Italy: Commerce grew 6% in 2024

Rome: Online sales reached a total of 85.4 billion euros in Italy last year. Compared to a year earlier, this is an increase of 6 percent. Most of that revenue came from the online sales by companies in the sector Travel and Tourism.

These data come from the 19th annual report about ecommerce in Italy by Casaleggio Associati. This is a digital consultancy agency. In 2023, according to their their previous report, online sales in Italy reached an estimated 80.55 billion euros.

According to the newest study, the sector Travel and Tourism generated an estimated online value of more than 21.8 billion euros last year. It was followed by marketplaces, which generated 14.8 billion euros. Leisure came in third place, with a revenue of 13.4 billion euros. Fashion, Gambling and Food followed.

According to the researchers, online sellers in Italy are increasingly using AI. They have implemented these tools for translations, automated product content creation, data analysis and forecasting, and personalization.

‘The challenge for 2025 will be: creating new value through these technologies, moving beyond operational efficiency’

“2024 was the year companies truly began to understand how to use Artificial Intelligence within their internal processes, discovering a real revolution”, explained Davide Casaleggio, president of Casaleggio Associati. “The challenge for 2025 will be to create new value through these technologies, moving beyond operational efficiency.”

The research also showed that implementing AI has helped Italian online in growing their cross-border sales. At least 14 percent of the shops that were taken into account in the analysis sold items to customers in France and Germany. And Spain (12 percent), the Netherlands (9 percent), the UK (8 percent), Switzerland and the US (both 8 percent) were also reached by Italian online stores.