Today the fourteenth edition of Netcomm Forum, held at Mico in Milan on May 29th and 30th 2019, concludes. During the opening day were presented data about the eCommerce market in Italy according to the latest survey by the B2C eCommerce Observatory Netcomm Consortium / School of Management of the Politecnico di Milano.
In particular, the data confirm that in 2019 online purchases in Italy are growing strongly, registering a +15% compared to 2018 and exceeding 31.5 billion euros. In the distinction between products and services, we see the first equal to 18.2 billion euros (+21%) and the second reach 13.3 billion online (+7%). A special mention goes to mobile research, which contains 40% of the eCommerce traffic generated.
The sector that remains one of the most performing is IT and electronics, with a growth of +18% and a value of over 5 billion euros. In second place Clothing with +16%, and a value of 3.3 billion euros. Then we find, among the emerging and growing sectors, Forniture & Home Living (+ 26%, € 1.7 billion), Food & Grocery (+ 39%, almost € 1.6 billion) and Tourism & Transportation, regarding the area of services (+ 8%, € 10.8 billion).
The Italian situation, about the penetration of e-commerce into retail, is gradually approaching to the rest of Europe, reaching 7% (of which 6% for products, 11% for services). In fact, for the B2C market, Italy holds the lowest share of the population that purchases online: we reach a 44% against 68% of the European population. The main cause is the lowest ability of retailers to apply technologies to a market that is increasingly moving towards the online, in fact only 10% of Italian companies sell online. The Italian eShopper have to buy from others seller to see their needs met. In fact, in the Italian market there is a deficiency activation from the brand of omnichannel policies to increase performance and achieve more ambitious business objectives that strategically cover both the online and the offline market.
Netcomm's analysis of how Italians buy, reveals that e-mails, sms and app notifications are the most effective tool to reach and interest users and push them to buy: 22% of online sales are direct consequence of these tools. The preventive visit to the physical store, as we have seen, affects 18.4% of purchases.
With regards to physical stores, of which Italy is very rich, just think about the development of PMI, we can predict how the impact of artificial intelligence can be really interesting and immediate, just to go to break down that gap between expectations and reality that is created in the online market. In fact, several AI solutions have been adopted in the retail environment to improve customer relationship management (chatbot), automation of the logistics chain (machine learning) and all areas that go to strengthen and personalize the seller-customer relationship.
The innovations brought by the AI will improve the understanding of users' expectations, facilitating customization and making pre and post sales services more efficient.
E-Business Consulting, which operates since 2003 in the world of digital communication, proposes itself as a partner for companies interested in promoting their brand with a omnichannel view, designing and supporting digital strategy, Google shopping, Social Advertising and email marketing.
