Online shopping in Italy - statistics & facts
Online sales and purchase of products and services have become ubiquitous in the internet environment. In other words, online shopping is more closely related to internet usage than ever. Italy makes no exception to that, counting nearly 20 million of e-commerce consumers in the B2C segment only.
Italians’ attitudes towards innovations appear quite neutral, with nearly half of them not having a clear opinion on whether to shop from companies using artificial intelligence or not. That leaves online retailers operating in the country the challenge to optimize the shopping experience and attract Italian shoppers.
How online consumption works
Seasonality is a key aspect of physical retail and e-commerce. Monthly sales peak during the winter season and especially before Christmas time. Some product categories dominate the e-commerce market, with consumer electronics and fashion products counting on a larger consumer base than grocery items. As a result, the first two merchandise groups are also the most returned ones. In the pre-purchase phase, online consumers tend to browse online a lot. Price comparison sites have expanded from their primary function and turned into a goldmine source of information on products. Once the purchase decision is made, consumers are left with several payment options, including appreciated digital payment services.Shopping is moving from stores to social media
With internet users spending a lot of time on social networks, these platforms attract users to follow brands and, more recently, to buy from them. The trend of social commerce already observed in other countries now appeals to Italian social media users, and is likely to be modeled on mobile devices, where the most social traffic to e-commerce sites has been reported. Social media serve as platforms for the live showcase of products and services, promoted directly by brands or influencers. The Italian audience seems to have limited familiarity with live commerce, as less than ten percent of them purchased a product during a shopping event streamed online. Live commerce growth might benefit from the presence of influencers online. Half of influencers’ followers consider their product recommendations trustworthy and, in some cases, base their purchase decisions solely on influencers’ recommendations or promotions.Italians’ attitudes towards innovations appear quite neutral, with nearly half of them not having a clear opinion on whether to shop from companies using artificial intelligence or not. That leaves online retailers operating in the country the challenge to optimize the shopping experience and attract Italian shoppers.
