The demolition project “Kaufhaus Österreich” launched under the former Minister of Economic Affairs Margarete Schramböck (ÖVP) is being terminated. It was originally a failed online shopping guide designed to bring business to local businesses during the pandemic. Then, due to their flop, the page was transformed into an information platform for traders. The digital state secretariat, which is now responsible, describes the total costs at 946,068.54 euros.
The fact that the former Secretary-General of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Michael Esterl, estimated the costs in the ÖVP-U committee at 1.2 million euros a few days ago is just as “incomprehensible” as the 1.8 million euro that the SPÖ is talking about, it said at the request of the cabinet of State Secretary Florian Tursky (ÖVP).
Closing in July
The platform closes on July 1. The project is said to have failed to deliver on its real benefit. The last maintenance costs of almost 2200 euros per month (26,235.40 euros per year) save the taxpayer in the future.
The digital household department store should certainly be put into operation before Christmas 2020. This should absorb a loss of Christmas business for small commerce companies with no e-commerce experience in times of corona lockdowns. It just didn’t work, as the politicians now in charge admit.
“The Austrian department store was a project with very good intentions, but it turned out to be not really effective from a cost-benefit point of view,” says ÖVP Economy and Labor Minister Martin Kocher. Because of the ongoing costs and because “targets are not being met”, the cost to the taxpayer must be stopped.
“The past has shown that a department store in Austria is not necessary,” said State Secretary Tursky. The goal of becoming less dependent on global trading platforms is correct. However, this independence cannot be enforced and must be seen in the European context.
Lots of spot for platform on social media
Schramböck originally presented the project with the President of the Economic Chamber, Harald Mahrer (ÖVP) as a sort of Austrian answer to online giants like Amazon. She rejected criticism of the costs, but she herself criticized the “Twitter-Tribunal” for the derision of the platform, where customers often found very different things than they were looking for. Only the search function was not well designed, according to the ex-politician.
The site is programmed by the state data center. “It was important to start the discussion about the need for e-commerce for our dealers,” Schramböck tried to argue.
Store search was discontinued after two months
Actually, there should be an online shopping platform – organized by the Economic Chamber (WKÖ) and the ministry. The failed store search function was discontinued after two months. The state-owned Austria Wirtschaftsservice (aws) subsequently took over the operation of the website on behalf of the Ministry of Economic Affairs as a dealer platform, where subsidies were awarded and advice on digitization would be given. The Chamber of Commerce has withdrawn from the project.
According to the ministry, existing usable content is now being secured and transferred to other platforms. These come on the so-called business service portal.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
