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From 2007, retailers in the Algarve and
Andalusia will be able to join the first virtual shopping centre in
Europe. People from the Algarve and Andalusia, a market of 8 million
consumers, will thus be able to shop without leaving home, just the
internet will be enough.
The
two main retailers’ associations in Andalusia (Spain) and the Algarve
have joined forces in a project known as “Frontera Comercial Abierta”.
This represents an investment of about a million euros, with
contributions from EU programmes and it will be managed by ACRAL, the
Association of Retailers of the Algarve Region and CECA, the Andalusia
Business Confederation of the Retail Trade.
The initiative aims to provide 250,000 owners of small and
medium-sized shops on both sides of the border with the possibility of
purchasing at more competitive prices from a single purchasing and
service centre, and then selling their products through the internet
via the virtual shopping centre.
The President of ACRAL told the Algarve Observer that the objective
is to offer more sales opportunities to shop owners who are threatened
by the large stores and, through the purchasing centre, to have more
negotiating power in the purchasing of products from manufacturers or
resalers.
Gilberto Sousa said that the purchasing centre is unique, at least
in the Iberian Peninsula, and the cross-border, virtual shopping centre
is the only one of its kind in Europe. The latter consists in creating
an interactive portal, which will allow for the display of products and
provision of information about their features, prices, cultural
activities, business contacts etc.
He also stressed the importance of the project in creating
conditions for putting pressure on the banks to rethink their interest
rates, lowering them to provide more investment opportunities for the
traditional retail trade.
The purchasing centre will be set up in Seville (Spain) and in the
Algarve, either in Faro or Portimão. The two locations will be merely
places for displaying products, and after the items and quantities have
been selected, the manufacturers or resalers will deliver the goods to
the shops concerned.
On 19th April, the directors of CECA, Acral, Sevilha
Global – Agência Urbana de Promoção Económica and the Ajuntamento de La
Palma Condado met to approve the project’s image, as well as the
timescale for the activities provided for in the project. The public presentation of the project is scheduled for 10th and 17th May in Seville, and 24th May in Faro.
source: the observer
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