The lack of enthusiasm was mostly on the part of entrepreneurs. In 2012, we counted 6,000 thousand virtual stores with a growth of 5 new sites per day. This is insufficient. “The delay witnessed in Belgium is not down to purchases but rather to the number of businessmen. According to the statistics of the AWT, 9% of SMEs sell on the net. This is a figure which includes the orders made by email, notably in a B to B (business to business context, Ed). If we count only sites that allow for purchases completely online, we drop to 3%. We can clearly see that there is a shortage of supply”, confirms Damien Jacob.

This entrepreneurial caution can be partly explained by commercial density in Belgium: it is difficult to walk down a street without coming across a shop, and at the same time, it is difficult to introduce a diversification or answer a need which has not already been met by competitors who are present in “hard copy” as opposed to being virtual. Also, Belgian sites have a tendency to remain focused on the national field of play. “Given the size of the country, it becomes very complicated to start up if we are satisfied with the Belgian French-speaking market. In order to reach a critical size it is necessary to turn to France or other French-speaking countries or even beyond. Yet, Walloon shop-keepers who export (some to the tune of more than 80%) are doing very well. It is quite paradoxical: the Belgian economy is habitually very focused on exportation, but in matters of e-commerce we import more than we export.”

While Belgium cultivates its inferiority complex, the international giants progressively seize their slice of the cake and make life difficult for the emergence of smaller players. The German company Zalando was the last giant to try to impose itself in the clothing sector by means of advertising spots combined with excellent customer service.

Where is the profitability to be found?

Getting a slice of the pie has to be financially interesting. Behind the tempting two-digit growth of the sector and an ever-increasing number of buyers, profitability is not always (or yet?) systematically guaranteed. And this reality does not only apply to small companies. Not all big names rush into this kind of activity either. Ikea in Belgium, for example, does not sell directly on its site (even though it does so in other countries). The furniture giant is probably waiting for more aggressive competition from competitors in the field. The author underlines the fact that, Amazon, for example, only owes its positive results to the division of its “services” (which makes its transactional platform available to third parties) and not to its history of selling cultural property. In France, out of a number of 117,000 virtual trade names estimated in 2012, two-thirds recorded less than three transactions per day and only 6,000 could boast more than 30 sales per day! This is much fewer than in a traditional shop.

“E-commerce is not the new El dorado”, repeats Damien Jacob who expects to see many closures in the months or years to come due to increased or even unfair competition. As it is relatively cheap to start an online activity in comparison with a “traditional” activity (no need to invest in premises, fewer personnel, a greater choice of shop models suitable for renting from a distance, etc.), many individuals launched their companies without being robust enough or without having perfected a business model that could stand the test of time. Also, with regard to sales activities on the web, fashions change rapidly more than anywhere else and the star performers of today will probably be forced out of business by those of tomorrow like others before them…