CaixaBank : An alliance of technology leaders has launched Mi Comercio Online, a platform to help small businesses set up online stores

An alliance of leading e-commerce operators comprised of CaixaBank, Amazon, SEUR, Roca Salvatella, PrestaShop, BrainSINS, Confianza Online and DMS Consulting, with the support of Red.es, has launched Mi Comercio Online, a platform that allows small businesses to digitize their operations effectively and in just a few days.

This initiative to drive e-commerce in Spain comes in response to the growing need among small businesses to establish an online presence, where demand is growing rapidly. This 360º solution represents a one-stop-shop, providing businesses with easy and customized access to all the tools they need to get their online businesses up and running, from initial training right the way through to setting up a virtual store.

The platform capitalizes on the expertise of each company behind the project and their businesses digitization know-how. Via Mi Comercio Online, small businesses have access to online training provided by the leading players in e-commerce, equipping them with comprehensive skills in digital strategy, managing online stores, marketplace operations, customer payments, logistics, legal matters, marketing and sales conversion.

Furthermore, the companies behind the platform provide all the digital tools and associated services that businesses need to start selling via the Internet. The platform is designed to get small traders making their first online sales in just a few days.

Growth in e-Commerce is in full swing, with year-on-year sales expanding at a rate of 26% in Spain. According to market estimates, total online purchases in Europe will have grown from 425 billion euros in 2011 to 661 billion euros this year. Meanwhile, purchases made via mobile devices are set to climb from 30 billion euros in 2011 to 568 billion euros this year.

About CaixaBank

CaixaBank is Spain's leading bank by market share. It operates in retail banking and insurance, while also holding investments in international banks and prominent services companies. The bank, presided over by Chairman Jordi Gual and CEO Gonzalo Gortázar, serves close to 14 million customers and operates a network of 5,183 branches.

CaixaBank was awarded the title of 'Best Bank in Spain 2016' by Global Finance for the second consecutive year, while it won the 'Technology Project of the Year' award from The Banker for the launch of imaginBank, its mobile-only bank. CaixaBank, one of the world's most sustainable banks according to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, was also honoured by Euromoney as 'Europe's best bank for corporate social responsibility 2016'.

About Amazon

Amazon has been a major player in e-commerce for more than 20 years, currently serving in excess of 285 million active customers worldwide. Its mission is to offer customers everything that they might want to buy online. Amazon Marketplace allows any business, no matter how large or small, to sell its products via Amazon websites.

Thousands of Spanish SMEs currently use Amazon as their online sales channel, giving them access to millions of new customers via Amazon's 5 European websites. In 2015 alone Spanish companies delivered 2.6 million articles to international customers via Amazon. Amazon also offers companies the option to harness advanced logistics services, helping them to deliver articles get to buyers as fast as possible.

About Red.es

Red.es is a public corporate entity with the mission of ensuring that Spanish society capitalises on the full potential of the Internet and new technologies. We seek to drive employment by supporting companies that aspire to stand at the forefront of the digital world, while establishing training and consultancy programmes for SMEs and entrepreneurs. We also support an efficient public sector and savings via the deployment of Information and Communications technology (ICT).

About SEUR

A comprehensive e-commerce solution makes it easier for businesses wishing to move online be more competitive. To this end, SEUR offers increasingly flexible, fast and customised solutions that cover the full online sales process, from receipt of goods right through to delivery.

As part of our consistent commitment to innovation, we have designed services and solutions that place our customers at the heart of the delivery process. These include Predict, providing a one-hour time window for deliveries, as well as SEUR SunDay and SEUR SameDay, under which we deliver packages on Sundays or on the same day, thus responding to growing demand among consumers for urgent deliveries.

Our customers can choose when, where and how they want to receive their orders. And because SEUR is a member of DPDgroup, one of the world's largest international urgent transport networks, we are able to operate in more than 230 countries, partnering with more than 46,000 courier specialists.

About Roca Salvatella

Roca Salvatellais a consultancy firm that specialises in helping businesses drive digital transformation. With offices in Barcelona, Madrid and Bogota, the firm provides services to major corporations from a wide range of sectors, helping managers to navigate the challenges posed by digitization, identify opportunities, understand their organization and its culture, while structuring operations and orientating the same around measurable results. Founded in 2008 by GenisRoca and Josep Salvatella, and under the leadership of Marc Cortés as Managing Director, Roca Salvatellahas secured consistent growth, seeing the company's team and turnover grow in size by eight times.

Behind Roca Salvatella is a team of seasoned experts in digital project development, with experience working with major corporations and in top managerial positions. The personnel have humanist, technical, economic and business backgrounds working in a number of countries. They are well known and respected, with strong and far-reaching relations in multiple sectors. They also teach at several universities and business schools, and are often consulted by the media and appear at conferences.

About BrainSINS

BrainSINS is an all-in-one e-commerce customisation platform that can easily be integrated within any online store. It helps users to drive up sales and offer an optimal shopping experience. As a Spanish company founded in 2010, all of our technology is managed from Spain, although we also have commercial operations in the United Kingdom and United States.

In recent years we have attracted major international accolades, including being named a Gartner Cool Vendor in e-commerce and inclusion in the Red Herring Global top 100, honouring the best tech start-ups worldwide.

About DMS Consulting

DMS Consulting is a legal and fiscal consultancy firm with more than 25 years of experience. It brings to e-commerce all of its know-how and expertise to support digital commerce platforms and create tech products that automate legal compliance for online stores, making it easy for SMEs to start making digital sales. DMS Consulting is a unique firm in the industry, specialising in the legal aspects of e-commerce and international tax law, as well as the global online experience and innovation in legal tech products.

About PrestaShop

PrestaShop emerged in 2007 with the mission of providing e-commerce software based on open source innovation strategies. PrestaShop was included in the 2016 Inc. 5000 list of Europe's fastest growing private enterprises.

The company won the CMS Critic award for best e-commerce solution for SMEs. PrestaShop has offices in Europe and USA, and has received financing from Serena Capital, XAnge Private Equity and Seventure Partners.

About Confianza Online

Confianza Online is an association created in 2003 to drive trust among Internet users, by granting companies a seal of approval following in-depth legal assessment. The websites agree to respond to claims using a fast system that permits mediation and arbitration between consumer and business, at no cost to the user and with full official recognition. It has more than 2,700 member websites and its partners are Adigital and Autocontrol.