E-commerce in Italy in 2017 continues to grow in double digits. This main data emerging from the annual report on e-commerce posted a few days ago from Casaleggio Associati. Good news for entrepreneurs who have decided to invest in online sales. And for 2018? We provide export oriented increasingly towards China and omnichannel strategy.
In our country the spread of online reached 89.9% of the population between the 11 and 74 years, with the spread of smartphones that overtook the desktop. Thanks to constant technological growth e-commerce reached in 2017 a turnover amounted to 35.1 billion euros, an increase of 11% compared to 2016. In the distribution of the e-commerce market, leisure and tourism sectors continue to represent the largest share of the market, generating jointly on 70% of sales.
Italian positive trend is also confirmed by data that are related to Europe:Italy is the country (along with the Netherlands) where sales online have grown faster over the past 5 years. E-commerce continues to grow in the old continent, by clocking a 14% more in 2017 compared to the previous year. Top European markets for online sales are United Kingdom and France, which alone generates 70 percent of its sales.
Worldwide China and United States confirm their leadership position and summed together win 69.1% of global e-commerce, which is worth 1.584 trillion in revenue. The best world market for e-commerce is the area ofAsia and the Pacific, in particular China, which has the world's online sales 1/5 2017 alone.
The focus of e-commerce is shifting towards China, where more than 95% of users are shopping via your smartphone. The Italy still appears poorly prepared for riding the Chinese Dragon, as only 4% of Italian companies have a presence in China, a figure set to increase to 18% within the next few years. According to estimates relating to the next 10 years, companies will invest even more in Europe and the USA.
The brand "Made in Italy" remains a key asset for Italian companies that want to introduce their products in the world: this lever is exploited by a significant proportion of enterprises and makes Italian exports continue to climb.
But what are the strategies that small producers can use to launch the conquest of foreign markets? Adapt their technology infrastructures to the foreign market is often costly in terms of time and finances. The winning strategy is represented by the marketplace, which is expected by 2028 will benefit from a substantial share of investment on the part of Italian firms. Over the next 10 years is estimated the growth of large global marketplace, which will gain ground at the expense of online retail. In addition to the major superpowers of online like Amazon, Alibaba and Ebay, we will see a growth of vertical platforms territorial aggregation of smaller proportions.
The variables needed to harvest the opportunities ahead are already clear. Firstly the integration between physical and digital retail. The physical stores will not die within the next decade, but will have to adapt to a omnichannel strategy to continue to exist and be competitive.
Physical and online sales points increasingly dialogue through an Exchange which goes both ways: the shopping experience will be increasingly integrated between showrooming (search online and buy offline) and webrooming ( Search online and buy offline) in the type of campaign drive to store, which encourages users to go to the physical store.
In the future we will go more and more towards a virtual shopping experience, implying a lesser pursuit of sensory related to the product (need for touch). Today who has sensory shopping experience still has an edge, but that's not going to last long: technology increasingly sophisticated virtual-ready units from the new generations is likely to change the trend of purchase of those products that are more "perceptual" like groceries and handcrafted excellence.
Manufacturing excellence, as unique pieces that respond to a broad need for customization, are destined to emerge from the standardization and become new luxury goods whose purchase mechanism will focus on intrinsic uniqueness of the product. In a context such as that described, It's Tuscany is confirmed as a marketing tool at the forefront and in line with market trends now and in the future. It's Tuscany is the spatial marketplace which enhances the Tuscan brand, tied to double strand to the excellence of Made in Italy, an international showcase able to support small and medium-sized enterprises and to open the doors of e-commerce.