Online boom and cross-border sales: the need for a political agenda - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Online boom and cross-border sales: the need for a political agenda

Beat Vonlanthen, Member of the Council of States

Regulatory framework for operating e-commerce Bern, January 16th, 2018

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Presentation outline

• 1. E-commerce and politics: wait and see?
• 2. Opportunities and risks of the online boom
• 3. Required political measures
• 4. Outlook: Building bridges between the e-

commerce community and politics

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• 1. E-commerce and politics: wait and see?

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A complex and cross-sectional political topic E-commerce

Competition policy Location and export promotion Consumer protection European policy Logistics and transport policy

• 2. Opportunities and risks of the online selling

boom

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• In January 2018, Migros

announces that 43 out of 57 Ex Libris branches will be closed

• 114 jobs are lost
• However, Ex Libris online

sales increased by 8% in 2017!

E-commerce represents an opportunity for Switzerland’s export-orientated economy

• Online shopping is one of the

most popular internet activities

• Internet facilitates access to

external markets

• 3,8bn internet users

worldwide (Jan 2018)

• 5,5bn google searches per

day (2017)

• E-commerce allows SMEs to

set up internationalization strategies Retail e-commerce sales (B2C) worldwide from 2014 to 2021 (in billion U.S. dollars) Source: statistica.com (2017)

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Numerous Swiss companies benefit from online sales channels…

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Alpine Cabin Online selling platform for Swiss brands on the Chinese market (since 2017) Orange Garten Online sales platform set up by Migros for the Chinese market (since 2017)

…but cross-border online shopping also amplifies negative macroeconomic trends

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• Outflow of value

creation

• 1,5bn CHF in 2016
• Daily parcel deliveries 2017:

30’000 units from Zalando and 45’000 from Aliexpress

• Potential reduction in

employment

• Loss of tax revenue

The imminent Amazon market entry is likely to increase these negative trends...

• Loss of profit and market share
• f smaller retailers and

independent businesses

• Stronger market concentration in

e-commerce

• Loss of jobs and tax revenue

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... but there could also be new export

• pportunities for Swiss retailers!

• 3. Required political measures

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A political agenda is needed in

• rder to:
• reduce the outflow of value

creation

• facilitate cross-border online sales

by Swiss companies

• avoid discrimination of Swiss

companies against foreign competitors

à 4 important fields of action

Field of action 1: better positioning of the Swiss national brand in e-commerce

• Switzerland has one of the

strongest national brands in the world

• “Swissness” is a key success

factor of the Swiss export sector

• A unique and officially recognised

label could provide Swiss retailers a competitive advantage

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àLabelling strategy for Swiss e-commerce

(Parliamentary motion introduced in September, 2017)

Field of action 2: full access to the European Digital Single Market

• The Digital Single Market strategy

strengthens e-commerce within the EU/EEA

(Postulate Vonlanthen June 2016)

• There is a potential of

discrimination of Swiss retailers:

• MOSS-procedure for VAT
• Geoblocking
• Consumer protection

(Interpellation Vonlanthen Dec. 2017)

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àFC Cassis... Digital Single Market as part of «Bilaterales III» ?

Field of action 3: No preferential treatment for foreign competitors

The cross-border online boom reveals several problems:

• Custom duties
• Tax avoidance (VAT)
• International postal tariffs for

parcels

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àClarify framework of cross-border online sales to Switzerland

Field of action 4: Information offer and support for companies, in particulier for SMEs

• E-commerce is a challenging

topic for SMEs

• Technical complexity
• High customer expectations
• Logistic challenges
• The availability of up-to-date

information is a key to success

• Example: web platform “Industry

2025” for an intelligent production

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àImproved information offer about e-commerce (within the branch and SECO SME portal)

• 4. Outlook: Building bridges between the e-

commerce community and politics

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• Regular dialogue between

the e-commerce community and political actors

• Parliamentary interventions

concerning the most urgent issues

• Better mediation from the

international to the national level (i.e. language J)

Thank you for your attention!

beat.vonlanthen@parl.ch www.beat-vonlanthen.ch

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