The consumption habits of Italians are changing and the e-commerce plays the lion's share. When it comes to shopping – especially during sales and before Christmas, but not only – more and more people are choosing the web. Second the latest Istat estimates, in 2019 online sales recorded a surge of 18,4% in Italy on an annual basis, accelerating compared to the data of 2018 (+ 12,1%) and 2017 (+ 14,7%). A sensational result, especially when compared with the general trend of retail sales, which grew only by last year 0,8%.
Even more surprising is the data relating to the month of December, when Italian e-commerce scored a leap of as much as 38,3%, against +0,9% of general consumption.
ELECTRONIC COMMERCE: THE MOST GROWTH MONTHS
From the tables of the Istat historical series it emerges that the second most positive month for e-commerce was September (+26,3%), which surprisingly recorded a better figure than July (+23,4%), starting month of the summer sales. They follow in the standings August (+ 19,5%), February (+ 17,8%), April (+ 17,1%) and October (+16,6%). At the bottom of the ranking there is November, a month in which the growth of internet purchases was very limited (+3,9%), despite the large volumes recorded on Black Friday.
Between 2015 and 2019, in our country the value of electronic commerce grew by 61,8%.
SMALL SHOPS IN DIFFICULTY
“The Istat data belies those associations that have denied the importance of online sales and events such as Black Friday – comments Carlo Rienzi, president of Codacons – and demonstrate how e-commerce has profoundly changed the purchasing habits of families. However, it is the small shops that are paying the price, which also in 2019 are confirmed to be in serious difficulty: for small-sized businesses, sales fell by -0,7% last year, with peaks of -1,3% for shops with up to five employees”.
Also read: "E-commerce is worth only 2% of total Italian exports"
