Online fashion industry in Italy is worth €1.8 billion

Italian consumers buy increasingly more clothing and accessories online. This product category has increased by 25 percent to 1.8 billion euros. During the last five years, this product category showed an average annual growth rate of 30 percent, which is double that of the Italian ecommerce as a whole.

Total sales of clothing from Italian ecommerce websites to Italian and foreign consumers reached almost 3 billion euros, which is an increase of 35 percent compared to last year. This is shown by the research study carried out by the B2C Ecommerce Observatory of Politecnico di Milano.

‘One of the most dynamic product categories’

“Clothing is one of the most dynamic product categories in the Italian b2c ecommerce industry, for at least three reasons”, says Alessandro Perego, scientific director of the Osservatori Digital Innovation. “First, the growth rate is higher than the average in ecommerce, the offer is diverse and in constant turmoil, and finally, there is a strong propensity for innovation”, he explains.

When the types of products are considered, it shows that clothing accounts for approximately 55 percent and accessories for 45 percent. There is a noted preference for shoes (both elegant and sports) and leather bags. Also, 50 percent of online fashion sales was achieved with women’s products, while men account for 40 percent of sales. The remaining 10 percent is for children’s fashion.

Online fashion industry in Italy is popular across the border

Italians buy fashion and accessories online mostly at websites of major Italian and international retailers or general marketplaces (46%), while they shop luxury items mostly at large ecommerce websites, private sales websites, manufacturers of ‘Made in Italy’ high-fashion and multi-brand boutiques. The most important buyers of Italian fashion are consumers from the UK, France, Germany, Russia and the US.