Digital voucher for a connected business: up to €1,500 in aid from the Île de France region to help you go digital

You are a merchant or craftsman in the Ile de France and are hit hard by the Covid crisis? Are you looking for a way to sell online or do you finally have the time to focus on creating your website to sell, implement click and collect or add an online appointment booking module?

The Île de France region has set up a concrete aid of reimbursement of 50% of the expenses of digitalization up to 1500 € thanks to the digital check for a connected trade.

✔ Creation or evolution of a website

✔ Setting up solutions on existing platforms or marketplaces to boost my sales.

✔ Commissions of digital solutions such as SEO, copywriting, advertising (Facebook Ads, Google Ads, Instagram ads...)

✔ Training costs

✔ Operating expenses such as wifi pro subscriptions, cash solution...

Craftsmen and traders: why go digital now?

In the current situation where uncertainties and successive closures dictate your turnover, it is particularly difficult for small businesses to have sufficient visibility to make a turnover forecast and get a guarantee to break even. The vast majority of artisans and traders hit by the crisis are in the grip of major financial difficulties and have been unable to generate a satisfactory level of sales in recent months.

Equipping yourself with an adapted digital solution means :

• Give your customers the opportunity to remain loyal to you, regardless of the health situation
• Retain your current customers and acquire new ones
• Generating continuity
• Implementing sustainable solutions for a more peaceful future
• Facilitate the daily management of your business
• Putting in place tools for the future
• Reduce your dependence on face-to-face meetings and your physical capacity to open up
• Keep selling, wherever you are

• Reach a wider geographical range of customers and go international

What is the digital voucher of the Ile de France region?

To support the activity of local craftsmen and traders in the context of health restrictions, the IDF region has set up a financial aid of an amount ranging from up to 1500 €.for all merchants and craftsmen who wish to develop their digital activity and thus help them in the rapid creation of online sales platforms.

Amount of the digital cheque from the IDF region

This digital cheque is calculated on the ex VAT amounts of the company's eligible expenses and corresponds to 50% of reimbursement of this amount.

For example, you have a website but you want to make it appear in a better position in Google's search results and commission an SEO service over 6 months for 1800 euros. Upon presentation of the signed quote, the region will reimburse you half of your costs once your invoice has been paid, i.e. €900. You benefit from a 6 month SEO service for 150€ per month.

Another example: you own a restaurant or a bed and breakfast that is completely closed and you want to prepare for the takeover by creating a website with online booking facilities. Your service provider gives you an estimate of 2800€ that you decide to sign. You will then benefit from a 1400€ reimbursement from the Ile de France region upon presentation of the paid invoice, in one or two payments.

Reimbursement scale for the Île de France digital subsidy :

Who is this digital grant for?

The digital voucher is aimed at small businesses that sell on a recurring basis to individuals (excluding franchises, design offices, training or consultancy organisations, e-traders, financial and real estate businesses or digital companies) and that wish to digitise their business in order to deal with the current health crisis.

Eligibility criteria for the IDF region's digital cheque

1. Be established in the Île de France 
2. Be registered in the Trade Register and/or the Professional Register
3. Have less than 20 employees (including self-employed)
4. Report to one of the eligible NAF codes 

Which merchants and craftsmen are eligible for digital aid?

• Point of Sale you are eligible whether you have a fixed point of sale or not

• Sedentary lifestyle the sedentary nature of the business is not a selection criterion either; artisans and shopkeepers dependent on a specific NAF code series, whether sedentary or not, are eligible
• The deductibles are not eligible
• Have their establishment in Ile de France 
• To report from a eligible NAF code with assistance: 10 to 33, 43 to 47, 49, 55 and 56, 7420Z, 79, 81, 9312 and 9313, 95 and 96

Please note! Companies that sell exclusively on the Internet, companies in the digital sector, financial and real estate activities, training and consulting organizations, and design offices are not eligible.

NAF codes eligible for the digital cheque

Manufacturing industry

• 10 - Food industries
• 11 - Beverage Manufacturing
• 12 - Manufacture of tobacco products
• 13 - Textile Manufacturing
• 14 - Clothing industry
• 15 - Leather and footwear industry
• 16 - Manufacture of wood and of products of wood and cork, except furniture; manufacture of articles of straw and plaiting materials
• 17 - Paper and board industry
• 18 - Printing and reproduction of records
• 19 - Coking and refining
• 20 - Chemical industry
• 21 - Pharmaceutical industry
• 22 - Rubber and Plastic Product Manufacturing
• 23 - Other Non-Metallic Mineral Product Manufacturing
• 24 - Metallurgy
• 25 - Manufacture of fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment
• 26 - Computer, electronic and optical product manufacturing
• 27 - Manufacture of electrical equipment
• 28 - Manufacture of machinery and equipment n.e.c.
• 29 - Automotive industry
• 30 - Manufacture of other transport equipment
• 31 - Furniture Manufacturing
• 32 - Other manufacturing
• 33 - Repair and installation of machinery and equipment

Construction

• 43 - Specialized construction work

Trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles

• 45 - Sale and repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles
• 46 - Wholesale trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles
• 47 - Retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles

Transportation and warehousing

• 49 - Land and pipeline transport

Accommodation and catering

• 55 - Accommodation
• 56 - Restoration

Specialized, scientific and technical activities

• 7420Z - Photographic activities

Administrative and support service activities

• 79 - Travel agency, tour operator, reservation service and related activities
• 81 - Building and landscape services

Arts, entertainment and recreation

• 9312Z - Sports Club Activities
• 9313Z - Fitness Centre Activities

Other service activities

• 95 - Repair of computers and personal and household goods
• 96 - Other personal services

What kind of services can be covered by the digital grant?

