Online sales are certainly a tool that allows the company to stand out especially in emergency situations such as the one we are experiencing.
Covid-19, in fact, slows the global economy, but drives the online shopping sector.
Forced quarantines and forced smart working make people live more at home, and the effects can be seen immediately on consumption.
Apart from a well designed and updated website, the main factors that can encourage online purchases are:
- real photos and videos to increase empathy with the user;
- 360 degrees virtual tour to try to recreate those emotions that isolation prevents us from experiencing in person.
Before Covid-19, the demand for e-commerce was mainly driven by the tourism, IT and electronics, advertising and marketing, clothing, food and beverage, furniture, insurance, publishing, cars, motorcycles and spare parts and beauty sectors.
Now in the midst of the emergency, e-commerce represents an excellent survival opportunity for all companies that market products.
The opening of an online store and the resulting activity is the result of conscious and specific company choices.
Not all products or services are, by their very nature and therefore for the target audience, destined to be successful in sales through e-commerce.
For this reason, it is essential, before proceeding with the opening of a virtual store, to evaluate all the implications that it entails not only from a marketing point of view, but also from a fiscal, legal, technological, and not least organizational point of view.
Fulfillments and obligations to sell online in Italy
To open an e-commerce in Italy it is necessary to comply with some administrative and fiscal requirements, namely:
- the choice of the legal form of the company that owns the e-commerce site;
- the opening of a VAT number;
- the request for registration with the competent Chamber of Commerce;
- the presentation of the S.C.I.A. (Certified Report of Commencement of Activities) to the competent Municipality;
- the activation of a certified e-mail address (the so-called PEC).
Furthermore, the site must comply with the information obligations provided by the Consumer Code, the Privacy Code and the European Regulation on the protection of personal data (GDPR).
Normally in the e-commerce world, companies are set up as a limited liability company or joint stock company, which have a separate capital from that of the shareholders and directors.
A simplified limited liability company, for example, has the advantage of being able to be established with only 1 euro of share capital and without notary costs.
Alternatively, you can opt for a sole proprietorship for those who intend to open a small e-commerce business and thus avoid the costs of setting up and managing a joint stock company.
If, however, the idea behind your e-commerce is innovative, it could even profile the possibility of registering the company in the register of innovative start-ups whose benefits are the possibility of facilitated access to financing or crowdfunding.
Once the legal form of the company has been decided, you must proceed with the Single Communication and the S.C.I.A. with which you inform the public administration of the start of your online business.
If you intend to sell food and beverages online, you must have one of the required professional requirements, for example having attended a professional course recognized by law for this purpose.
In addition to all these legal obligations to start your business, you must verify that your site complies with all the information obligations that govern the relationship with the consumer.
General Conditions of Sale
They represent the most important document in the relationship with the consumer, in which you must indicate, for example:
- your company data and contacts and customer service contacts;
- the methods of payment, delivery, shipping and the indications on the legal guarantee;
- if the consumer enjoys the right of withdrawal;
- the conditions of after-sales assistance and the handling of any complaints.
Privacy Policy
The GDPR has had a very important impact on the privacy of consumers and on how they perceive the protection of their personal data: for this reason the Privacy Policy of your sites must inform as clearly as possible on how you will treat these types of data.
Cookie Policy
A cookie is a text file that a website visited by the user sends to his device – computer, smartphone or tablet – where it is stored before being re-transmitted to the site on a subsequent visit.
It is almost certain that you will use cookies to make your site work better: for example, they are essential to allow registered consumers to log in to the site.
It is likely that you will also use them for other purposes, such as tracking users while browsing the internet and offering them advertising banners or to make statistics relating to visits to your site or to check the progress of advertising campaigns.
The uses to which cookies can be intended are many, the important thing is that your Cookie Policy indicates which cookies you use, their purpose and duration.
Source: ADM Associati
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