A business closed due to confinement, in Marseille -

Christophe SIMON / AFP

  • The town hall of Marseille has launched a site that offers a showcase to local traders, closed due to confinement.

  • The initiative is welcomed by these traders, but they believe that it will not be enough to get them out of the crisis.

A bag, earrings, a poster and even a guitar.

Since this Friday, the city of Marseille has been the guardian of a kind of digital Ali Baba cave, through a website, consummonslocal.marseille.fr, which aims to highlight the products sold by Marseille traders, harshly. affected, as elsewhere, by a confinement whose end is still unknown today.

"We relied on associations of traders," explains Rebecca Bernadi, deputy mayor of Marseille in charge of trade.

They did a lot of work, urgently, last week, to contact their members by email.

Next, traders should send photos of the products, their references, a price, and a way to contact them.

And all traders can participate, whether small or large, whether they sell products from 5 to 500 euros.

Our role is to promote businesses, to offer them a sort of showcase to help them sell online.

"

450 traders

At a time when mail order sales are the only possible outlet for many businesses, 450 traders have responded to the town hall's call, including very few food stores for the time being.

“Far from me the idea of ​​communicating, I did not do that for that, says Rebecca Bernadi.

I really hope that this will have an impact on these businesses which are currently losing a large part of their turnover.

To hear this weekend, only a few days, for me, that my florist has sold thanks to the site three decorative bells, for me, it is a great reward.

It also shows the Marseillais that there are nuggets in their neighborhood.

"

Our dossier on containment

"Any initiative intended to help us is welcome at this time," sighs Alexandre Seddik, president of the Republic of traders, the association of traders on the rue de la République, in downtown Marseille.

After that, I do not believe that this is the only solution that can get us out of the stagnation of this health crisis.

Only about ten businesses participate in this platform, and it's more to survive than anything else.

We hear about online sales, but it makes me laugh.

Me, I am the salaried boss of a brewery, I do not see how I could sell a Ricard by mail order… ”

"We must reopen"

"Online commerce represents a little more than 10% of the turnover of traders," notes Corinne Innesti, president of the Confederation of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (CPME) of Bouches-du-Rhône.

It is true that we were a little late on the subject.

We launched our platform ourselves, and it would be good, in the future, to pool all the initiatives to create a single single platform.

"

And to wonder: “I don't know if everyone buys online.

Myself, I don't.

I need advice, contact with the merchant.

And Christmas is a key period for commerce, starting in November.

So any initiative that helps, I say bravo, but that will not be able to offset our turnover.

We must reopen.

"About 500 traders demonstrated this Saturday in Marseille in front of the Bouches-du-Rhône prefecture, at the initiative of CPME 13, to demand the urgent opening of shops.

Economy

Confinement in Marseille: The santons fair is canceled

Gastronomy

Marseille: The two-star chef Alexandre Mazzia treats his food-truck "Michel"

  • Confinement

  • Online sales

  • Internet

  • Consumption

  • Marseilles

  • Trade