Italy is the 14th largest market for eCommerce. It borders with Vatican, San Marino, Slovenia, Austria, France, and Switzerland. The administrative area of Italy is 301 340 km², and over 60,3m people inhabit it.
In this article, we will focus on Italian eCommerce. You will find here the most important things you need to know about the e-market in this country. Let’s start a quick overview!
Italy ecommerce overview
The Italian economy has progressed in past years, but almost everyone remembers how this country suffered when Coronavirus walked into it. Italy was the first European country to experience the Pandemic so much. As a result, it served as a test for assessing the organizational structure related to e-commerce. But as we can see, this country is recovering from the crisis quite quickly and hasn’t said its last words yet. So how the ecommerce in this country looks now?
Italy’s economy is well-off and boasts one of the largest GDPs worldwide. Government Revenues in Italy increased to 64.87 EUR Billion in September from 46.50 EUR Billion in August of 2021.
source: https://tradingeconomics.com/italy/government-revenues
Luxury goods sales are also vital in this country, as Italy is home to Armani, Gucci, and Prada brands. In the past, the fashion sector dominated the country. But now, the largest segment in the Italian e-market is Electronics & Media and accounts for 29% of the eCommerce revenue in Italy. Then we can find Fashion with 26% (Zalando is the most popular fashion marketplace, Toys, Hobby & DIY with 17%, Food & Personal Care with 15%, and Furniture & Appliances with the remaining 14%. Tourism was also a strong sector, but in 2020 (the first year of the Covid era), Italy’s domestic tourism consumption declined by more than 63 billion euros compared to 2019.
As evidenced by the industry’s turnover, e-commerce is becoming increasingly popular in Italy. As a result, in the three months to September of 2021, Italy’s gross domestic product grew by 2.6 percent quarter-on-quarter.
In October 2021, Amazon.it was the most visited shopping and an e-commerce website in Italy, followed by subito.it at the 2nd place and ebay.it. rank at 3rd place as the leaders of the E-commerce And Shopping websites in Italy. At 4th plase is trovaprezzi.it.
source:https://www.similarweb.com/top-websites/italy/category/e-commerce-and-shopping/
Consumer behavior in Italy
Consumers’ behavior changed because of pandemics. For example, Italian consumers who buy online grew by 2 million only during the first two months of the pandemic. Another significant change was the decrease of cash as payment use in online transactions.
By the end of 2021, user penetration will hit 59,0%, and it’s predicted to stand at the level of 67,5% by 2025. By this, we mean that 59% of the Italian population have bought at least one product in an online store. So it’s not surprising that Italian consumers are increasingly enjoying buying on the internet. We can also say that Italian consumers prefer to shop online for products related to leisure activities, tourism, clothing, cosmetics, and personal care.
51% of Italians purchased from international websites in 2020 due to a lack of domestic choices. Italy’s most famous foreign e-commerce sites are located in China (32%), the United Kingdom (20%), and Germany (14%).
Payment methods in Italy
Credit cards, digital wallets, and bank transfers are the most popular online payments in Italy.
source:https://merchants.glopal.com/en-au/sell-online/italy-ecommerce
Paying with a credit card is the preferred method of payment for Italians when they shop online. However, this preference has been consolidating recently, along with a rise in the popularity of digital wallets like PayPal, Google Pay, and Amazon Pay. One of the earliest players in this segment, PayPal, dominates the online payments market in Italy, with a share of 65 percent, despite offering a broader range of services in recent years.
Although cards represent 40% of the B2C payments market, digital wallet usage is on the rise. By 2022, digital wallet usage is expected to grow by 26.7%.
Logistic in Italy
A great option for growth-minded online merchants is selling in this country. It is estimated that there are about 10 thousand logistics companies in Italy, with 85 billion dollars in turnover in 2019, or 9% of the country’s GDP. However, approximately 90% of them are micro or small businesses, with fewer than nine employees and little opportunity to invest heavily in digital transformation.
Due to the halting of industrial shipments, the logistics sector had a sharp decline, especially at the lockdown beginning, with a 35 percent. On the other hand, shipments generated by e-commerce have increased +103% during the lockdown and 68.5% after lockdown, showing that the trend will continue to grow.
Internet users in Italy
The number of Italian web shoppers is constantly increasing, so are internet users too. Consumers are now more likely to make purchases on social media. A growing number of brands and Italian consumers are increasingly enjoying digital services have integrated their e-commerce platforms with social media so consumers can easily connect to them.
41 million Italians use social media. That’s why 67% of Italian companies want to increase their social media marketplaces’ investments, particularly Facebook and Instagram, ranked as the most effective social media platforms in 2021. Moreover, 93% of the Italian population is now online.
The pandemic encouraged e-commerce usage to grow even more. As a result, Internet ecommerce buyers are expected to reach 40 million just by 2024. It’s also worth mentioning that desktop computers are no longer the favorite device for online shopping – mobile devices got 51% of the total ecommerce purchases in 2020. In other words, smartphones are being increasingly used for digital purchases on a global scale.
Over to you
Consumers are increasingly taking advantage of digital services as online marketplaces dominate Italian e-commerce. Faster networks and smartphones have made payments very secure, so more and more internet users are not afraid to buy online. Moreover, attractive app designs and significant discounts attract all generations. Selling in Italy is therefore worth considering for many international e-commerce retailers. After all, it is such a large and active consumer market!