The digital cheque for a connected trade allows to co-finance a set of digital services.

• It covers expenses for a maximum period of 12 months
• Expenditures and subsidies are exclusive of tax (HT)

The digital cheque covers 2 main areas: the operating expenditures or the capital expenditure (and cannot cover both).

Benefit from the digital cheque to cover operating expenses

Operating expenses are cumulative, recorded in the company's expenses and cover the following purchases:

• Subscriptions to digital management solutions (cash register software, stock management, customer management, etc.) as well as their ancillary costs: installation costs, configuration, training, or for the rental of screens.
• Spending on digital advertising, SEO and loyalty solutions (purchase of keywords, ads, loyalty card)
• Hosting fees for your site (domain name and hosting fees)
• Subscription to a SaaS website creation software and related optimization and training costs
• Subscriptions or commissions on sales related to a digital solution aimed at develop sales (online platform, marketplace, click and collect, etc.)
• Fees for training related to the acquisition of digital solutions: you want to learn how to manage your online store and be able to maintain it over time? You want to learn how to write your own product descriptions so that they are optimized for search engines and your users? Do you want to acquire the basics to make changes to your website or learn how to do keyword research to optimize your e-shop yourself? The training costs related to the digitalization of your business can be covered by the digital check.
• Your business subscriptions for internet access are also included in the subsidy: wifi, rental of professional boxes, rental of digital screens for content distribution
• Setting up of delivery services If you are a Parisian retailer and would like to set up a two-hour bicycle delivery service in Paris, offer delivery solutions via Colissimo, TNT or any other service provider in order to sell your products and ensure fast delivery? The digital cheque can help you set up new solutions!

Please note! Equipment expenses (e.g. purchase of a computer or a connected cash register) are not eligible for subsidy under the digital cheque.

Capital expenditure to boost your online business or service

Capital expenditure (recorded as an asset of the company) relates to the development and acquisition of websitesof licenses, or the purchase ofdigital screens content distribution.

These expenditures are focused on site creation e-commerce or websites with appointment booking for example, on a platform like Prestashop or WordPressbut also on subscription packages such as Wix, Shopify or Squarespace.

Please note: You cannot apply for aid for both operating and capital expenditure: it is up to you to choose the expenditure for which you wish to apply for aid from the Ile de France region.

How do I know what I need to boost my business through digital?

You are a retailer or craftsman and your business has been face-to-face for years, you are used to going to your customers or they come to you and you have difficulties to evaluate what impact the digital can have for you and how digitalizing your business can help you?

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Chamber of Trades and Crafts provide shopkeepers and craftsmen with evaluation tools to make a digital self-diagnosis online.

• Evaluate your digital performance current
• 20 questions which you can answer in only 4 minutes to get concrete proposals
• A personal action plan to boost your online visibility
• From advice and solutions to implement to digitalize your company

Thanks to the online diagnosis, you can quickly :

✔ Identify your existing digital positioning.

✔ Understand what actions to put in place to increase your visibility and multiply your sales

✔ Identify how to build customer loyalty

✔ Learn how to save time in the day-to-day management of your business and in administrative tasks

✔ Grow your business over the long term

Perform my digital diagnosis online        

[I'm a shopkeeper] 

[I'm a craftsman]

To be consulted:  the Covid solution platform for craftsmen and traders or  download the guide to help you choose the right solutions for your needs.

How do I get the digital grant?

1. Gather your credentials

• an extract Kbis or D1 less than 3 months old
• a GNI 
• the expense reports Estimates (quotation, price list, ...) or receipted invoices (from 12/03/2020)

2. Submit your digital grant application

Online, easily, on mesdemarches.iledefrance.fr 

Apply for a digital grant

3. Receive your acceptance or rejection notice

The Region answers you with a 3 weeks delay to find out if your application has been accepted.

4. Get your grant

The payment will be made directly to the account associated with the RIB provided in case of transmission of receipted invoices.

For requests with quotes, a request for payment with receipted invoices within a maximum of 1 year is required. This means that you will be able to submit your invoices within 12 months of signing your digital service.

Additional information

• Invoices provided must show a cheque number, a credit card payment or the mention "paid".
• The payment of this grant takes the form of a single payment or a payment in two instalments.
• The expenditure taken into account shall cover a maximum period of 12 months and must have been incurred within a maximum of 18 months of the decision notice.

Bonus: the State supports and accompanies small French companies in their digital approach with a 500 € check.

A 500 € digital cheque will be offered to all businesses closed for administrative reasons and to professionals in the hotel and restaurant sector, to finance the acquisition and development of digital distance selling solutions.

What are the conditions of implementation of this financial aid?

• The maximum amount of this digital cheque is 500€.
• The grant will be paid directly into the beneficiary's account on presentation of invoices.
• The first payments are expected to be made as early as January 2021 and will be retroactive to the start of the second containment

Note that a decree is expected with details on its implementation.

If you have any questions about this digital aid, please contact : [email protected] 

If you have any questions about your file, please contact : [email protected]

To find out more about the government's digital support, region by region, visit https://www.francenum.gouv.fr/

You have a little more visibility and fit into one of the NAF codes eligible for the digital check of the Ile de France region? You wish to assess your needs according to your activity and know, concretely, what kind of digital solution could be suitable for you to enable you to boost your sales and how much would it cost you?

Send us a message for personalized advice and a free estimate!