Israel Romero / Monday, April 5, 2021 / Categories: Blog Pay a fair price for Spanish gourmet products. Spanish gourmet products E-commerce has entered the food market with great force since last year. And it's here to stay. But it is still a very unfamiliar market where prices are not controlled as they are in more mass markets. At MadeinSpain we are very clear: the most important thing is to reach the largest possible critical mass of people. Things have changed New playing field and new rules MadeinSpain.store: adaptable solutions for gourmet products Flashback to the first time I walked into a delicatessen in Barcelona more than 20 years ago. Everything felt from another planet: products I had never seen anywhere else, and such extensive ranges of cheeses that just reading what they were made of made my mouth water. And when I saw the prices… my desire to keep looking almost disappeared. I would make a big effort on special occasions and buy a few things, but it was impossible to shop there regularly. That’s how the idea that gourmet products were only for a well-off minority was formed. Worst of all, I remember that the most notable products were always foreign. They seemed to be the star products, the ones that shouldn’t be missing from our tables when we talked about gourmet. How wrong we were. And how much we regret it now as we work to close the gap with Italy and France! Because we must admit we are still far behind them in the positioning of our products — not in quality — but that’s secondary when we are so far back in the minds of European buyers. And in terms of numbers, sales-wise, we are even further behind. Things have changed However, factors such as the pandemic, healthy eating, wanting to know the origin of products, the enormous amount of information we receive every day, and not to mention social networks that have democratized information, have turned the scenario 180 degrees. Now you can buy gourmet gastronomic products online under optimal conditions. At last we have the web at our fingertips. But then, why haven't gourmet brands launched into selling like crazy through this channel? There certainly has been an online revolution and a big increase in sales and sellers through that medium; what happens is that it is done without regulation and without order. The internet is not just putting products up for sale on websites, marketplaces, Amazon, etc. It's much more!! And because all players gather on the same field, many get upset because they want to play in the same spot on the field. Big mistake!!! Also, we are a country that only notices something when the neighbor has it; if we looked with more perspective, we'd see that what’s still to be taken is much more attractive than what the other already holds. New playing field and new rules There are physical shops that are playing a double game, and I understand it, because they have a captive in-store customer base and they expand with the new customer who doesn't come to the premises and may never even know the establishment exists, even if it is very emblematic. This has an important handicap: they usually work with good margins because the physical store did so, and online they do a “copy & paste,” normally keeping prices high so as not to cannibalize the physical store. They also have another geographic limitation, selling almost exclusively in the domestic market. Even if they could go international, they don’t consider it to avoid getting into a whole lot of trouble. Better the familiar known than foreigners to get to know, and on top of that who speak another language—ugh, what an effort, no thank you; we'll leave that to Italians and the French, grrrrrrrr! Producers are not in a better position either: they can set the best price, they are the producers, but on many occasions they do not want to compete with distributors and shops to avoid problems. And although internationally the same often happens—fear of upsetting distributors—some are braver and do launch themselves. The problems arising from this channel are that they usually do not invest in the brand or in international digital marketing and everything is left to chance, and the effort needed to generate sales via this route does not yet seem attractive enough. MadeinSpain.store: adaptable solutions for gourmet products We have been analyzing the market for almost three years now, and we didn’t launch until last year, aware that the pandemic would on the one hand distort our strategy and on the other accelerate the strategies that were right. And what we were clear about was that we would think and act like end buyers, like consumers. Because there is nothing worse than someone who wants to sell a high-quality product but would never eat it or buy it themselves. What the internet provides is privacy and time optimization for doing errands. A rational/irrational purchase such as a gourmet product (both are valid depending on our mood and the needs to be met) means we would have to invest a good part of our time traveling to different places to buy and then go home with those purchases. Time, travel, conversations in line until it's your turn, and then returning home loaded with groceries. That is if you were able to find what you wanted in the places you went. Or if you go to only one shop, you must be content with what they offer, unable to discover new products if they don't bring them in to promote them. The ideal is to be able to shop relaxed in front of your computer or mobile, with as much information as possible about each product and the convenience of receiving everything at home in the quantities you want. That is what we propose at MadeinSpain.store, buy only what you want, without geographic restrictions, and based on recommendations from people who have tried all the products and won't push you to buy what's simply in stock. We have already selected the producers and their products, and what we couldn’t do was what used to anger me when I was young: gouging customers on prices just because you can sell items individually. We want people to discover Spanish gourmet products, and also to be able to buy them, so we adjust prices, negotiate better with producers and work as a team so that the community eager for these products grows every day and there are many more of us demanding Only the Best of Spain! If we are succeeding in Spain, where we are discovering a niche of people who want to eat very well and regularly, imagine in Europe — visitors who love our cuisine are simply amazed by what we offer online and delivered directly to their homes. So, eating quality Spanish gourmet products is becoming easier, and at MadeinSpain you can discover it from the first moment. Because for us each customer is a salesperson/recommender for tomorrow. So we make an effort to talk with them if they want or need us, through all the channels we have open: WhatsApp, phone and email. We have already helped many MadeinSpain Lovers, and every day there are more of us — you wouldn’t want to be left out of our community, right? We await you with open arms, because sharing is an essential value for us and our producers. The Digitization of Spanish Producers Almadraba-caught tuna from Cádiz — an exclusive seafood delicacy, of course at MadeinSpain.store Print 2 Rate this article: No rating Please login or register to post comments.