According to data collected by the B2C eCommerce Observatory of the School of Management of the Politecnico di Milano and Netcomm,food ecommerce in Italy in 2016 grew by 30 percent compared to 2015, worth 575 million euros.
This is a relevant figure when we consider that the growth, in the same time frame, of online sales in the technology sector increased by 22 percent. In the fashion industry by 35 percent. Just to give a couple of examples.
However, today ecommerce food accounts for only a tiny percentage of Italian sales from online trade (3 percent).
However, this figure could change within a few years and reach a higher percentage, as the sector is clearly growing.
The online food market: what Italians buy and why
In food & grocery, we can identify three different segments that lend themselves to online sales:
- grocery food (supermarket food products)
- food and wine (gastronomic and alcoholic products)
- catering (ready-made food)
Ecommerce for supermarkets and delivery to the floor
Online purchases referred to the grocery food segment, in 2016 reached a value of 188 million euros.
A 40 percent growth over 2015.
This is mainly the shopping done on supermarket e-commerce sites with floor delivery.
The first large supermarkets to get involved include: Carrefour, Esselunga e
Tigros
.
Not all Italian cities are covered by home delivery services. But it is possible to do the shopping online and pick it up at the supermarket, saving time and money.
Online shopping
Alongside these supermarket chains we also find such major players as:
Eataly
Amazon’s Prime Now and
Supermarket24
.
Drivers of this newest trend of online shopping.
The advantage of these realities, in addition to saving time and money, is the ability to receive the groceries on the same day, even within 1 or 2 hours of placing the order.
The online food and wine
As for the food and wine segment, growth was lower than for grocery: in fact, online sales grew “only” 17 percent in 2016.
However, although food and wine is the segment of the food sector with the lowest percentage of growth, it is still the one with the highest value of purchases. At just over 240 million euros, it accounts for nearly 47 percent of the value of online groceries.
Vendors in this segment include manufacturers, specialty retailers, such as
Eataly
, and marketplaces, such as
eBay
, where the user has the opportunity to buy directly from the producer without commission on the final value of the sale of products.
Online catering
The catering segment, on the other hand, saw a 29 percent growth in 2016 compared to 2015, reaching 90 million euros.
The home food delivery service is certainly not new. In fact, it has been possible for a long time now for us to pick up the phone, order our favorite pizza and have it delivered directly to our homes.
But today the service is different and thanks to new technologies. It is possible to order lunch or dinner in a much faster and more fun way.
In many cases, in fact, you can view the menu online. It allows you not only to get an overview of all the restaurant’s specialties, but also to get a preview of what you’re going to eat.
In addition,ordering is really fast: once you have chosen your dish, just add it to your cart, pay directly on the site, and in a short time you will have it on your table.
Speeding things up even more are
UberEATS
, an Uber-branded food delivery service that landed very recently in Italy, and Deliveroo, a home delivery service. Both guarantee receipt of the order in 30 minutes.
Food and mobile shopping
Most likely the push toward this openness to online sales depends on the new needs and habits of modern consumers.
Consumers today are much more savvy about navigation and have easy access to technological tools that enable them to shop quickly and easily.
Suffice it to say that 21 out of every 100 online purchases in Italy are made from a mobile device. Purchases via smartphones, in general, increased by 51 percent in 2016 compared to 2015.
In the food sector, purchases via smartphone have also seen exponential growth. Theydoubled to 100 million euros, or 17 percent of total e-commerce in the industry (25 percent if tablet purchases are added).
Why do Italians do their shopping on the Internet?
Before understanding the reasons why Italians increasingly decide to shop for groceries online, it would be interesting to understand what is the profile of the Italian who chooses online supermarkets.
According to data collected by Casaleggio Associati, the average Italian is short on time, orders groceries from the office, and lives in large cities (Rome, Milan, and Bologna).
The Internet offers possibilities that make purchasing more fun and interesting. These include the ability to choose and compare many products, access information on their composition and use.
In addition to these advantages, certainly among the reasons why Italians shop on the Internet include:
- convenience for purchase;
- The timely delivery of groceries;
- The wide selection of products and availability;
- the lower prices compared to the physical store.
The advantages of opening a food e-commerce
According to the results of surveys conducted by Casaleggio Associati, there are many companies in the food sector that have decided to employ the Internet as a sales channel to build customer loyalty.
Among the benefits found, the main ones are definitely:
- The largest number of customers reachable;
- The lower cost of managing online initiatives.
How to promote your own food e-commerce
In order to sell food products online, but especially to sell well, some steps must be followed.
It will then be possible to gain more visibility and thus increase the likelihood of success of one’s e-shop.
It is necessary therefore:
- Have a mobile-oriented e-commerce platform (sales from mobile devices are growing steadily);
- plan a targeted strategy on social networks (one should never forget the persuasive power of a good image, especially in the food industry);
- Have an optimized website with content aimed at enhancing the brand image and able to engage users (special attention should be paid to the purchase process, which should be simple and intuitive);
- Carry out promotional activities that aim to build customer loyalty online and offline, for example by sending samples for customers to try and promote new products.
Selling online: the benefits for the entire Italian food sector
For the Italian food ecommerce sector, the increase in sales and the growth of sellers who decide to open the virtual shop is an advantage not to be underestimated.
It offers the possibility of:
- make our products known not only to Italians but to the entire foreign public, which can undoubtedly enhance and increase the economy;
- enhance our territory and promote the high quality of the productions of small local entrepreneurs, who would otherwise struggle to establish themselves;
- access to a wider range of products, which is certainly an added value for the industry.
Online food business. No longer just large companies
If until recently it was unthinkable to buy salad or a chicken breast via pc or smartphone, the data we have just seen show us that this is now the reality and companies have only to adapt.
The figures for online food & grocery sales are certainly surprising, especially when we consider that until a few years ago, e-commerce seemed to be reserved for a narrow niche of product sectors (technology and fashion for example) or for medium to large companies able to invest in e-commerce.
Food market grows and goes digital
Today, however, things have changed. Technology is now within everyone’s reach, and it is also easy to use.
This, has certainly led to an increase in the use of technology services even by companies that until yesterday were unable to access them, perhaps due to lack of adequate resources, both monetary and skilled personnel.
User-friendly technology and reduced service costs have given a big boost toinnovation in the Italian food sector. Indeed, it has witnessed exponential growth and today food & grocery e-commerce is worth nearly 600 million euros.
Neikos Digital Agency’s experience for the food industry
Neikos Digital Agency has diverse expertise in the food sector: with the creation of web portals, corporate websites, product catalogs, ecommerce, online marketing interventions, SEO activities, SEM, Social and strategies customized to the client’s business goals.
Neikos Web Agency’s food clients include both big brands and small companies of interesting typical products.
We suggest you browse our selection of work done for food companies and discover some of the business solutions adopted to penetrate markets with the most appropriate business tools.
For the beverage sector, Neikos Digital Agency has created the following.
Winery
, a platform that includes everything a wine producer might need to create a website, present their wines and sell them online.
If you do not yet have an online shop and are interested in setting one up or improving thee-commerce you already have, we can set up an appointment to talk about possible prospects for your business.
Contact us
!
If you want to learn more, also read our two research papers:
