Italy’s largest bricks and mortar retailers have launched a manifesto calling for fairer competition between themselves and online players.
The call is one of five requests issued by the retail sector to the government and political institutions.
The manifesto was put together by ADM, an association of retailers that brings together Federdistribuzione, Ancc-Coop, Ancd-Conad and about 900 distribution companies operating in Italy.
As well as fairer competition between traditional and online stores, it also calls for more legality in the fight against counterfeiting and evasion; abandoning plans to increase VAT; investment incentives both for new stores and the modernisation of existing ones; and the simplification of regulatory frameworks.
Extended Value
The five requests are supported by a study from Ernst & Young on the 'extended value' (direct, indirect and induced) of the modern distribution sector to Italy’s economy.
According to the study, the retail sector accounts for €101 billion of added value, equal to 6-7% of GDP; two million jobs (91% with a fixed term contract); 60 million clients per week; and €30 billion in paid contributions. In addition, some 91.5% of private label distributors in the food sector are Italian companies.
During a press conference, the retailers highlighted the fact that taxation represents the first element of discrimination among physical and online retailers. In addition, they also requested the abolishing of monopolies on medicines and fuels.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine
