Times of Crisis: Are European SMEs (incl. startups) in trouble?
Summary
Europe’s SMEs, which are very much the bedrock of the European economy, have once again found themselves facing surmounting challenges, tasked with increased pressure and even more hurdles to jump over. Barcelona-based startup Glovo, one of the continent’s big successful stories since the pandemic days, becoming a unicorn with its ecommerce last-mile delivery service, has just unveiled a report looking at the situation of Europe’s SMEs, and the results are quite the eyeopener. In order to find out how startups can thrive in the face of high inflation and lower spending, how SMEs can stay competitive, and the role that tech can have in all of this, the firm surveyed more than 3,200 decision-makers in small & medium-sized enterprises of the food, restaurant, and retail industries across 9 countries. Despite this, the results show that companies are hesitant to spend on marketing – and this could be something that needs to be rethought by decision-makers In the UK, 84% of businesses believe that giving more choice and personalizing the shopping experience is what future consumers want. As customer behaviours evolve, SMEs need to be quick to adapt, and overcome in order to remain competitive and thrive in the coming months and years.