The transactional version of the Blue Basket will be offered to Quebec merchants this fall.
“Lepanierbleu.ca will act as a digital marketplace allowing companies to sell their products online via a transactional platform which will constitute the reference for identifying Quebec merchants,” the Quebec government explained in a press release on Monday.
The transactional platform is currently in beta and will be available to the general public this fall, it was said. However, Quebec merchants can register now to offer their products.
The objective of the platform is to “make Quebec merchants and retailers more competitive in the context of a globalized digital economy”.
“With a transactional Blue Basket, we are responding to the growing demand from Quebecers who want to buy local. For the past two years, the teams have worked hard, and today we have arrived at a transactional site that provides both consumers and merchants with tools,” commented the Minister of Economy and Innovation and Minister responsible for Development. regional economist, Pierre Fitzgibbon.
The cost of implementing and developing the digital platform is estimated at $22 million. This amount includes, in particular, the operationalization of the basketbleu.ca site, support for Quebec retailers and the continued promotion of local purchases.
The Government of Quebec offered a contribution of $12 million, through Investissement Quebec, in the form of a subscription to shares of the company Platform Agora, owner of the site lepanierbleu.ca.
The other partners are Desjardins, Lightspeed and the Fonds de solidarité FTQ.