Amilon grows abroad with marketing services

From gift cards and digital vouchers to a complete and integrated offer tailored to retail chains throughout Europe with an internationalisation strategy. These are the next points in the business plan of Amilon, an Italian SME, part of the Zucchetti Group, specialising in the production and sale of digital gift cards. Over the past 18 months, investments have increased in the expansion of digital services: on the one hand, the development of customised retail technology with a software solution for issuing and managing gift cards, and on the other hand, retail media. "The future goal is to diversify the business in order to expand the target markets by generating greater profitability and anticipating the needs of companies and consumers," says Andrea Verri, CEO and co-founder together with Fabio Regazzoni, the other CEO of Amilon.

 The expansion of the offer is a preparatory step to the internationalisation strategy. "In the first months of 2026, we aim to open branches in Portugal and the Czech Republic, and we are monitoring developments in other Eastern European markets," Verri continues. "The strategy envisages our direct presence to support the sale of our gift card software solutions to the main market players, as well as a sales team that will sell Amilon gift cards to companies that want to distribute them as part of employee welfare". Amilon already has a direct presence in Madrid and Warsaw. In Spain there is still no legislation on corporate welfare and 'when it arrives we will be ready,' Verri points out, adding, 'Poland is a fast-growing market thanks to the new welfare regulations and from there we monitor developments in Romania, Slovakia, Lithuania and other countries in the area. The goal is to double the share of foreign sales from the current 25% to 50% by 2030. Moreover, the new markets offer higher margins because there is less competition in addition to the novelty effect and retailers are more interested in using gift cards as a new sales channel'. Sales will reach 650 million by the end of the year, compared to 450 million in 2024, with an Ebitda of 9 million. "The goal is to increase margins, we want to double them,' says Verri. 'Ours is a market made up of large volumes and increasingly competitive'. It is also for this reason that the company is not considering entering mature markets such as those of France, Germany and the United Kingdom: in the new foreign markets Amilon plays the novelty effect card thanks to the diversification of digital services capable of accelerating growth. "All our solutions are born with an international vocation and are designed to be adaptable and adaptable to different markets while maintaining the same effectiveness and generating value, including digital value," says the CEO.

  The sale of millions of digital gift cards also opens up new opportunities in the retail media: a card purchased by a company as part of employee welfare can in fact be transformed into an advertising tool available to brands in the FMCG and retail industry. "Today, Amilon sells cards to 5 million hyper-profiled Italian users, and we are channelling this traffic to 'IdeaShopping', our digital wallet that hosts flyers from retailers, large-scale retail trade as well as promotions and coupons," explains Verri, who concludes, "That is why we want to become a 'one-stop' partner for retailers and industry looking for an advertising channel to communicate with future buyers in possession of a gift card. In three years' time, we assume that 40% of our margins will come from this media activity and from the sale of the software solution"..