The Government of Catalonia has now finalised the award of 15,087,182.49 euros from the NextGenerationEU funds allocated to the digital transformation of the trade sector.

The recipients of these two portions of the NextGenerationEU funds managed directly by the Catalan Government are self-employed individuals, small and medium-sized commercial enterprises with retail establishments, and trade organisations and associations of both permanent municipal markets and street traders. Taking this into account, 84.5% of the grants have been directly awarded to businesses in the sector, while the remaining 10.5% have gone to trade organisations and associations.

Specifically, 13,496,989.54 euros have been awarded to trading businesses. The grants have been awarded for projects related to new technologies aimed at improving various areas of online commercial and communication strategy, the business model and the shopping experience, actions linked to the transformation of the point of sale and actions related to sustainability and the circular economy.

Meanwhile, 1,590,192.95 euros have been granted to trade organisations and associations for actions related to: improving customer service, customer relations and knowledge of consumers, and increasing customer loyalty through the use of new technologies and advanced analytical techniques; promoting digital channels; promoting advertising and communication in digital media or formats; using metrics and market analysis; adopting cybersecurity solutions within associations; acquiring furniture and technological tools, and implementing training programmes aimed at improving the use and management of technological tools in commerce, digital marketing, loyalty techniques and the exploitation and analysis of data linked to online sales.

NextGenerationEU for sustainable markets, tourist and rural areas

Apart from the allocations managed by the Generalitat de Catalunya, the Catalan trade sector has also benefited from another portion of NextGenerationEU funds, in this case directly awarded to local authorities: This consists of approximately 32 million euros allocated since 2021 for sustainable markets, tourist and rural areas, and has been received by municipalities primarily (94.7% of the total) and supra-municipal entities (the remaining 5.3%). By area, most of these funds have gone to markets (73%), followed by tourist areas (17%) and rural areas (1.3%).