Latvia Launches Initiative 'E-Monday' to Support Local E-Commerce Companies

With the growing pressure from international trading platforms, the Latvian E-Commerce Association (LATEKA), in cooperation with Estonian partners, will organize the initiative 'E-Monday' for the first time in Latvia on November 9. Its goal is to gather local traders on a unified platform, strengthening the competitiveness of domestic companies and promoting public support for local producers.

The event will last for 24 hours, and more than 120 online stores have already registered to participate — ranging from small, specialized niche traders to larger companies and service providers. The platform www.e-pirmdiena.lv will serve as a unified guide for buyers, helping to discover Latvian brands, artisans, designers, food, and household goods manufacturers who find it difficult to stand out in the shadow of large foreign platforms.

As LATEKA representative Rūta Branta points out, the main challenge for local entrepreneurs is limited advertising resources and a small market size, making it difficult to compete equally with global giants like Amazon.

In an interview with Skonto Media Group (SMG), LATEKA representative Rūta Branta explained that many Latvian producers and brands are currently better known abroad because they operate on export platforms, while local buyers are unaware of them.

"The Latvian market is small, and the potential buyer base for e-commerce stores is even smaller, so one of the main challenges is reaching your buyer, especially for a smaller company with a limited advertising budget. International platforms attract with convenience and a wide choice in one place, and Latvian consumers often do not even know about the products we produce and sell locally. Such an 'E-Monday' offers visibility in our market — it's a practical opportunity to combine forces in advertising and showcase your offerings to new buyers," LATEKA representative Rūta Branta said in an interview with SMG.

The initiative's model is borrowed from Estonia, where it has been successfully running for more than 10 years. In the neighboring country, 'E-Monday' is organized four times a year, with around 350 online stores participating in each event, becoming a traditional shopping day. Estonia's experience shows that during the event, the turnover of online stores increases by 2.5 to 3 times, providing a significant contribution to the local economy.

LATEKA emphasizes that in the first year, the main focus is on evaluating the results and the traders' feedback to establish a long-term shopping tradition in Latvia and a strong domestic alternative to the international 'Black Friday'.

Photo: Labs of Latvia publicity image