Almost all Spain, Portugal and part of France They lived yesterday a Total blackout that will remain in the Black History of Europe. The causes are not yet known, nor has 100% of the electricity have been re -established, but social networks have already viralized postcards of all kinds: from looted and chronic supermarket cameos of people trapped in trains and elevators, to images of long lines of people waiting to buy candles, flashlights, radios or hornillos.
In the middle of chaos, from marketing4commerce we wanted Give voice to different local eCommerce to tell us how they lived the day. Experiences have been varied, although Most business were harmed, with falls from sales greater than 50%in addition to registering logistics and communication problems. The day later is presented with several challenges.
Sales paralysis
From Farma2go They calculate that yesterday They lost more than 60-65% of national traffic, what resulted in a fall between 55 and 60% in sales in the national market. Even internationally registered falls between 15 and 20%, despite the fact that the operation followed its course in a somewhat stable way. “It has been a very drastic and dramatic day for our operation, both in volume of orders and in customer service,” he says Francisco CanadasDeputy Director and Co-Co-End of the Company.
Héctor Rubioof the Copykrea copy He also suffered a Sales and Portugal sales collapse«But as our CPD is in Azure (France) and there we have more than 60% of Europe's sales (not counting Portugal and Spain), because not so bad. We sold a lot. Now today we are freaking out of the jam we have to get, especially European sales, ”he explains.
Another that had a bad experience was Only croquetteswho lived one of the toughest days in his history, «the impact was even greater because this week is one of the most orders of the year, coinciding with Mother's Day. All orders were paralyzed at a critical moment for our turnover, affecting the experience of our clients. In addition, we knew that with the festive bridge the shipments would be paralyzed, so that every hour without activity was a huge risk to meet the delivery deadlines, ”says the CEO, says, CEO says, Eduardo Gambero.
“In Naturitas At the sales level we saw the day reduced to 60%», calculates Nicola LavinoCEO of the company. «The web did not fall but, many people could not access. In the warehouse we were only 2 hours without electricity and we took the opportunity to clean and order. I trust to recover sales today ».
The panorama is repeated in other businesses: World Fombra He did not sell anything from noon; The Travel Agency Bookaris registered only one reserve; The store Only tennis He had only 3 orders outside Spain and one in Valencia; WINESELECTION sold only 35-40% of what was expected; And both the footwear brand Fierce shoesuch as the ecommerce specialized in products derived from cannabis, CBD professorand the store FitnessDigital They suffered one 50% drop in sales.
Operating problems
The lack of electricity brought many complications at the operational level, such as having to use paper and ball to write down sales, juggling so that merchandise is not losing or managing work teams in the midst of uncertainty.
«We in the pharmacy charging with the notebook and the truth that to be without light we made sales. Good luck we had the prices put in all the boxes and that is why we could sell, mainly children, potato, etc. ”, says the CEO of Galileo Farma, Felipe Martín.
«Yesterday we had to get the broom, it was the only thing that did not need electricity. We also take the opportunity to sweep the ship and organize shelves, ”he explains Manuel MasMarketing Director and Technology of World Fombra«At 1:30, everyone at home to see that everything was fine. We remained that if at 4 there were no news, we were already at home ».
Borja IribarneCEO and founder of CBD professor He also says that they took the opportunity to order the warehouse, but that before the uneasiness of the work team, he decided to send them to their homes at 13.30. In addition, they had problems with the logistics service.
Copykrea It has no generator, so they could not get the orders that were pending packaging only, since the labeling of the carriers did not work. «Those who were already ready at that time did come out because transport companies in León worked normally (at least some). But it was just 60-70% of what should have come out, ”says Rubio.
Noemi looksfrom the travel agency Bookarishad to manage the most sensitive part: customer service. «People who have not been able to cancel in time (due to lack of connection), reserves with last day without expenses (yesterday), the people of the thematic parks quite nervous, especially Portaventura. But come on, that customers in general, thanking attention and empathizing ».
