BRAZIL - To develop furniture that meets online retail, manufacturers need to adapt to the reality of Brazilian e-commerce - from digital marketing, to logistics, manuals and packaging.

Considering this demand for qualification by the furniture industry, Sindmóveis (Furniture Industry Union of Bento Gonçalves) joined the Sebrae (Brazilian Service of Support to Micro and Small Companies) to offer a “Program of Development for Digital Presence” for the companies of the furniture cluster of Bento Gonçalves.

It is a six-month development program for micro and small businesses, including lectures and workshops on digital marketing; lecture on practical and legal aspects of electronic commerce; individual counseling and digital marketing consulting. In all, 30 hours of training and 18 hours of consultancy are planned per participating company.

The first action will be an event on May 23 with e-commerce experts. The panel "Your industry in the e-commerce of Brazil" will be mediated by the editor-in-chief of the E-commerce Brazil portal, Caio Colagrande, and cases of other executives of companies with relevance in online sales: Elare, Marabraz, Colombo, WoodMadeira and Google. This event is open to furniture companies in general.

For the president of Sindmóveis, Vinicius Benini, more than an opportunity, e-commerce is a reality that has changed the Brazilian buying experience and for which the furniture industry needs to prepare better. A survey conducted by Sindmóveis last year with some of the country's major retail chains pointed out great concern about the adequacy of e-commerce products - not only with ease of transportation and prompt delivery, but also the presentation of technical data sheets and adequate photos and simplified and clear manuals for assembly by the consumer. “It is a priority topic in the planning of Sindmóveis for this year”, emphasizes Vinicius Benini.