53% Italians shopped online in the past month

Consumers in Italy are more and more interested in shopping online. A recent study shows that two out of three Italians have visited an online store in January, while over half of Italians (53 percent) have purchased a product or service online during this period.

These are the main conclusions from an analysis by Coldiretti, in its ‘Digital 2018‘ report on the spread and usage of the internet in the last month and which highlights the growing interest of Italians in ecommerce.

Most popular products in Italy

The research shows that the average online spending of Italians have reached 595 euros per person per year, which is an increase of 8 percent compared to last year. Clothing & beauty products is the most popular product category online, as Italian e-shopper spent about 3.5 billion euros on these products. Followed by holidays & trips (2.9 billion euros) and toys & hobbies (2.2 billion euros). The food & personal care category is still not very big, with less than 1 billion euros spent in this category, but according to Coldiretti it’s the fastest-growing product category, with an increase of 15 percent.

“For food, there is actually a polarization in purchasing behavior, with an increasing number of consumers who prefer a direct relationship with producers”, the researchers write. This is demonstrated by the success of direct sales markets (also known as growers’ markets) where 30 million Italians have been shopping at least once a month last year.