Manuel Heviaof WINESELECTIONhe says that they sent the workers to their homes around 14-15 hours, since many people live in nearby towns and public transport was a disaster. «There were people who took to return home almost 6 hours; Some made distances on foot of up to 3 hours. Today we are operational but national telecommunications are not working 100%. In May it will be necessary to recover.
One of the worst experiences was that of Only croquetteswho suffered the total cut of his fridge cameras, where they retain artisan croquettes: «They were moments of authentic anguish. In addition, the blackout left us half production, interrupting processes that take us three days of elaboration: from the slow and accurate preparation of the Bechamel, through the “Boleo” (manual formed of the croquettes), to the final batter. An interruption in any of these phases implies important losses in raw materials, in time and in human effort, ”he explains Gamber.
Some were prepared
What happened yesterday took us all, or almost all. There were (counted) businesses that had contingency plans and managed to continue with relative normality. That is the case, for example of THE HOUSE OF THE CARCASASthat last year suffered two long cuts of light that forced production. From then on, the company has created a specific plan for these cases.
As the company's technology director tells, FARES KAMELIyesterday the warehouse operated normally, without service falls, “250 people working in the warehouse, 80 people in the central and 60 transport out,” Fares says. «In Spain and Portugal we have about 400 stores of the 970 that we have, with 3 brands in 10 countries that were no longer affected those that we were giving service. If someone asks me, what is the BCP budget? My answer will be: April 28, 2025. If you evaluate the cost of work lost and add the repeating it, not counting the opportunity cost, stopping operating one day in a multinational like ours, it is huge, ”he says.
In Creators CO. They could also work normally, since they have the necessary equipment, but the general nervousness caused the day to end before time: “Even being able to work, because we have a generator and plates, we send people for home at about 6 in the afternoon, because without a signal on the mobile Victor Juárez.
Another that was prepared was Arcon Food And so he let him know, Francisco José Gonzálezthrough a LinkedIn post in which he explained why the company is a reference in the sector: «Ecommerce did not stop a single minute of meeting the needs of our clients. And as we were knowing that many customers had no connection and that the messages were sent hours after writings, so instead of closing the day at 00:00, we have closed it at 4:30 in the morning, the trucks also leaving between 6:00 and 7:00 to our clients. Some extra work of 2 people has suffered so that the day has not deferred too much from any Monday ».
The pet food store, Bird accessorieswas able to get the picking from all orders thanks to the SAIS (automatic identification and monitoring systems) of computers. With the new orders they organized a sticker with the data to have them ready for today.
The Ham brand Joselito He already had scheduled that he would not take orders because in Guijuelo (Castilla y León) he was festive. But at the sales level, just yesterday they launched a new product to the market and sales were fired until 12.30, blackout time.
In each crisis an opportunity is born
As in every crisis, there are always “beneficiaries” and/or those entrepreneurs who know how to see the business opportunity.
Yesterday, the great winners of the blackout were the Supermarkets that had structure groups, the Warehouses, hardware stores and multipurpose stores that before uncertainty and general panic were looted by citizens. Social networks were flooded with videos showing empty gondolas and long lines of people waiting to buy from water and food, to toilet paper, candles, batteries, radios, gas stoves.
A Mercadona totally razed for fear of what happens with the #Apagon https://t.co/cpp5rgq1gw
– Lo + viral (@superviiral) April 28, 2025
«The civil war looked, there were ladies who paid us purchases of 300 euros; Suddenly this was filled with people and everything was exhausted, it was a non -stop, at noon there was almost nothing, ”said an overseas employee Churches from Coruña to the newspaper La Voz de Galicia.
Javier CondeCEO of Shokeonline security store, hopes that people will approach today to get their survival kit, flashlights and other elements that leave them better unemployed if a similar scenario occurs again.
The color note gave it The toasterstore specialized in custom products such as t -shirts, cups, backpacks and other merchandising items, which already has the “I survived the blackout” model, a work of “trendingmemes”, which can be bought online for 17.90 euros. Chapeau!
Photo: Canva.
