ACEPI WANTS TO PUT 50 THOUSAND SMALL COMPANIES ONLINE

According to the conclusions of the latest study of the Digital Economy in Portugal, currently, 38% of the Portuguese shop online, but the overwhelming majority choose to shop on foreign websites. This may be due, in part, to the fact that 60% of national companies continue to be totally offline. To help them to solve this problem, ACEPI (Digital Economy Association) has just launched the program ComercioDigital.pt, which wants to put online 50,000 micro, small and medium Portuguese companies by 2020.

Promoted by ACEPI, in partnership with the CCP (Confederation of Commerce and Services of Portugal), supported by the Government and co-financed by COMPETE 2020, the initiative is mainly aimed at companies of the commerce and "proximity" services sector.

In the framework of the program, the companies involved can enjoy of a free set of resources that allow them to digitalize their business. ACEPI explains that adherent companies "have the right to a voucher with a free "3 in 1"service for a year, which includes access to a website construction and location tool, an online address registered in the .pt domain and to mailboxes".

At the official website of ComércioDigital.pt, companies have also access to an Academy, in which re available "simple and practical" short courses related to "the steps and aspects that should be guaranteed when a company stays online".

In order to spread the program among companies, it was also organized a roadshow that will go through several parts of the country. With 150 planned sessions, the roadshow started on February 6, in Leiria, and during this month will also go through the cities of Braga (February 19), Aveiro (February 26) and Coimbra (February 27). In the upcoming months, the clarification sessions will reach cities like Porto, Santa Maria da Feira, Vila Franca de Xira, Setúbal or Viseu, among others. The updated calendar can be consulted at the official website of the program.   

At the beginning of the initiative, in Leiria, Pedro Siza Vieira, Deputy Minister and Minister of Economy, underlined the importance of the program by creating conditions for small companies to make the transition "to the world where the consumers of the future are."

At the time of the announcement of the conclusions of the latest Digital Economy Study in Portugal, Alexandre Nilo Fonseca, president of ACEPI, alerted: "If our companies are not found in a Google search, then we are missing a great opportunity." A problem that maybe this new initiative will help to solve.