The strategic partnership between the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration (FEBA) at Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski", the SaaS platform Shopiko (software-as-a-service, a brand of Superhosting), and the Bulgarian E-commerce Association (BEA) has been transferring know-how and expertise to undergraduate, master's, and doctoral students for five years, delivered by experienced practitioners in e-commerce.

"Shopiko" offers students free access, along with all the necessary tools and technical support to build and manage successful online businesses: mobile versions, integration with payment systems and couriers, email solutions, marketing tools such as promo codes, discounts, sales promotions, and advertising management on Google and Facebook.

The Bulgarian E-commerce Association provides expert assistance in preparing and developing talent for the e-commerce industry. More than 20 BEA members have been guest lecturers in courses within the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, including "E-business", "Digital Business and Innovation", and "M-business". Additionally, students from the Bachelor's Program in Computer Engineering at the Faculty of Physics have benefited from lectures by Associate Professor Todor Yalamov, Mrs. Zhanet Naydenova (Chair of BEA), Emilia Hristova, Dr. Kiril Velichkov, and Dr. Apostol Mushmov.

Students receive mentorship from prominent e-commerce specialists and meet with Bulgarian entrepreneurs and managers from large international companies. Indirectly, more than 50 small family businesses have benefited from this support, improving their web presence and digital marketing.

"Learning by doing" emphasizes student engagement and represents a task-oriented, practical approach to education. In this process, students participate actively in their entrepreneurial projects, simulating the launch of an e-commerce business (physical or digital products), where they play the role of entrepreneurs in an accelerator program. During the project, they develop a working prototype, test it, and create a growth strategy.

In total, over 350 students received free access to "Shopiko" and technical support for their course projects during the past academic year, with more than 1,500 students benefitting over the five years of the program. Guest lecturers have included representatives from companies such as eMAG, Mastercard, Serpact, Stenik, Superhosting, Paysera, MyPOS, ECONT, Batteryland, Golden Vision, REMIX, FITE, EGT, UBB/KBC Group, MFG, and others.

The SaaS platform "Shopiko" was also used in one of Associate Professor Todor Yalamov's courses at Soka University during the 2022/2023 academic year, where students created a shop for the Japanese art of chigiri-e.

FEBA at Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" has been highly recognized by BEA for its contribution to the development of e-business talent. The Faculty was accepted as an honorary member of the Association by the Board of Directors with 100% of the votes during its May 2022 meeting. This decision further institutionalizes the partnership, opening doors for new joint initiatives to provide higher value for students and PhD candidates, develop practical skills, and conduct joint research and development.

Apostol Spasov's course project last year was the e-shop for the Sofia Planetarium at "Toplotsentrala," for which he was awarded Student of the Year in the "Economics" category.

Student feedback is crucial for the entire educational process:

"I created my online shop, Chay Soaps, with much love and dedication for my course project in e-business with Associate Professor Todor Yalamov and Mrs. Zhanet Naydenova! Making high-quality glycerin soaps with real extracts of aromatic Bulgarian herbs, medicinal plants, and fruits, without harmful chemicals, that care for both people and nature, is my hobby. I also added a customization option, and I am happy with the result, which you can see here: http://qvto5dhh.shopiko.bg/. Thank you for the inspiration!" – Nikolet Belitova, Bachelor’s in E-business

"Thank you for the detailed analysis of the project, Mrs. Naydenova! I have never received such valuable feedback in any of my courses. The project inspired me to try creating a website for my new business, which I launched this week. Here's the link to see how it turned out: https://www.cresco.bg. I used Superhosting's platform again but worked with SiteBuilder. I have ideas for e-commerce that I will start working on soon!" – Tereza Zaharieva-Apostolova, Master's in Management and Entrepreneurship

"Thank you for the thorough feedback! I want to implement as many of your suggestions as possible, Mrs. Naydenova, as I find this part super interesting and necessary." – Petar Dundev, Master's in Digital Marketing

"Thank you for the excellent grade, advice, and kind words about my project, Beyond Origami! Creating origami art was my hobby a few years ago, and I thought it was perfect for the task. I had great interest in the project and lectures from your course, Mrs. Naydenova. I’m happy I had the opportunity to meet and interact with you!" – Veselina Georgieva, Master's in Management and Entrepreneurship