The imminent arrival of online shopping platform Amazon in Portugal is no reason for concern, say retailers such as Sonae.
“We do not feel threatened by Amazon,” said Pedro Miguel Santos, head of E-commerce & Mobile at Sonae MC, during a conference about online shopping organised by Expresso newspaper and carrier company Chronopost.
He believes Sonae, which owns the Worten electronics stores, has nothing to worry about as it is prepared to face the competition and offer “interesting and different” products to its clients.
Santos added that Sonae has invested in creating a “relationship of trust” with its clients and is always looking to “innovate and surprise”. In other words, it is confident that its clients will remain loyal despite the arrival of a ‘new kid on the block’.
Alexandre Fonseca, president of ACEPI (the association of digital economy), believes the biggest challenge is convincing smaller retailers to also join the digital market.
“There is still a generation of smaller businesses that see the ‘online’ segment as a ‘bogeyman’,” he told Expresso.
However, those who do decide to explore the potential of online sales find new markets to explore, according to the CEO of Chronopost, Olivier Establet.
“We have more and more clients selling their products to other countries in Europe, mainly France,” he said.
According to the E-Shopper Barometer, only 48% of Portuguese people made an online purchase at least once a month in 2017, below the European average (54%).
On the other hand, further data shows that Portugal is the second country in Europe with most “cross-border online purchases”. Most of these purchases are made in China (54%) and the UK (51%).
This may partly explain Amazon’s alleged plans to open in Portugal.
In January, it was reported that the company was getting ready to officially announce the opening of a facility in Porto. Since then there have been rumours that the company is studying whether it will be more advantageous to open in the north or south of the country.
No matter where it opens, it seems it is just a matter of time before it officially announces its expansion to Portugal.
By MICHAEL BRUXO michael.bruxo@algarveresident.com
