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A Barcelona municipality stands up to Amazon together with Correos

The Viladecans Town Hall (Barcelona) and Post They have teamed up to create their own trading platform with weapons similar to those of the American giant Amazon. Buy08840 (name that refers to the postal code of the municipality) is a public initiative and a pioneer in Catalonia with the image and likeness of the large international logistics companies. Citizens have been using the platform for a few days to buy online in local shops and restaurants, products that the Post Office delivers to their homes.

Sonia Gómez is the owner of the My Nube Azul store, dedicated to the manufacture of children’s textiles, such as baby baskets, birthday crowns or tablecloths. All handmade in the back room», points out Sonia, who has been selling her products for three years through her own website, an experience that she is now sharing with other Viladecans stores. I have given talks to other merchants because we detected that some, used to being a neighborhood store, were a little scared

The traditional commerce of Viladecans, a town of almost 67,000 inhabitants on the outskirts of Barcelona, ​​is restless about the recent changes associated with the coronavirus pandemic, which have led to shopkeepers with no experience in online sales now joining the Web. Renewed or die. From the store at street level to electronic commerce. In the case of My Blue Cloud, the journey was reversed. As trade online native, opening the physical store was the second step that Sonia and her team took. We go the other way around and bring our experience to the rest of the merchants. We tell them that this does work, ”explains the businesswoman, who has obtained in 2020 95% of sales through the internet and 5% through the physical store. If shipping is facilitated online cheap, the customer is encouraged to buy this way. It is a more thoughtful purchase, in which there is no coercion from the merchant or risk of contagion, “says Sonia after having been involved in making the new local tool Compra08840 known to other local merchants.

Street merchants Doctor Reig support an initiative that they consider as public aid to businesses without sale online. It can have a great future in Viladecans, especially in these times of Covid in which there should not be too many people at the same time in a physical store,» they indicate. It will help businesses that do not have visibility in networks

We are talking about a local Amazon, but more personal, with its own product and fairer because the shipping company, Correos, does not use delivery men who are false self-employed Nor do the stores sell products of dubious origin, ”says the owner of My Nube Azul, convinced that the boom in electronic commerce is not at odds with the survival of some neighborhood stores that she acknowledges for their contribution to the perception of citizen security. That the streets are safe and illuminated depends on the survival of the businesses that light the streets with their shop windows

The City Council aspires to activate the circular economy of Viladecans at a delicate moment. We want the city’s commerce and service companies to be able to stand up to the big e-commerce in equal conditions. This is the tool », assures the mayor, Carlos Ruiz. Viladecans businesses will be able to compete with the large logistics platforms with their same weapons», adds the first mayor, satisfied by the agreement obtained with the Post Office.

First time in Catalonia

In operation for ten days, the initiative is managed by Correos through a contract with the City Council. More than 50 establishments They have already been interested in a proposal open to any business in Viladecans, municipal sources explain. The City Council is the administrator of the platform, while the Post Office provides the technological tool and takes care of the shipments. The scope of the distribution covers the entire Spanish territory. It is the first time that the state company in charge of the postal service has participated in an experience of this type in Catalonia. The contract establishes the creation of the platform, the hosting of the first twelve months and the logistics management of both the purchase and the distribution of the packages.

The mayor explains that the project has the collaboration of the networks of local merchants and hoteliers, but the proposal is open for free to any establishment, whether or not it is linked to union entities. We offer you to benefit from a new showcase», indicates Ruiz. We can now buy from our homes in different stores in Viladecans, and then they will bring the product home, in the same way that large international companies do

The initiative underlines the value of the local store, of neighborhood commerce. For now, the platform is organized into six categories: food and beverages; fashion; home; Health; sports, and services, culture and leisure. It is a true marketplace », points out Sonia, who is confident that the birth of the tool will lead to an increase in internet sales for her business.

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This article is published in issue 18 of Vanity Fair on newsstands until April 30, 2024. Join your hands proudly.

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