Barcelona’s commerce shows its first signs of recovery
Barcelona’s commerce has been showing signs of recovery for the first time since the start of the economic crisis. This is confirmed in a report entitled “Commerce in Barcelona – 2015”, which states improvements in employment rates, in retailers’ perceptions of their activities and in the assessments of Barcelona’s residents.
The data from the 2015 report on Barcelona’s commerce confirm its positive development, even though the situation, as far as figures go, is still far from the one in 2008. The sector has been creating jobs for the second year running, with employment up by 2%, slightly higher than in 2014.
Today there are over 145,000 workers in the commerce sector in Barcelona, one out of every seven people among the city’s working population. Positive data can also be seen in turnover. Commerce in 2015 represented a turnover of 34,247.6 million euros and saw an increase of almost 2%. This is the best development since the last few years.
A sector undergoing a profound transformation
According to the study, the commercial sector’s notable challenges include the effects of the economic crisis, changes in consumer habits and competition from international chains. In the light of this reality, the report states the sector's capacity for reinventing itself, innovating, adapting itself and attending to the public's needs.
According to the results obtained, commerce is in constant contact with Barcelona's city residents. Most establishments (60%) maintain their customer-buyer relationship as a sale system (assisted sales) and a large majority of establishments (71%) also belong to certain business partnerships.
Most of these shops are relatively young (13.6 years), have accessible, technologically equipped premises and are open six days a week. Premises generally opt for a rental system and pay an average of €1,143 euros a month.
The importance of traditional commerce
According to the 2015 report, Barcelona’s residents give Barcelona’s commerce a score of “very good”, with not just commerce offers receiving a high score (8.1 out of 10) but also business hours (7.8) and customer care (7.1), an improvement on their scores for 2014. At the same time, Barcelona’s citizens look for businesses and sales people they can trust and associate such attributes with traditional commerce. According to the people surveyed, it is local commerce and municipal markets that offer better customer care.
Besides economic goals and job creation, traditional commerce joins together, humanises and brings cohesion to the city and helps to create links that improve positive community life. That is why Barcelona City Council has been launching initiatives to boost the Barcelona commercial model’s competitiveness and innovation. Examples of all this are the “Commerce and Schools” project, which takes local commerce over to thousands of children and young people, and the Barcelona Commerce Prize which held its 18th edition in 2015.
The hotel trade in Barcelona
The report also includes economic data on the hotel trade in the city. This sector developed even better than commerce in 2015, growing by 6% in number of employees, 4.4% in accommodation services and 6.4% in food and drink services.
You can consult all the data on the city’s commerce by downloading the “Commerce in Barcelona – 2015” report.
