Italian eShoppers number more than 38 million, 7 percent more than in the pre-pandemic period. This is according to data from the Communications Observatory No. 4/2022 released at the close of last year by the Communications Guarantee Authority (AGCOM). A growth that, in absolute terms, translates into 2.5 million more than in 2019 and 0.5 more than in 2021.
Figures that, after all, are not surprising, since the eCommerce boom is there for all to see, but which give us an accurate picture of the size of the phenomenon. Let us therefore find out more about them.
Unique users of eCommerce sites/apps
Data on eCommerce sites/apps in our country consecrate online shopping as an established habit now for more than half of the Italian population, with 38 million 64 thousand unique users connected in September 2022, that is, 448 thousand more users (+1.3%) than in September 2021. Thus, 86.4% of those who use the Internet are e-Shoppers.
According to Audiweb data from September 2022, in fact, there are 44 million 138 thousand users connected to the Internet in Italy, accounting for almost 75% of the population aged 2 and older. 91% of users between the ages of 18 and 74 connect via mobile – a fact not to be underestimated for a store wants to preside over the digital channel – and stay connected for an average of 62 hours and 52 minutes. To put it bluntly, almost three consecutive days.
How much time is spent on online shopping
Going back to AGCOM data, the time spent by each user on online shopping sites and apps averages 2 hours and 27 minutes. However, there is an additional detail to consider, which is useful for understanding in which direction eCommerce will have to move: the time spent by Italians on social networks is on average 20 hours 30 minutes, just under half of the total monthly time spent online. And this is where the protagonist of the moment makes his entrance: social commerce, which becomes as strategic as ever to increase points and contact time with consumers. It is no coincidence, in fact, that big names like Amazon are already testing new features that allow users to show products through a feed as similar as possible to TikTok’s. The line between eCommerce and social is becoming increasingly blurred…
The main eCommerce sites/apps in Italy
And speaking of Amazon, the online sales giant leads the Italian eCommerce market with 35.2 million users, accounting for 92.4 percent of the total monthly users of eCommerce sites/apps and up 4.7 percent from September of the previous year. They are followed, albeit at a distance, by eBay, Subito.it, Aliexpress (owned by Alibaba) and Lidl. In contrast, Stocard and Groupon, as well as consumer electronics chains Unieuro and Media World, are down, albeit among the top positions.
Yet, despite the positive data, the room for growth is still high. According to Eurostat data, in fact, Italy is still third to last (ahead of only Romania and Bulgaria) in terms of the number of people using the Net to make online purchases of goods and services. Countries such as France and Spain, for example, as also revealed by our analysis of eCommerce in the world, are much better positioned than Italy, which, however, seems intent on catching up.
