Xin Ou
Research expert covering Greater China
E-commerce in Italy - statistics & facts
E-commerce continues to thrive in Italy, as the industry's annual revenue testifies. The inflation pressure of 2022 seems to have been fading, as the market experienced a 27 percent increase - a value second only to the surge seen during the pandemic. Always exposed to seasonality, the online retail market left behind the low index values from 2022 and 2023 and maintained a positive trend in the first half of 2024.
Italian e-commerce companies prioritize their websites as key sales channels. Marketplaces represent the second-biggest source of e-commerce revenue, as they also streamline transactions with customers based abroad. Italian merchants sell mostly to neighboring EU countries, as Germany, France, and Spain top the ranking of export markets.
Looking at the share of revenue that B2C retail companies expect to generate from digital channels, e-commerce is likely to gain relevance in the sale strategy of Italian enterprises as well as in the purchase behavior of Italian consumers.
Growing segments
Travel services and leisure still represent the biggest segments of the market, although merchandise categories like fashion and consumer electronics reported significant growth over the last years. Mobile channels have gained higher relevance for marketers, with the value of B2C mobile transactions being worth nearly 30 billion euros in 2023.Italian e-commerce companies prioritize their websites as key sales channels. Marketplaces represent the second-biggest source of e-commerce revenue, as they also streamline transactions with customers based abroad. Italian merchants sell mostly to neighboring EU countries, as Germany, France, and Spain top the ranking of export markets.
How Italians pay for their online purchases
E-commerce sites and apps have never registered so many visitors as in December 2023. That month, 39 million Italians shopped online or included online channels in their customer journey – that is a figure unthinkable only a couple of years before. Online shopping brought a higher familiarity with online payment methods. In 2024, Italian consumers favored online payment services over any other type of card (credit, debit, or pre-paid). The purchase behavior surely strengthens the position of PayPal, by far the most used online payment service in e-commerce. It also aligns with the strong preference shown for Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) options, a service luring four in ten Italian customers.Looking at the share of revenue that B2C retail companies expect to generate from digital channels, e-commerce is likely to gain relevance in the sale strategy of Italian enterprises as well as in the purchase behavior of Italian consumers.
