Martine Pinville, Secretary of State in charge of Trade, met with professionals from the digital sector last week at the E-Commerce One to One show in Monaco.
All the figures of the world of the digital economy were there, where suits were sometimes worn with trainers and the Google booth was offering toppings for ice cream. This was not your typical business event. The Grimaldi Forum has in fact been hosting the E-Commerce One to One event. The event brought together professionals in online commerce and combined conferences, meetings between merchants or e-merchants, and service providers in the field of online referencing and web design. Yesterday, Martine Pinville, Secretary of State for Trade, Craft, Consumer Affairs and Social and Sustainable Economy, visited the Minister of the Economy and Finance and met with professionals from the sector. She was accompanied, in particular, by Marine de Carné-Trécesson, the French Ambassador to Monaco.
Online shopping, physical trade
During her visit to the Grimaldi Forum, Martine Pinville stopped in front of the stands. The exchange began. “So, tell me what you’re doing,” she said. Jean-René Boidron, president of Kameleoon, explained that he offers “solutions that allow merchants to present the most personalised site possible”. The company works with “Auchan, Fnac. We have 400 customers,” he continued. He then took the company’s mascot, a chameleon that camouflaged itself in a green plant, and placed it on the arm of Martine Pinville. Here, apart from a real chameleon, it’s possible to see the evolution of what commerce can be, but also the modes of consumption. “It is important for me to come to an event like this because here we see everything that commerce will become,” explained the Secretary of State. This tour focuses on the interactions between online commerce and physical commerce. “The goal is not for there to be no more physical businesses,” she continued. “The digital must be a tool for physical activity. So, we have to see how we can articulate digital commerce and physical commerce.” To serve as an engine? “Of course,” replied Martine Pinville. Moreover, “it is already the case. A number of merchants can offer a Digital Order and this increases their turnover. On average 10-15%.”
For the revitalisation of the heart of the city
This is a vast sector, which even covers the revitalisation of city centres. Even if one does not necessarily see the relationship between city centre and digital commerce. “The stakes are there. Digital technology must be a tool to revitalise a city’s core and neighbourhoods. For that, there really has to be a kind of project dynamic.”
For example, a trade person can “capture other consumers so that they come into their shop”. The subject is nevertheless almost absent from the presidential debate. “I think digital commerce will eventually become part of the presidential debates. All subjects may not always be directly addressed, but it is a topic that cannot be avoided because it is important,since digital commerce affects trade, craft, and other ways of working. This is necessarily a challenge for the future.”
The E-Commerce One to One show in Monaco has highlighted the exciting possibilities of the future of the digital sector.
