Food and Drink E-Commerce in Italy

PROSPECTS

Strongest retail value growth in retailing for food and drink e-commerce

Food and drink e-commerce recorded the strongest retail value growth within retailing in 2019, albeit from a relatively small base. Despite the growing interest in this type of shopping among Italian consumers, the channel still represented a small percentage of total e-commerce sales.

Modern grocery retailers include food and drink e-commerce into their multi-channel strategies

Modern grocery retailers are including food and drink e-commerce into their omnichannel strategies. Despite the low share of sales it represented at the end of the review period, most retailers in Italy are strengthening their online sales platforms and capabilities to ensure food and drink e-commerce is increasingly available and attractive to consumers.

Many opportunities for food and drink e-commerce

The profile of the Italian population provides interesting market niches for food and drink e-commerce, especially with regard to groceries. On the one hand, young, tech-savvy urban consumers who are increasingly attracted by the convenience and timesaving capabilities of such options represent a major potential niche, while on the other, a large proportion of seniors aged 65+ and their caregivers could profit from the convenience of such services.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Modern grocery retailers launch click and collect services

Modern grocery retailers are increasingly launching click and collect services via lockers. In July 2018, Coop Italia launched self-service refrigerated lockers in collaboration with Vodafone, which can also store frozen food, where customers can collect their grocery shopped online 24/7.

Esselunga launches a Google Assistant app

At the end of 2018, Esselunga included in its app a feature to connect with Google Assistant to create a shopping list. By simply saying “Ok Google, parla con Esselunga” (Ok Google, talk to Esselunga) the Google Assistant will start taking notes of the grocery list and make it available on Esselungaacasa.

Crai Secom continues to roll out its proximity e-commerce system

Crai Secom continued to roll out its proximity e-commerce project developed with the Polytechnic University of Milan, which offers shoppers the possibility to shop online and pick-up their grocery at one of the stores in its large network. The player regards the project as a key component of its strategy to become closer to its customers.

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