ukraine. His company specialises in making wooden products mostly from beech, oak, ash, maple, alder and walnut. LIGNO produces and sells everything from simple kitchenware and tiny accessories to furniture and building materials. These products have already been available on the EU marketplace, but, thanks to personalised support offered in the EU4Digital eCommerce consultations centre, LIGNO has polished up its eCommerce strategy and aims to carve out a larger slice of the market.

Founded in 2016, LIGNO is a small company with only 28 workers, but it achieves a high variety of products by cooperating with local producers of wooden goods, along with running its own workshop. Now the company works with 31 small and medium producers in Western Ukraine. By providing their expertise and sharing experience together they create high-quality wood products and help these producers to grow. 

Volodymyr believes that wood is the best material for making goods because it not only adds to the cosiness of interior decor, but also it reduces carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, as harvested mature trees store carbon in buildings and wood products. LIGNO sources wood for its products only from certified sawmills in Ukraine, he says, making them 100% local. 

Partners and sales

Apart from successfully selling goods in the Ukrainian eCommerce space and working with design studios, LIGNO also sells products to a furniture wholesaler in the Netherlands, a toy store in Norway, a kitchenware brand in Germany, a French design bureau and, recently started, is working with the Italian market. Volodymyr Popovych states that LIGNO’s high qualification in the wood industry is what makes its products so valued by both its Ukrainian and European partners.

In Ukraine, LIGNO sells products via its own website and marketplaces dedicated to Ukrainian-made goods, namely UAmade and Made with Bravery, which also export products worldwide. Apart from business-to-consumer sales via the internet, the company also works with private brands and with design and architecture bureaus to produce unique goods designed to order. 

eCommerce training

Volodymyr attended eCommerce consultations and training sessions provided free-of-charge by EU4Digital Facility. Before the course, LIGNO was selling products on the Allegro marketplace in Poland. Now the company is planning to take its new collection of wooden smartphone stands into Amazon and eBay, as well as some localised German marketplaces.

In total Volodymyr attended four group training sessions and six personal consultations, one of which was an extra ‘gift’ for his exceptional performance in the course. In total the course lasted for 3 months.

“For somebody who was already selling on the EU marketplace and had some experience in the field, I found these EU4Digital eCommerce courses to be quite useful. They gave us some meaningful insights and valuable recommendations.”

Volodymyr Popovych, founder of LIGNO, Western Ukraine 

Personalised expert input

Volodymyr highlights the individual consultations as the key benefit of the EU4Digital eCommerce experience. One of the trainers that led LIGNO’s consultations was Benjamin Kobligk of SUN-Digital. His professional journey has centered around the IT industry, where he has collaborated with a diverse array of businesses and primarily assists clients in developing digital products and curating unique digital experiences. In the eCommerce consultations centre he helps businesses to strategise and pave their way to penetrating the European market, blending his vast expertise in business tactics, digital tech and cross-cultural interactions.

“In my work with each company, I aim to balance best digital practices with the company’s unique story. This approach leverages eCommerce knowledge and personalised strategies and helps them thrive and stand out in the market.” 

Benjamin Kobligk of SUN-Digital, expert in the EU4Digital eCommerce consultations centre

In the eCommerce consultations centre, Benjamin helps businesses to upscale on platforms like eBay and Etsy, involving a diverse group of participants from Easter Partnership countries. During LIGNO’s individual consultation sessions, Benjamin and Volodymyr reviewed the company’s eCommerce listings. The trainer gave advice on how to improve and Volodymyr implemented it immediately.

Benjamin says he takes a collaborative approach in his teaching, sharing new perspectives to empower participants. “It’s a facilitative process that broadens horizons, encouraging independent application for successful learning and growth.”

This personal approach is one that Volodymyr clearly found very productive. “It was very useful to receive a checklist for successful work with the Etsy marketplace, and then in an individual consultation to analyse the specifics of working with Etsy and even to check the already published listing,” he says.

From learning to practice

With the help of the eCommerce training LIGNO created a unified strategy for its eCommerce operations in the EU, defining Germany as the priority market and developing internal requirements for listings. 

The course not only gave insights into how to manage accounts on leading marketplaces like Amazon, eBay and Etsy, but also on local ones such as Avocado Shop, Otto and Wayfair in Germany. The trainer also gave recommendations for dealing with Germany’s legal framework, covering:

• general terms of business;
• how to create a cancellation policy;
• how to comply with local data protection regulations.

The course also provided Volodymyr with all the necessary information to deal with VAT, corporate tax, customs, and how to properly organise the fulfilment of orders using EU outsource warehouses. 

“The training initiated changes to our general export strategy and some operations. It allowed us to see a bigger picture of the eCommerce framework and develop a consistent approach to it.”

Volodymyr Popovych, founder of LIGNO, Western Ukraine 

Future growth of LIGNO

For now, LIGNO’s international sales makes up only around 7% of its trade. The company is currently developing a new collection of wooden accessories and plans to upgrade its profile on Allegro, open new ones on Amazon and eBay, and to conquer the German marketplaces in the near future.

Further information 

Find out more about the EU4Digital eCommerce consultations centre and the eTrade activities.