Mobile Internet Retailing in Italy

PROSPECTS

Italian infrastructure lags compared to other developed countries

As the rest of Europe and the world acknowledge that 4G will soon be saturated by the large amount of data that is already online, an urgent need to accelerate the development of 5G is arising. Unfortunately, Italy was still testing 5G in 2018 in a limited number of cities, namely Milan, Prato, L’Aquila, Bari and Matera.

Sales via smartphone outpace those via tablets

The ubiquitous presence of smartphones in the pockets of most Italians was instrumental for the growth of mobile commerce towards the end of the review period. Due to this, a large proportion of older consumers have become increasingly acquainted with internet commerce, as well as with mobile.

Apparel and footwear comprises largest share of mobile retailing

Most sales that occur via mobile devices in Italy refer to apparel and footwear. Consumers of all ages buy these products often via mobile device, through both smartphones and tablets.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

High proportion of Privalia/Vente-privee’s customers buy from mobile devices

Italy is one of the best performing markets for Vente-privee, which operates 400 campaigns every month, pursuing impulse shopping. In the future, the retailer’s strategy will be deployed in three main directions: with such a high proportion of sales through mobile, larger investments will be made on IT, as well as customer service and faster delivery times; to offer higher-end brands and better prices, Privalia will strengthen the relationship with key partners such as Elena Mirò, given the success that the two companies had in 2018 with the 5-day promotional campaign it launched; finally, the Connected Business project will allow brands to sell their products on Privalia as a marketplace.

Esselunga’s app a good example

The vast majority of apps that consumers download from large grocery retailers experience limited downloads, and in most cases, they are deleted within one week. This tends to be because a large share of consumers in Italy do not remain loyal to the same supermarket.

Amazon launches Virtual Dash buttons in Italy

In April 2018, Amazon launched the Virtual Dash Buttons in Italy for its Prime customers. Through these, customers can quickly reorder items of interest through the free Amazon Shopping App, and they can create as many virtual buttons as they need, all associated with items that are eligible for Amazon Prime shipping.

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