Nowadays online commerce is around 3% of total purchases in Italy, but it will grow up to 8% by 2021. Recent data by The Boston Consulting Group show Italy is late if compared to other European countries, where e-commerce is above 10% of domestic sales in most cases, but set a warning. Considering e-commerce is the preferred shopping channel of Gen Y and Z, it might have a steady acceleration in the near future.
Nevertheless, at the 11th Consumer & Retail Summit, held last week at Il Sole 24 Ore, retailers were clear: “Physical counts”. The weak rise of consumer goods demand is supported by people reverting to traditional stores, where the relationship with brands and products is far deeper than any online interaction.
Winning customers back is a matter of rethinking the act of purchase, starting from the design of new spaces to offer a more immersive and engaging experience. Adidas has just opened a concept store in Milan, close to Piazza Duomo, where people walk around as if in a stadium, thus actively living a sports situation. Rinascente is no longer a department store, but a luxury location where you can touch exclusivity with your own hands. Inside the new store in Rome, visitors will have the opportunity to see a real archeological site, an ancient Roman water main which is partially included in the sales area.
Even more traditional retailers such as Esselunga, Crai and Gallerie Commerciali Italia are investing to transform physical stores into all-round experiences, pushing back the idea of pitching them as mere sales locations. In this innovation path, technology certainly plays a big game. Mobile devices might become the best way to share contents and services to grow customers’ loyalty and attract them to stores.
That’s the surprising benefit of a platform such as Movibell: stores, restaurants, bars and sales points are using it to create mobile proximity marketing campaigns to grow their business.
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