Italy

The ecommerce industry in Italy was worth approximately 24.2 billion euros in 2014, which means an overall increase of 8% compared to 2013. Marketplaces and foreign players are positioning themselves in the Italian market and seem responsible for the transformation that's noticeable now.

Home design ecommerce platform Lovethesign has announced it has received more than 3.7 million euros ($4 million) in Series A funding. The round was led by United Ventures and has also attracted some private investors from the Italian fashion and design industry.

It's not a secret Italy is lagging behind in terms of ecommerce, but data shows that only 5 out of 100 companies in Italy sell online. This is in stark contrast with the European average of 14% of companies selling online.

Online retailer Yoox posted a 15 percent rise in revenues to 524 million euros last year. The strong performance in its struggling home market has helped the luxury online retailer to meet the analyst's forecast revenues of €525.7 million.

Amazon's marketplace is the largest of its kind. It's attracting millions of consumers who shop on the Amazon website and get their products from third-party sellers. Now there's a list that shows the global top 1,000 Amazon sellers as well as the top 500 sellers on Amazon's European marketplaces in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy and Spain.

When you think about products that are made in Italy, at first you will probably think of brands like Gucci, Ferrari, Versace and Prada. But there's much, much more. That's why a new ecommerce site has launched. Storytalia wants to promote quality goods from selected brands, so its visitors get to know "the unexpected made in Italy".

Every country has its own habits, rules and traditions. In Italy this is no different. When you have an ecommerce company in this Southern European country or when you want to start one, there are some things you should know. About Italian consumers, their habits, their preferred payment methods and their ideal delivery solutions. We have these tips!

The self-appointed ‘biggest online music store in The Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg’ is planning to spread throughout more countries in Europe. Earlier this year Bax-shop already launched online stores in France (Bax-shop.fr) and Germany (Bax-shop.de). Sweden, Italy, UK and Spain are on the list for next year.

Redesigning the site have proved to be effective for Yoox Group, as it saw an 18% increase in conversions and a 3% lower bounce rate than the old site just weeks after launch. And to top it all off, the Italian online retailer that also operates ecommerce sites for other brands, reported 15% revenue growth in the first half of this year.

Allyouneed.com is expanding its services in Europe. The German online grocery retailer already delivered foods and drinks in Austria, but is now ready for the next step. Allyouneed.com will deliver to customers in France, Italy, The Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark.

Facebook is a very popular social network amongst European online retailers. Except for the United Kingdom, where online retailers are more active on Twitter. But Twitter is however still less popular in the UK than in other countries like Germany or Spain. These two countries have the most social media savvy online retailers, as 90% of them are on Facebook and 80% are on Twitter.

It may not have been all moonlight and roses for Southern Europe with the financial crises countries like Spain, Italy and Greece had to face, but in terms of ecommerce this European region is doing well. It’s expected that the total online economy of sold goods and service in Southern Europe in 2013 amounted to 39,5 billion euros.

The mobile retail audience in Europe grew by 43 percent over the past year, with 20 percent of smartphone users visiting online retail sites and apps using their mobile phone. Also 1 in 7 smartphone users from the five leading European markets (the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain)have completed a retail transaction on their phone in a month.