E-commerce in Italy: are companies really ready for it?

The debate over e-commerce is getting more and more heated. While it is true that online shopping in Italy is at lower levels than in other countries, it is also true that it is a market in sharp growth that is rapidly catching up.

According to Adnkronos’ data, in 19% of cases the user gets to buy a product through the use of search engines; in 17.3% of cases he finalizes the purchase by visiting the web page of the brand to which he is interested and in 17.1% of cases by using price comparisons.

How do Italians shop: the Customer Journey

But there is one phenomenon unknown to many: the “customer journey”. This is the path the person takes before buying a product and that consists of inquiring, collecting useful elements and also documenting through the reviews and opinion of peers. Simply put: Italians need to know what they are doing, before putting their hand inside the wallet and paying any amount of money to purchase a product or service. Visits to the physical store are also part of this process.

E-commerce in Italy: what do they buy more?

According to a research of Netcomm, the online purchases of Italians do not stop their growth: the products are at 18.2 billion euros, while the services are at 13.3 billion. The most thriving market seems to be the technology and informatics ones, followed by the clothing, furniture, food and travel markets.
The tourism sector, although ranked among the last places, due to slow growth, is still the one with the highest turnover. Italy is not only behind other countries, but also holds the last place in the competitiveness of the e-commerce sector. Why is this happening? The causes are due to the country’s low digital skills and corporate competitiveness: a perfect linear correlation, indeed, demeaning. The result is that, due to the lack of familiarity with informatics technologies, only 10% of Italian companies offer online shopping.

Italians want to buy: companies should adapt!

To provoke a turning point to the Italian e-commerce, the most consistent thing to do for traditional merchants is to open the doors to online sales, entering this new market and trying to make room in it.
Place side to side the physical and the online presence, both through marketplaces and personal e-commerce is an important and necessary step.
At SellMasters, we have a role to play in this crucial moment, serving as a bridge between businesses and the online business: we support merchants who see the network as a resource to increase their turnover.