The commerce sector in Spain

Commerce in Spain is one of the largest sector among the economic activity of Spanish SMEs. Stands out from other sectors due to the decline in its activity, especially in recent years. In 2020, according to data from the INE (National Statistics Institute), the commerce sector had a share of 21.3% of the total. However, almost 78,000 companies in this sector ceased operations, ending as the sector with the highest net number of companies that ceased their activity in January 1^st, 2020.

Despite the cessation of activity of 78,000 companies during the last year, commerce is a strategic sector for the Spanish economy due to its size and the employment it has promoted in recent decades, representing 17.1% of total full-time employment in 2018, according to the study on the commerce sector in the Spanish economy prepared by the CEOE (Spanish Confederation of Business Organisations).

So, in order to understand the Spanish retail sector, it is important to know that, according to the e-Pyme 2019 study, 98.5% of the total were companies with 0 to 9 employees, while the remaining 1.5% were SMEs and large companies. Despite the importance of the retailers, all these segments have decreased their presence compared to the previous year.

According to the latest studies, the commerce sector in Spain is well above the European average.

According to the previous study published by the CEOE, in Spain, have been counted 762,388 companies employing 3.2 million people in 2018.  Commerce in Spain then accounted for 13% of GVA (Gross Value Added), vs. 11.2% in Europe, making it higher than the European Union average.

On the other hand, the size of commerce companies in Spain is considerably smaller than in the European Union as a whole, with an average of 4 workers per company.

The HORECA and commerce sectors are among the most adversely affected by the Covid-19 crisis.

The retail sector is currently facing an unprecedented need for renewal and change to adapt to a new reality, marked by the consequences of the crisis generated by the current Covid-19 pandemic, coupled with changing consumer’s shopping habits. Since the start of the health crisis, the HORECA and Retail sectors have been among the hardest hit by the crisis.

The crisis has also modified the habits of consumers, increasing their consumer habits and their frequency of online shopping. The digital transformation has become a priority for SMEs dedicated to commerce, which must accelerate their transformation process to respond to the new challenges of the sector.

This transformation is leading to the emergence of new forms of business that affect both retail and wholesale commerce in their structures, processes and customer relations; commerce is moving towards greater concentration, diversification and internationalisation of its companies, encompassing different types of establishments, from traditional commerce to department stores.

For this reason, many retailers have started their digitalisation process, for example by creating their own online store or e-commerce, with the intention of adapting to the new needs of consumers, to maintain and improve their competitive advantage.