"E-commerce is a long-distance race that requires at least one year to obtain results. It is a full-time business that must be attended to seriously and is the commerce of the present for many sectors but, without a doubt, the authentic commerce of the future." This is how emphatic the first speaker, Andrés Cruz, marketing consultant, was this Thursday, who spoke at the Lanzarote Chamber of Commerce about the importance of e-commerce in his presentation "My virtual store."
Accompanied by Diego Díaz, project director at Netlife Proyect, they discussed the different free tools and their characteristics, hosting, promotion, the importance of adding value through a blog that serves to channel information. They even launched a proposal: the creation of a cluster of virtual stores to share strategic alliances and obtain advantages in packaging, transportation, or distribution.
Madeincanayislands.com took the turn for the second presentation and shared its experience in the e-commerce of Canarian products. The differentiation of this platform lies in the total control of the supply chain. The company controls the packaging of the products of the different companies it works with, controls the transportation and delivery times, and, in this way, offers the products of the Canary Islands to the whole world. To achieve success, they assure that "promotion and interaction, through social networks and the Internet, is fundamental," according to the Chamber of Commerce in a statement.
María Ortega, head of the Customs and Tax Department in Tenerife, spoke about customs obstacles in e-commerce. Her talk was oriented to explain what procedures must be carried out both when entering and leaving goods in the Canary Islands, focused on e-commerce. "These customs procedures that in the Canary Islands are thought to be major obstacles, due to lower indirect taxes, special taxes or aid to the consumption of certain products," she said.
The day continued in the afternoon, with the presentation of the Canary Islands Transport and Logistics Cluster by its manager Delfino Marrero, who explained the cluster's experience in its first three years of life. The cluster is currently made up of 29 partners, all of them members of the transport and logistics value chain. There are partners such as Binter, Fred Olsen, Coca Cola or Cervecera Canaria, but also some small transport companies and even the two Canarian universities.
"The advantage that an association like this brings is the possibility of addressing innovation or merchandise traceability projects, which they could not face alone. Cooperation, in this sense, has allowed them to go abroad with added value. All of this has allowed them to launch projects with Morocco and other Europeans. Within this cluster there is currently no company from Lanzarote or Fuerteventura, however one of the objectives of their participation is to capture the interest of potential stakeholders on the island," according to the Chamber of Commerce.
More than 80 people
Finally, Raúl Renales Agüero, consultant at Anova IT Consulting, was in charge of closing the day with special attention to logistics as the secret weapon of the online business. In his presentation, he proposed solutions that can be used from the islands to increase delivery speed and reduce customs obstacles.
The day, held at the Business Innovation Center of the Lanzarote Chamber of Commerce, brought together more than 80 people interested in the different subjects and was possible thanks to the co-financing of CajaSiete; the Government of the Canary Islands, through the ITC; and the European Regional Development Fund.
