Shopping in the hustle and bustle of shops and malls? No thank you. Now just one click. For any type of product: from travel bookings to clothing, from household tools to your favorite book or magazine. Even the beauty product for the pet. No time is wasted at the checkout and often savings are made by skipping the mediations.
There are 7.220 e-commerce companies active in Italy in 2010, up 25% since 2009. It emerges from an elaboration by the Milan Chamber of Commerce on data from the Business Register relating to the fourth quarter of 2009 and 2010, with the integration of Istat 2010 figures.
Lombardy and Lazio are leaders in online sales, respectively with 18,7% (+26,8% since 2009) and 12,5% (+22,3%) of the Italian total in the sector. Followed by Campania (9% nationally) and Piedmont (8,5%). Among the provinces, Rome is first with 728 companies, Milan with 613 and Turin with 356. While among the most significant growths in one year are Ferrara (+90%) and Vibo Valentia (+83,3%).
Online commerce businesses are for 71,6% sole proprietorships. In approx two out of three cases (66,2%) the owner is under 40 years old, is almost always Italian (91%) and in 29,3% of cases female. Among Italians who have used the internet in the last year, 26,3% have ordered or bought goods and services online.
Nearly 9 million shop on the Internet. They buy especially train and air tickets (35,9%) and holidays (33,6%). But also books and magazines (25,4%), clothes and sporting goods (24,4%), tickets for shows (21,2%), electronic equipment (18,5%), household items (15,5 %) and movies and music (15,3%). The most "navigated" regions of online shopping? Lombardy (20,1% of the national total), Lazio (10,9%) and Veneto (9,5%).
Among the most curious products on sale, beauty products for pets such as sanitizing grease for pony hooves, wigs and hair extensions, medieval items, miniature furniture and accessories for dolls houses, ornamental fish, ceremonial clothes for dogs, floral decorations for churches, clocks pendulum and collectible or wargame metal toy soldiers.
