Four federations of downtown stores and shopping centers are asking the government to restrict online sales "
only to basic necessities
" and to ban "
Black Friday
", in a column published in the
Sunday Journal
.
They are also asking to be able to reopen “
non-essential
” businesses from November 12.
The Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire for his part warns that a reopening "
can only be considered with new health rules
", in an interview given to the same weekly.
He cites as examples a possible increase in the reception gauge, "
today of 4 square meters per customer
", or access to shops by appointment.
Read also: Reconfinement: the great fear that Amazon will win the day
"
The measures taken to curb the spread of the virus only increase the scandalous inequality of pre-existing treatment between physical merchants and web merchants, at the risk of the former and for the exclusive benefit of the latter,
" lament the Confederation of French traders (CDF), the French Federation of Merchant Associations (FFAC), the National Federation of “
Vitrines de France
” city centers (FNCV) and the National Council of Shopping Centers (CNCC).
In this forum bringing them together in an “
unprecedented
” way, the organizations agree that the closure of so-called “
non-essential
” businesses dangerously benefits online shopping platforms already regularly accused of unfair competition, such as Amazon and Alibaba.
Read also: Could we force Amazon to sell only "basic necessities"?
These, denounce the signatories, "
now redouble the propaganda to attract customers, our customers
" with the approach of the Black Friday sales period, at the end of November, and Christmas.
They demand “
the immediate ban of Black Friday 2020
”.
They also call for "
the end of the existing structural inequity between the community of French merchants and 100% web merchants
", in particular in terms of taxation and regional planning, with the "
establishment of a moratorium on all new warehouse projects
”.
To read also: Deputies want to postpone the promotions of "Black Friday"
Taking Amazon as a scapegoat is not the solution
Bruno Le Maire, Minister of the Economy
"
Taking Amazon as a scapegoat is not the solution: this player only represents 20% of online commerce in France,
" said Bruno Le Maire for his part.
A government site to help small businesses in their digitalization
To encourage the digitization of small local shops, the government plans to list, as of Tuesday, existing solutions on the clique-mon-commerce.gouv.fr site.
"
Then, each business closed administratively - and which is not yet digitized - will be able to benefit from an aid of 500 euros to do so
", underlines Bruno Le Maire, adding that the State intended to help financially "
the municipalities which wish to develop a local e-commerce platform bringing together all the businesses in its city
”.
Read also: Reconfinement: initiatives to help small businesses sell online are multiplying