11% of Italian eCommerce shops choose alternative and more sustainable delivery solutions to traditional home delivery, including Locker or Click&Collect, among their strategies to increase online sales. To this figure must be added a further 10% of online shops that invest or will invest in customised shipping to win more customers and increase sales and turnover.
These are the figures that emerge from Casaleggio Associati’s ‘eCommerce in Italy’ 2024 research, an annual focus on the state of the art of e-commerce in our country (and beyond), presented last week in Milan.
Indeed, Davide Casaleggio had anticipated this: ‘We are facing the transformation of eCommerce as we know it today. And logistics has (a lot) to do with this transformation.
But back to us, and back to the original question: what strategies should be put in place to increase online sales? Here is what Italian eCommerce companies have answered.
Strategies to increase online sales (according to Italian eCommerce)
At the top of the solutions to increase online sales that the companies surveyed by Casaleggio Associati are already implementing or plan to implement are payment solutions (30%), followed by multimodality (22%) and loyalty programmes 19%).
From the fourth position, however, logistics takes centre stage.
1. Investing in logistics and shipping to increase online sales
As a matter of fact, 13% of eCommerce users consider investing in free shipping and returns to be an effective strategy to increase online sales, followed – as mentioned at the beginning – by investments in alternative delivery methods such as Click & Collect, Locker and Delivery community service (11%) and personalised shipping (10%).
The bottom line is soon done: logistics and shipping represent a central point in the strategy to increase online sales for 34% of Italian eCommerce companies.
And that is not all. We must add a further 6% of online stores for which packaging, transport and, more generally, more sustainable behaviour on the part of eCommerce companies also count. Sustainability, in fact, plays a not secondary role and is closely linked to the world of logistics and shipping.
2. Investing in sustainability to increase online sales
In recent years, as the Report states, much has been moved within companies in the direction of greater sustainability. One can in fact speak of real strategies implemented with the aim of increasing sustainability, understood in environmental, economic and social terms.
13% of eCommerce companies declare that they have as a further objective the reduction of their CO2 emissions, and this choice is not accidental: more and more consumers are paying attention to this issue and investing in this direction today brings an inevitable return. Translated: it is a good strategy to increase online sales.
But how do Italian eShops intend to concretely invest in sustainability? The majority of eCommerce shops offer customers sustainable or recyclable products and/or packaging, tied (17%) with eCommerce companies that claim to reduce material use and favour recycling. 7% use sustainable means of transport and couriers.
It is therefore worth noting that a still rather low percentage of eCommerce companies choose sustainable delivery methods, despite the fact that, as we have seen, logistics is considered a key lever for guaranteeing an increase in online sales and, as Casaleggio Associati also points out, remains central in characterising the type of service offered to customers.
3. Investing in Gen Z to increase online sales
It is also interesting to note that the topic of environmental sustainability is particularly dear to the so-called Gen Z (the generation of people born between the late 1990s and early 2000s, by 2010).
In fact, the environmental impact of one’s actions is reflected in the purchasing behaviour of one third of consumers aged 25-34.
Why is this figure particularly significant? Because Gen Z, the first generation born with the Internet as well as the one that has forced brands to face the ‘digital transformation’ in recent years, is, together with the Millennials generation (born between the early 1980s and the mid-1990s or early 2000s), the one that buys the most online, according to Statista data.
Elements to consider in a good strategy to increase online sales
In conclusion, therefore, to increase online sales of one’s eCommerce, a few fundamentals must be kept in mind:
- Being sustainable is no longer a choice, but a necessity. The most active eShoppers (Gen Z and Millennials), and more generally all consumers, are particularly aware of sustainability. Consequently, if one wants to attract this segment of consumers – and thus increase sales – it is important to make choices that go in the direction of a greater commitment to eCommerce sustainability, especially when one considers that many companies – hence competitors – are already investing or intend to invest in this direction.
- The services – and the level of services – of logistics and shipping assume a central role. More and more eCommerce companies are investing in this direction in the knowledge that consumer needs are changing and becoming increasingly important. A good, personalised and sustainable shipping service counts more and more in purchasing decisions. Consequently, if you want to increase your online sales, you cannot help but consider this aspect.
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