Development of e-commerce websites: 2017 data and records in Italy
The data processed by the eCommerce B2c Observatory of the Politecnico di Milano are very eloquent: with the development of e-commerce websites, in 2017 22 million Italians, of whom 16.2 are frequent users, have completed at least one online purchase. In addition, for the first time in the history of Italian eCommerce sites, the value of buying products such as books, computers, food, cosmetics and clothing, has exceeded that of services such as reservations, rc cars, tickets events, growing by 28% compared to the previous year..
The turnover coming from the portals of eCommerce has reached 23,6 billion euros, marking an increase of 17% regarding the previous year. As confirmation of this strong growth, another figure well describes the current situation: Poste Italiane noted that in the first six months of 2017 25 million parcels were delivered; and has planned to exceed 50 million by January 2018.
It is true that the boom in online shopping has not yet led to the birth of giants in Italy like Amazon, but with the development of e-commerce websites we are getting there: in 2016, the Camera di Commercio of Milan recorded a growth of 10% in companies dedicated to online purchases and 118% in the last 6 years. Numbers that explain very well how important it is for a company today to invest in the development of an e-commerce website to extend the purchasing possibilities of its customers.
The news, on the other hand, is not destined to end: there is already talk of organizing periods of very long discounts, on the model of the very successful initiatives of Amazon, such as the site "Waiting for Black Friday", which preceded the day of Black Friday. It is also working for an ever greater customization of the shopping experience: you want to give every user access to unique content, relying on its browsing history, its online searches and its geographical location.
In 2016 we witnessed the boom in assisted shopping methods, such as chats and links with Whatsapp and in 2017 the first chatbots appeared, the first artificial intelligences included in the development of e-commerce websites. What is the impact of these new technologies on online sales? It has been shown that a user is more inclined to purchase following a chat session, with a higher conversion rate and a higher expense than a normal user.
Another aspect that has yet to be fully established in Italy is the multichannel experience. With this type of functionality, a user who starts the purchase from the smartphone could end it on the home PC and be delivered to a physical store of the seller chain: a service of this type must be correctly usable on all devices and a complete system integration.
A question closely linked to the state of the art of eCommerce in Italy is internationalization. Italy, on the other hand, is known for being a land of tourism and products of recognized excellence, appreciated all over the world. A large part of the Italian eCommerce market is also related to tourism, from the purchase of transport tickets to the booking of accommodation. Not to mention the food, clothing, furniture and design sectors, all in constant rise. According to data from the National Observatory, 16% of Italian exports is reported to eCommerce, a figure that can still grow, through the improvement of the development of e-commerce websites, such as improving the translations of sites, the management of IVA and shipments, and a greater responsiveness and ability to adapt to different uses and styles of online purchase.
A final theme in the field of developing e-commerce websites of the future is the purchase "without wallets", through services such as Apple Pay, Amazon Pay, Paypal and Satispay. The integration of these fast and efficient payment systems leads to an increase in sales and the ability to more efficiently monitor transactions and customer habits. In recent years, alternative payment-enabled devices are also coming out, from smartwatches to the "Token", the smart ring, and that the techniques to secure the recognition of the owner are evolving, integrating biometric analyses such as face or retina. Soon the market will have to evolve again and adapt towards the integration of these solutions with a "sci-fi" flavor!
To conclude this overview on the issue of the development of e-commerce websites, the current state in Italy and the prospects for the future of online commerce, we can say that our team of experts Archibuzz is practical in the development of e-commerce websites, and is at your service to develop not only a responsive site, optimized, functional, attractive graphics and able to face all the challenges of this constantly evolving technology: we can also help you at all stages of the online sales process, starting from remarketing activity through Google tools, email marketing and Facebook ads; to organize with you a content marketing strategy that can give the right visibility to your products, carrying out in parallel an activity of monitoring and analysis of results that allows us in every circumstance to do the right actions to strengthen your business.
Do you have an eCommerce project and need support to achieve it? Tell us your idea: together we will build the right strategy to bring it to success.