The blue basket is not connected. The platform confirmed, on the same day, that it would end its activities on Wednesday. The revenue was not enough to ensure the survival of the platform intended for Quebec merchants.
The Blue Basket needed more investment to develop. The shareholders of the company, of which the Quebec government is part through Investissement Québec, came to the conclusion that the operation would have been too expensive, explains Economy and Energy Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon in an interview.
It will be necessary to inject again probably
The company's value is about $20 million, according to estimates mentioned by the minister. There is still a lot of money.
Blue Basket received far fewer merchants than initially requested. The platform had 600 registered traders. In October 2022, former president, Alain Dumas, confirmed that the organization had set itself the goal of welcoming around 1,000 traders by the end of 2023.
The blue basket has not been able to establish itself in the consumption habits of Quebecers. Only 7% of online transactions in the province were conducted on the platform in 2022, according to the latest NETendances survey.
In the context of high interest rates and a slowdown in the retail sector, venturing has become less attractive for private shareholders, including Desjardins Movement, the FTQ Solidarity Fund and cloud trading specialist Lightspeed.
Budget context
In government, the budget context is more stringent, while Legault's government expects a higher deficit than expected in the budget to be unveiled on March 12.
The context therefore forces the Ministry of Finance to make choices. Things that work less well will be eliminated and money will be invested in things that work better. [Pour Le Panier bleu]We thought to ourselves maybe the money would be better invested elsewhere
Minister Fitzgibbon said.
Thus, Quebec will lose $22 million in total in the venture.
The government had injected $4 million before Panier Bleu was privatized in June 2022. Through Investissement Québec, another $12 million was invested to launch the company in partnership with other shareholders.
The Legault government will give an additional $6 million to close the company In an orderly manner
. We think it will cost a little less than that
The Minister determines.
The funds will be used in particular to pay severance pay to 39 people who will lose their jobs, to compensate for undelivered orders and to pay suppliers, in particular. We'll do this the clean way. It will not be bankruptcy
And he confirms.
The government is the only shareholder providing funds to ensure this This is an organized closure
“, responds the Minister. I decided to do it like this. Blue basket for everyone [les actionnaires] They believed in it, but it was a government initiative. […] Desjardins and the Solidarity Fund, they helped us.
After signaling the possible end of the Blue Basket project a few days ago in an interview with Radio-Canada, the minister said entrepreneurs have shown interest in the project.
Mr. Fitzgibbon doubt
That this leads to something tangible. The government remains the owner of the trademark, which will not prevent a future government from reviving it from its ashes in another form.
Test bed for traders
If Blue Basket was not as popular as hoped, it represented a useful proposition for some merchants who did not necessarily want to sell their products on Amazon. Some have expressed concerns in the media when the potential closure was mentioned.
Despite this reversal of fortune, Panier bleu believes that its intervention would have enabled many Quebec merchants to be supported in their digital transformation.
We wanted to continue our mission of promoting local and neighborhood buying, but we are convinced that local merchants are more equipped than ever to succeed in the digital environment.
comments Sylvain Prudhomme, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Le Panier Bleu.
Mr Fitzgibbon also defends the idea that the existence of the blue basket has not been in vain. Blue Basket has enabled many merchants to go digital
He confirms that the number of registered users on the platform has reached 600 merchants. It continues to have a positive impact on digitalization.
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