Italians on the podium of European e-commerce

The second-hand market is growing and has firmly entered the online shopping habits of Europeans on a par with e-shopping used by 77% of the population. A new record was also reached this year with 52% of habitual buyers making almost one purchase a week. These are some of the key points of the 2025 edition of the E-shopper Barometer realised by Geopost, a multinational express transport company in Italy present with the Brt brand. In particular, Italians take the top step of the podium, with 84% of the population using the Internet to shop online, while they are below the European average in terms of the share of regular customers although they receive an average of 5 packages per month. Bulgaria follows with 83% and Ireland with 82%. Lithuania is at the tail end with 67% and a growing trend. The share of regular online buyers is 48% in Italy, a figure below the European average, which sees Poland in first place with 60%. It is the search for convenience, the savings factor, that drives around two thirds of Europe's regular e-shoppers to buy online, who mainly buy clothing, footwear, personal care and beauty products, books, and food.

The most frequent customers are to be found among the new generations: those in gen Z in 2025 make over 60 purchases a year and are inspired, they draw information from social with 61% buying directly from these platforms, millennials 56 and generation X make 42 purchases.

There is a double face effect because almost two thirds of the pan-European sample buys-sells products on C2C platforms according to a slightly growing trend. The driving force is the need to save money compared to new products. Amongst regular online shoppers, 52% of Italians buy used items and 44% sell them but more frequently, more than once a month. There is still a 28% share of Europeans who have never bought anything second-hand so far, while 29% buy and sell, and 27% buy without ever having sold anything.

"Online shopping has now fully entered into the purchasing habits of many, due to the convenience of receiving what has been purchased directly at home," comments Stefania Pezzetti, CEO of Brt. From our national observatory, particularly after the lockdown experience, buying, receiving and, in some cases, returning goods online are ordinary behaviours, which spur us to manage deliveries in a fast, punctual and, above all, sustainable manner. This is a 360-degree commitment that also encompasses well-being and improving the pace of life. For this reason, we are investing heavily in lockers, the 'Brt-fermopoint' network and a whole series of initiatives aimed at improving the quality of life and reducing environmental impact. The level of satisfaction with online shopping remains high and has even improved since the last survey in 2023. Home delivery remains the preferred choice, but is weakening, while lockers are gaining ground as they have overtaken physical shops as the second preferred delivery method. This decisive shift reflects the way European consumers are reshaping their expectations: younger generations and cross-border shoppers increasingly value flexibility and convenience, and lockers are seen as an ideal delivery option, with no time constraints.