Here is the impact of e-commerce on commercial agents. Report
What emerges from a research by the Format Research institute commissioned by Fnaarc, the first Italian trade union trade union, and Confcommercio, together in list no. 3 Enasarco of the future candidate in the Enasarco elections, on the impact of e-commerce for commercial agents
In the last 6 years, while e-commerce was constantly growing, the number of commercial agents in business increased from 272,696 to 221,975, recording a decrease of 12.6% equal to over 50,000 professionals. In the same period, the average age of agents increased by over 2 years, from 46 years and 3 months to 48 years and 9 months.
This is what emerges from a research carried out by the Format Research institute commissioned by Fnaarc, the first Italian trade union trade union, and Confcommercio, together in list no. 3 Enasarco of the future candidate in the Enasarco elections, on the impact of e-commerce in the activity of commercial agents, concluded in the first months of 2020 – just before the lockdown for the Covid emergency – and conducted on a sample of agents of trade and principal companies.
A phenomenon, that of e-commerce, which must also be governed in the light of the dynamics triggered by the Covid pandemic which has recorded a further sudden increase in online sales.
The data that emerged from the Fnaarc-Confcommercio research is of particular importance for the stability of the social security system of the category and in particular of Enasarco, the body called in these days to renew the top management through online elections, underline the promoters of the research: "Elections that see Fnaarc and Confcommercio engaged in list no. 3 Enasarco of the future which has among its objectives to combat market distortions and to invest in young people to ensure the sustainability of Enasarco, with a view to an intergenerational pact between retiring agents and new agents ", reads in a note for the press.
"If the number of active sales agents continues to decline and their average age continues to increase, we are facing a structural problem – said the coordinator of the list No. 3 Enasarco of the future and Fnaarc President Alberto Petranzan – A problem which concerns both the sustainability of Enasarco and its ability to guarantee benefits and pensions to commercial agents, and the fundamental role that these agents play for the economy of the country, in particular for SMEs ".
In recent years, the growth of e-commerce has been unstoppable and with it showrooming, a phenomenon that sees the store used as a showcase for purchases that are then made online. The result is that agents and sales representatives, who with their work contribute to the diffusion of the products in the points of sale, do not get the right compensation by losing commissions.
“We are not against e-commerce but against the inattention to the implications of the phenomenon. Agents play a vital role in trade and are depleted by international platforms. This results in intolerable damage and injustice which must be remedied – adds Petranzan – In the process of renewing collective economic agreements, Fnaarc fights for commercial agents to receive commissions for online sales in the areas of their competence, in an integrated perspective with its principal companies ".
MAIN RESULTS OF THE RESEARCH
63.3% of agents who claim to have had a role in online sales of their principal company say that this role is not recognized economically.
68.6% of agents believe e-commerce endangers their profession.
58.8% of agents believe that e-commerce is increasingly replacing the figure of the commercial agent, against 21.7% who believe that e-commerce can represent an opportunity.
58.7% of the interviewees – agents and principal companies – believe that reducing the share of agents would lead to a decrease in revenues for the company.
According to 52% of client companies, e-commerce has had an impact on the sales network.
Only 34.7% of the principal companies believe that e-commerce and internet in general represent an opportunity for sales agents.
Only 11% of companies believe that in the near future, sales networks can be completely replaced by e-commerce.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/ecco-limpatto-delle-commerce-sugli-agenti-di-commercio-report/ on Thu, 01 Oct 2020 05:10:23 +0000.