In recent years, on-line shops and large supermarkets have become more and more popular among consumers. This situation is negatively affecting local shops, which cannot compete with powerful multinational companies which are able to sell their products at much lower prices.
Firstly, the expansion of giant e-commerce stores such as Amazon, Alibaba or Temu, is creating many difficulties for small shops, which are unable to compete because of their higher prices and fewer number of clients. Consequently, local communities are negatively affected, because their economies are mainly dependent on small boutiques and factories. For example, many local entrepreneurs in my native town were forced to close their activities because of this unfair competition, and most of them decided to leave their houses to move into metropolis like Milan or Rome, working for big multinational companies and large supermarkets.
On the other hand, I strongly believe that governments can do something to solve this terrible situation. Particularly, they could reduce the amount of taxes paid by these local shops, in order to help them reinvesting earnings in their growth. Furthermore, it may be possible to convince consumers buying whatever they need in their own town, showing them the importance of high-quality products produced by native factories and how crucial they are for towns’ economies.
Overall, the evolution of large supermarkets and on-line stores is negatively affecting local shops and communities, because of their incredible financial resources and their cheaper products. However, governments should understand how much essential small factories are for local communities and towns, helping them to survive in this “David Vs Goliath” competition.