Events that influenced trade in 2022
The year 2022 represents the overcoming of the lockdown, therefore for electronic commerce it marks the return to traditional competition without the boost of physical store closures. To this, we must add the general increase in prices, the uncertainty caused by the energy crisis, the war in Russia and Ukraine, the exponential increase in transport costs in Asia... in short, certainly not a simple situation. But for those who took advantage of this moment to think about a reorganization and innovation of their business, 2023 has rosy forecasts.
eCommerce in the world
- 5.16 billion people (+98 million in the last year) have internet access;- most use mobile devices to connect (60%)
- in 2023, the global eCommerce market will exceed 6 trillion dollars (8 trillion in 2026);
- Alibaba is the largest sales leader (780 billion dollars in turnover), followed by Amazon (690 billion dollars).
- among the most purchased consumer goods are fashion and electronics, but in 2022 they still recorded a decline: -2.4% for the former, -17% for the latter.
eCommerce in Italy
2022 allowed many people to return to offline life after being forced into digital due to the lockdown. Thus, we record an online diffusion of 75.1% (-1.2% compared to the previous year) but those who remained show behavior similar to 2021 in terms of average time spent online (increasing from 2h28' to 2h40' per day).Online buyers continue to grow, exceeding the 38 million mark.
- 47.1% of people between 16 and 64 years old buy something online every week;
- 46.9% use mobile devices;
- 2.26% of Italy's GDP is spent on consumer goods online;
- Turnover in Italy is growing, + 18.58% BUT most of the growth is due to price increases
Turnover distribution:
1. Leisure 50.07% (games, sports, hobbies)
2. Online shopping malls 19%
3. Tourism 13.26% (with an increase of 47% in 2022)
Followed by: groceries, insurance, electronics, publishing, and closing the ranking are health and beauty, home and furniture.
FORECAST: on average, an eCommerce site in Italy expects a growth of 17.26% in terms of turnover in 2023.
Where does the turnover come from? 40% from their own website, 28% from marketplaces, 13% from social networks.
A reflection on targets and the preferred engagement tool
Based on age, there are tools to be used as a fast track to truly meet the habits and needs of our Target Customer.
- 16-24 years: Social media Ads 28.4% and TV Ads 26.5%
- 25-34 years: search engines 29.5% and TV Ads 28.4%
- 35-44 years: search engines 31.8% and TV Ads 30.9%
- 45-54 years: search engines 34.3% and TV Ads 33.5%
- 55-64 years: TV ads 37.4% and search engines 35.2%
Marketing and Advertising for eCommerce
And after the consistently positive numbers during the lockdown, with new customers arriving naturally from any tool, today marketing returns to the center of every eCommerce strategy.SEM strategies continue to attract the highest number of investments (24%), followed by SEO (14%) and Social Networks (14%). Email marketing stands at 9%, as do Display Advertising 6% and remarketing 6%.
The average acquisition cost in Italy is 32 Euros, with significant differences between product sectors.
What are the favorite Social Media for Italian companies? Those considered most effective are: INSTAGRAM (48%), which has surpassed Facebook (37%) for the first time, followed by WhatsApp Business (31%) which requires more specific knowledge.
A multichannel strategy and a solid organizational structure for eCommerce
54% of companies plan to invest in marketing and promotion; 50% in interventions to improve the performance and usability of the website; 41% in optimizations for the technological infrastructure.The sales strategy will therefore be expanded by the introduction of new payment solutions (currently, 37% credit card, 27% digital wallet and 10% bank transfer), free shipping and returns, sustainable packaging, personalized shipping, and security measures in terms of personal data protection.
And you? Do you need a no-obligation consultation to understand how to increase sales and make your eCommerce work? Glacom designs and develops customized eShop platforms, conducts market research to identify the target, defines the best online marketing strategy, and supports you through the continuous changes of the market. Contact us for a no-obligation chat!
Data source: casaleggio.it - EC2023 Report
