Trustmark for Swiss E-Commerce Merchants: Using Switzerlands - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Trustmark for Swiss E-Commerce Merchants: Using Switzerland’s Excellent Image for Economic Development

Beat Vonlanthen, Member of the Council of States

Swiss E-Commerce Conference Baden, November 16th, 2017

Why is e-commerce an issue of political interest?

1

Swiss e-commerce: an increasing pressure from abroad

• Swiss online purchases (B2C)

from abroad have doubled since 2012

• They amounted to 1’550 M

CHF in 2016

• The estimated daily parcel

deliveries represent:

• 30’000 units from Zalando
• 45’000 units from Aliexpress
• Deliveries from China grow

above average

2

Cross-border online shopping amplifies negative macroeconomic trends…

• Outflow of value creation

due to cross-border “shopping tourism”

• Reduced employment in

certain sectors and job relocations

• Losses of tax revenue for

public entities (VAT)

3

… but e-commerce represents also an

• pportunity for Switzerland’s export-orientated

economy

• Online shopping is one of the

most popular internet activities

• Internet facilitates access to

external markets

• 3’700 M internet users

worldwide (Nov 2017)

• 5’500 M google searches

per day (Aug 2017) Retail e-commerce sales (B2C) worldwide from 2014 to 2021 (in billion U.S. dollars) Source: statistica.com (2017)

4

E-commerce offers new opportunities in particular to SMEs

• Direct exports are the

most successful internationalization strategy of Swiss SMEs

• Internet allows SMEs to

address potential customers directly even in distant markets

Source: Prof. Rico Baldegger, International Opportunities for Swiss SMEs (2016) Frequency and success of SME sales channels

5

Direct exports

The national brand of Switzerland gives Swiss retailers a competitive advantage

• In the global market, the image
• f a country has a major

impact on the success of companies which are located there

• Switzerland has one of the

strongest national brands in the world

• “Swissness” is a key success

factor of the Swiss export sector

6

Swiss e-commerce stands out i.a. for trustworthiness and high quality of products…

Source: Netcomm, Understanding cross-border data to exploit Swiss e-export potential (2017)

7

… and Swiss B2C export potential has not yet been fully exploited

Source: Netcomm, Understanding cross-border data to exploit Swiss e-export potential (2017) Online shoppers who would recommend to buy from a Swiss online shop

8

Swiss companies could sell more online thanks to the positioning of the national brand in e-commerce

A unique Swiss e-commerce trust mark would allow to :

• capitalize on the excellent

image of the country

• contribute to the success of

export strategies

• fully exploit the potential of

Swiss e-commerce

9

Netcomm Suisse buysafe.swiss trustmark

The trust mark will demonstrate that :

• the company is legally

registered as a Swiss company and financially solid

• it uses Swiss registered

payment and logistic service provider

10

How can politics further help the e-commerce sector?

• Cooperation with EU in the framework of the European

Digital Single Market strategy

• Example: “Mini one-stop shop” for VAT transactions
• Simplification of export and customs formalities
• Example: electronic customs
• Improved information offer and support for companies

wishing to develop online business

• Example: information platform about legal regulations and

customer protection in target markets

11

Thank you for your attention!