Here are the sectors where B2c e-commerce will gain space in 2025

Online shopping is gaining space among the habits of Italians. In 2025, online purchases of food & grocery, foodstuffs and packaged consumer goods, i.e. classic online shopping, will increase by 7%, as a direct result of the spread of food delivery services. A similar situation applies to beauty products, cosmetics and personal care, whose sales will increase by 7%, while IT and consumer electronics, publishing, furniture and home accessories, and clothing will see a trend in line with that of e-commerce, at around +5-6%. The car and motorbike spare parts sector is the only one with below-average performance. This is the picture of the product categories most sold online over the course of the year according to data from the B2c E-commerce Observatory of the Milan Polytechnic and Netcomm, with a turnover of just over 40 billion, while the penetration of online consumption on total consumption is at 11.2%, up by half a point. Information technology and consumer electronics is the sector with the highest online incidence in 2025, accounting for 43% of total expenditure. This is followed by furniture and home living with an incidence of 20% and clothing with 18%.

The food&grocery segment with its three segments: food delivery (home delivery), food grocery (online shopping from supermarkets) and food & wine (niche food and beverages) - which shows growth of +7% over 2024 and is worth EUR 4.9 billion. In particular, the growth of the food delivery segment continues (+8% over 2024), which is now worth 46% of online groceries. The process of rationalising the offer also continues: restaurants entrust delivery to the large platforms dedicated to this type of service, while they manage take-away in-house with orders received online and pick-up at the premises. With regard to grocery, among the more than 60 online supermarket shopping initiatives active in Italy, the majority (87%) are initiatives launched by large-scale retailers. Food and wine, on the other hand, has an export impact of about 20% with a growth of +3% compared to the previous year, for an average receipt of about 130 Euro. The beauty&pharma segment, which includes both pharmaceutical products and those for personal care and hygiene, reaches 3.1 billion with an average receipt of 37 euro, the two segments are increasingly committed to providing customers with purchasing assistance and personalised advice, also with a view to the sustainability of the experience itself. The furnishing and home living segment (indoor and outdoor furniture, giftware and decorations, kitchen accessories, textiles, lighting) is growing in line with the sector (+6%) and has reached EUR 4.7 billion. The most innovative projects aim to improve the customer experience with tools based on the use of augmented reality to design spaces online and the offer of value-added logistics services such as floor delivery services. Clothing with new and second-hand clothing, shoes and accessories grows by +5% compared to 2024 and reaches a value of 6.2 billion and an average receipt of 114 euros. Operators in the sector are especially busy optimising the second-hand market and launching new marketplaces.

"These first months of 2025 confirm that e-commerce in Italy is going through a consolidation phase, with moderate growth compared to the past, but accompanied by a strategic evolution. Today, online is no longer just a sales channel, but also a relational tool through which brands aim to build authentic connections with consumers, offering increasingly personalised, interactive and engaging experiences," explains Valentina Pontiggia, Director of the Netcomm B2c eCommerce Observatory - Politecnico di Milano. "In this context, technological innovation - in particular that linked to artificial intelligence - is playing a crucial role. Furthermore, retail media, marketplaces and other platform-based models are helping to generate new business possibilities. At the same time, omnichannel projects, primarily unified commerce and social commerce, together with environmentally and socially oriented practices and personalisation initiatives, enrich the customer experience. Therefore, the main challenges of the near future for Italian merchants will be different: from competition to process optimisation through automation, from the evolution of the user experience to adaptation to new consumer habits".

This year the number of consumers buying online exceeds 35 million with the arrival of 1.2 million new customers while the number of companies active in B2C e-commerce is over 91 thousand. "The data tell us that volumes are increasing, but with lighter shopping carts: a sign of more frequent, more attentive and more segmented purchases. Three dominant purchasing models are thus emerging: the price-sensitive consumer, who sacrifices service for convenience; the second-hand consumer, who is looking for an economical and sustainable answer; the experiential consumer, for whom Artificial Intelligence, editorial content and service build a relationship of value - explains Roberto Liscia, president of Netcomm -. The next step for companies will be to invest in logistics, customer experience and enabling technologies to consolidate the relationship with consumers and support the competitiveness of Made in Italy also on international markets. We are therefore looking with confidence at the opportunities that the digital future offers, aware that only through innovation and adaptability can we strengthen our leadership in the global market".