Since the announcement of the reconfinement, the consolation of restaurants and businesses deemed "
non-essential
" can be summed up in three words: "Click and collect".
To help them get started in this “
digitalization
” on a forced march, the government launched on Tuesday “CliqueMonCommerce”, a platform dedicated to supporting small businesses in their digital transition.
Read also: Reconfinement: the government at the bedside of small closed shops
For Bercy, the objective is twofold.
First of all: help businesses maintain their activity "
despite health restrictions
".
But this crisis is also an opportunity to accelerate the digitization of French companies.
“
One in three very small businesses has a website
”, according to figures from the Ministry of the Economy.
The platform promises to help "
artisans, traders and restaurateurs
" to join an "
online marketplace
" (CDiscount, etc.), set up logistics, delivery and distance payment solutions or even create your own. own website.
“
More than 40 promotional offers offered by recognized platforms and providers of digital solutions
” are referenced on the site by Bercy.
“
There is some traffic on the platform but it is still too early to assess the reactions of companies,
” observes the Ministry of the Economy, contacted by
Le Figaro
.
For the Federation of e-commerce and distance selling (Fevad) "this
help responds to a real demand from traders
".
Many companies are indeed trying, willy-nilly, a digital foray.
“
For the past month, we have been deploying a project to digitize jewelry stores, to help them move towards click and collect, social networks and digital,
” illustrates the Union de la Bijouterie Horlogerie.
"
Of the 3400 bookstores in France, 1500 have a real online site on which to buy, including 250 more since the end of the first confinement
", details, for its part, the union of the French bookstore.
But for some sectors, e-commerce cannot be the answer.
“
The flower market on the internet represents 5% of sales in France.
Selling online can neither compensate nor be a credible alternative in the medium term.
Flowers are an impulse buy.
You have to have produced under the eyes, feel it, see it, touch it,
”explains a flower producer at
Le Figaro in particular
.
“
It's too late.
The crisis will be a Darwinian accelerator for the survival of the activity.
Those who did not know how to anticipate will die,
”notes another federation of traders.
A plan estimated at 120 million euros
To encourage companies to “digitalize”, Bruno Le Maire announced on Tuesday an aid of 500 euros for the financing of digital solutions for closed shops and professionals in the hotel and restaurant industry.
"
This check covers the costs related to the launch of an online activity, such as the creation of a website, membership in an online platform, the acquisition of software or the remuneration of a support service.
This financial assistance will be granted upon presentation of invoices to the Services and Payment Agency
, ”Bercy specifies.
This aid could be paid from January 2021 to 120,000 closed businesses, at an estimated cost of 60 million euros.
Read also: Distributors to the rescue of small traders
The government is also earmarking 60 million euros for "
local authorities wishing to develop a local online commerce platform
".
The municipalities will be able to obtain support of 20,000 euros each.
These measures are part of the "
plan on the digitization of businesses
" unveiled by the government on Tuesday, estimated at 120 million euros.