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

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

1 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 16 th , 2018 2 Presentation outline 1. E-commerce and politics:


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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

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  • 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!

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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)

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…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
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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!
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  • 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

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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)

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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» ?

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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

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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)

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  • 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)

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Thank you for your attention!

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

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