With the reconfinement and closure of many small shops, the question of visibility for small and very small businesses is more important than ever. In order to save some of their sales during covid-19, many VSEs and SMEs are rushing to join marketplaces. But to be able to sell their products there, they need a sesame: barcodes. Let's take a look at the rush for these codes, made up of vertical lines readable by an optical scanner.
How can a company obtain barcodes?
To obtain barcodes, companies must join the GS1 (Global Standards 1) organization, in exchange for an annual subscription fee proportional to their sales. For smaller structures, membership costs just 90 euros a year, an affordable price for what can be very interesting outlets.
Since the closure began, GS1 France General Manager François Deprey has seen the number of members double. Most are very small businesses (VSEs), or small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), targeted for administrative closure as non-essential businesses.
To maintain sales at this time of year, when Christmas purchases are so important to their business account cash flow, they turn to marketplaces, which give them visibility and save them the hassle of setting up a website and independent online store from scratch.
Problem: to sell their products on these marketplaces, they need to be encoded with barcodes, hence the explosion in the number of GS1 members.
Marketplaces for VSEs and SMEs
Some marketplaces, encouraged by the government to offer special deals and rates to small retailers, have opened their doors to VSEs and SMEs on preferential terms.
This is particularly true of Cdiscount, which is offering free access to its platform until the end of April 2021 for French VSEs and SMEs affected by reconfinement. Usually billed at 40 euros per month, the service is now free for a given period. In addition, the commissions usually charged on click & collect have been abolished, and commissions charged on shipped orders have been reduced by 50%.
Last but not least, Cdiscount offers personalized assistance to small businesses affected by confinement, via dedicated support from advisors trained to meet their needs. While this positioning is of course strategic and enables the marketplace to expand its catalog, it is no less useful for retailers deprived of visibility.