Grupo Cooperativo Cajamar launches its new Retail Business Platform

This morning, at its headquarters in Madrid, BCC-Grupo Cajamar launched the new Cajamar Retail Business Platform at an event attended by the director of Business Banking and Agri-Food Business for BCC-Grupo Cajamar, Ricardo García Lorenzo, along with executives from: Acens, Alphabet, Always on, Anfix, Arag, Spanish Association of Franchisers, Barbadillo Asociados, Comandia, Emprendedores, Fraterprevención, Lazarus, ODF Energía, Optimiza Energía, O Visual Merchandising Os, PayThunder, Presentia, Prosegur, Tarjeta Cliente, Geoblin, Tufinanziación, as well as representatives from the National Federation of Self-Employed Workers (ATA) and the Spanish Confederation of Commerce (CEC).

The Retail Business Platform is a comprehensive solution that offers a wide range of services to help small businesses to improve their commercial strategy, making different solutions available that allow them to adapt to new technology, lifestyle habits and consumer trends. All thanks to the partnerships reached between Grupo Cooperativo Cajamar and 20 firms that specialise in visual merchandising, marketing, security and cyber security, energy savings and efficiency, e-commerce and logistics, customer loyalty and engagement, accounting, health and safety, legal defence, expansion and geomarketing, and leasing and renting, among others.

In short, this new service aims to support small businesses in the development and growth of their business not only by providing finance but also through the provision of a wide range of services that will undoubtedly offer added value.

Spain is a country of small businesses and sole traders, making up 95% of the country's business sector. Specifically, Spain has over 3 million retail businesses, representing 12% of its GDP and generating 18% of its employment, making them a driving force behind the Spanish economy. Following the economic crisis, retail businesses have been forced to survive in a highly competitive technological environment, adapting to changes in the way goods and services are sold and consumed. To do this, the incorporation of new technologies is essential in order to increase productivity and their capacity to access new markets, enhance customer engagement, and professionalise the management and efficiency of resources. Thanks to e-commerce, Spanish small businesses have a new 'shop front' to sell their products anywhere in the world. For that reason, the Retail Business Platform makes these and other services available to millions of Spanish retailers.

The director of Business Banking at BCC-Grupo Cajamar, Ricardo García Lorenzo, said: "we are proud of our contribution to fostering local development and encouraging business in Spain based on the principles and values of cooperative credit. We firmly believe that we need to work together in order to consolidate the development of retail business, given that this sector is an essential component in the sustainability of our own socioeconomic model".

Services for customer engagement and business development

The Cajamar Retail Business Platform, in addition to financial products to suit the needs of each retail business, offers a comprehensive range of services provided by 21 specialist firms to support them in the development of their businesses, the optimisation of their resources, and their customer service.

To enhance their customer engagement and loyalty, they have access to PayThunder, which helps them to launch segmented offers in real time to anyone passing close to their shop, and Tarjeta Cliente, a company that makes customer loyalty cards. They also have experts in visual merchandising and olfactory marketing, such as O Visual Merchandising Os and Pressentia. With e-commerce and logistics solutions provided by Acens, part of Grupo Telefónica, and Comandia, part of Grupo Correos. Prosegur Alarmas for security, and Lazarus for cyber security services, and Always on, for the prevention of computer crime. Legal defence, with Arag. Accounting in the cloud, with Anfix. Health and safety with Fraterprevención part of Grupo Quirón Salud. Energy savings and efficiency, which are also key to business development, with Optimiza Energía and ODF Energía. Geomarketing through Geoblink. Guidance and handling of Public Funding applications with Tufinanziación. And finally, they will have access to renting and leasing solutions for business vehicles with Alphabet. The platform also works with partners specialising in services provided to franchisers and franchisees, such as the Spanish Association of Franchisers and Barbadillo Asociados. And finally, with a view to finding out the latest trends and other businesses, the Platform also incorporates the magazine Emprendedores. Grupo Cooperativo Cajamar offers financial solutions designed to meet the needs of each business and each stage in their life cycle, with specific products aimed at retail businesses such as Datacommerce, Credinegocio, finance through PoS Terminals, and Crediflexible, among others.

The 19 rural savings banks that make up Grupo Cooperativo Cajamar are offering this new platform. The aim is to progressively expand the services provided through agreements reached with new partners, with a view to increasing the support given to retail businesses by offering them value-added services, and continuing to increase Grupo Cajamar's turnover with this sector, which in 2016 stood at over 4,000 million euros in gross credit investment, with an increase of 11.8% on the previous year.