Trade During Pandemic Time

The pandemic emergency has forced many SMEs to accelerate their digitization path to react to adversity and try to remain productive even remotely, given that the lockdown has led to a displacement of buyers from the physical place of exchange of goods (small shop or supermarket) to e-commerce. Over 3,600 Italian companies in the commerce sector opened an online sales channel between April and October 2020 to operate in this difficult time, registering a growth of + 15.5% in seven months (there were a total of 23,386 units in March 2020 against 27.007 in October 2020). From May to September 2020, the SMEs that have equipped themselves with e-commerce tools increased by 4 percentage points (27% against 23% in the same period of 2019) and by +5 percentage points those who have equipped for e-payment (36% against 31%) Overall, almost one in three Italian companies is technologically equipped for sales and payments on the web. Within these growth trends there are all the players in the trade who have been able to use the various opportunities offered by eCommerce, in very different ways. Those who were already present on the web, independently or through third-party platforms, were able to rely on previous experience and expand the clientele more easily, taking advantage of new consumers landed online, restaurants and ready-to-eat food businesses have often decided to use platforms for food delivery, directing its business to “take away”, while several supermarkets have relied on platforms that already manage and enable (from a technological and operational point of view) the online shopping of various largescale distribution chains. It is important to note how, in a situation like this, neighborhood trade has often been able to reorganize itself, even overcoming historical mistrust and a certain conservatism. From one day to the next, it became essential to find a new way to maintain relationships with traditional customers and, at the same time, to try to intercept a new demand, made up of all those who, for various reasons, despite residing in a given area, they were not used to making their purchases there. Speed has become a fundamental weapon and, in several cases, the small size or even the absence of any internal chain of command allowed for a rapid reorganization. Small shop owners have understood that at this stage it is essential to completely rethink their business model. This study examines the main effects of the pandemic on trade with regard to economic and employment aspects; in consideration of the risk of a weakening of the most fragile companies, it is proposed to highlight the possible tools that can allow SMEs to face and support changes both on the supply side and in consumption habits.