The Italian Chamber of Commerce for the UK is launching its new digital desk and is supporting the expansion of e-commerce.

The Italian Chamber of Commerce for the UK is launching its new digital desk and is supporting the expansion of e-commerce. 

ICCIUK has launched it new digital desk to help our network and companies to overcome the economic Covid crisis with the set-up of new websites, IT support and e-commerce. 

The Italian Chamber has been chosen as landmark for mainly Italian companies that intend to expand on the British market. 

The possibility of entering a foreign market like the United Kingdom is an important possibility for any company and nowadays it is a much more accessible than in the past thanks to technology. 

With our services, we assist companies that intend to grow in the UK and Italy, also with solutions focused on the development of digital assets such as e-commerce. 

Being able to setting up an e-commerce shortens the distance: even if your business model is based on access to the physical point of sale, a virtual point of sale allows you to significantly expand your customer base. 

From the customer experience point of view, e-commerce offers the possibility of comparing multiple products. Thanks to the comparison, people can find the product that best meets their needs, which results in more purchases. 

Unlike the physical point, moreover, the customer never really leaves the shop, not even when he leaves: thanks to the many profiling possibilities and the precious information they leave during purchases, the business has different ways to get in touch with those who have already purchased: email, notifications, social networks. 

Moreover, e-commerce is not bound to any opening hours and indeed, is always active at any time of day or night, allowing the business to sell virtually without limits. 

At the beginning of the spread of COVID-19, a first total closure of all activities was necessary and mandatory. We don’t know if there will be more, but we know that every company has to prepare in some way. 

When all the businesses closed and saw their revenues drop significantly, if not even zero, both in Italy and in the United Kingdom, the only companies to have overcome the economic crisis that had come as a consequence of the health one, were precisely those who had an e-commerce available. 

No longer having to bear most of the costs of their physical activities, in fact, many have decided to divert their resources to the online sales channel, obtaining significant increases in sales. 

The pandemic has therefore revealed some important advantages of having an e-commerce: 

● The ability to continue selling despite the emergency; 

● The convenience and simplicity with which customers can purchase; 

● The possibility that this system offers to make an informed and aware purchase and not dictated by impulse, which increases the possibility that the customer will return; 

● The advantage of easily intercepting users’ needs and proposing the right product at the right time. 

In order to encourage the opening of new e-commerce and guarantee more continuity for businesses in this difficult period, the Italian government has distributed various contributions to the regions, which distribute them in the form of tenders, to assign funds for the digital development of companies in the area. . 

An example is that of the famous digitization vouchers, which reimburse 50% of the investment made for opening an e-commerce, including marketing activities. 

Other valid examples are the Digital Export call issued by the Emilia Romagna region and the E-Commerce 2020 call of the Lombardy region, which respectively provide for a contribution towards the costs of expanding their e-commerce on foreign markets and the allocation of loans to non-repayable fund up to 70% of the costs incurred. 

Other funds, such as the Impresa 4.0 program, intended for the digital transformation of businesses, are directly assigned by the Ministry of Economic Development. 

ICCIUK offers advice and guidance on the presentation of its application for obtaining any funding provided by the government. 

Would you like to know more? Send us an email at digital@italchamind.org.uk