In 2023, Italians' online purchases will grow by 13% and reach 54 billion euros. Products show a +8% compared to 2022 and at the end of the year will be worth 35.2 billion, while services will reach 18.8 billion (+22%). This is what emerges from the updated data on the eCommerce market in Italy, according to a survey by the B2c eCommerce observatory Netcomm - School of Management of the Politecnico di Milano.
The analysis was presented at the opening of Netcomm Forum - the reference event for the digital world on the evolution of eCommerce, digital retail and business innovation.
In products, after the generalized slowdown in growth in 2022, clothing, beauty and IT are the most dynamic sectors (with increases of about +10%), while the progression of food & grocery (+1% compared to twelve months ago) is slowing down.
Among services, the growth of the tourism and transport sector continues (+27% compared to 2022) and ticketing for events. The penetration of online on total retail purchases is equal to 12%, stable compared to 2022.
"Providing a snapshot of Italy's digital commerce is a complex activity. First of all, we must take into account the new purchasing habits of consumers, for whom - especially in the case of Generation Z - the border between online and offline no longer makes sense to exist", says Roberto Liscia, president of Netcomm.
Although, according to the NetComm survey, the number of online buyers is not expected to grow in 2023, stabilizing at around 33 million, the growth trend of the last 10 years leads to interpret this figure more as a reabsorption of the pandemic boom than as a stop in the digitalization of
consumers in Italy.
Moreover, in the last three years, the growth of regular online shoppers (people who buy on average at least once a month) has been 5.5 times that of sporadic (people who declare less than three purchases in the quarter): the regulars have reached 24.4 million this year, testifying to the fact that eCommerce has now entered the shopping habits of Italian consumers. Regulars, carrying out 90% of online transactions and with receipts of generally above average value, generate most of the total value of online purchases (93%).
While in the early stages of the advent of eCommerce the average age of shoppers was 36, today it has risen considerably (46 years on average) and the share of buyers in large urban centers has diminished: in short, the profile of online shoppers is progressively approaching that of the entire population.
"The eCommerce purchases of Italians record a double-digit growth trend also in 2023: on the one hand, services are experiencing a second youth, while products are going through a phase of more controlled growth and partly due to inflation", explains Valentina Pontiggia, director of the Netcomm B2C eCommerce observatory - Politecnico di Milano.