Italians love online shopping but they are still afraid of it

According to a survey carried out by the Osservatorio Multicanalità, promoted by the School of Management of the Politecnico di Milano in collaboration with Nielsen, there still are many Italians too reticent towards online shopping. 20 million Italians still feel newbies to e-commerce and the digital world, and they hesitate when it comes to online shops for fear of scams.

The Internet is more and more the main digital tool through which people relate to the outside world, from the search for information to online shopping. Lockdown gave a strong boost to purchases on the web, registering a sharp increase even among basic necessities, and causing the percentage of online purchases to skyrocket by 44%. 

According to the data emerged, in 2020 88% of Italians use e-commerce services and the digital as a fundamental tool in their purchase path: they seek information, they compare products, they read reviews, they make purchases and finally they leave their opinion. These are generally the main stages of the customer journey, but not the only ones. There are those who look for information on the web and then go find the product in a physical store, or on the contrary those who give a first-hand look at the product and then they look for the best offers on the web to try to get the best price.

It seems that today’s consumers follow a purchase path based on an alternation of online tools and offline contact points, in different percentages depending on how much trust they place in the web, thus generating a variety of digital consumers types. 

The most mature and aware, those who are most familiar with online shopping, are the Digital Rooted, who make up 11% of the total (about 5.7 million people). They are the most likely to follow influencers’ advice and leave their opinions on social media. In second place we find the Digital Engaged, which make up 17% (8.8 million). These are users who use the web pretty easily but are still attached to physical stores. Digital Bouncers make up 22% (11.9 million) and are those who use the internet before and after the purchase, but prefer to shop in-store. Then we find the Digital Rookies, the 38% (20.1 million people), who, despite using the digital frequently, are still very suspicious of online shopping, especially when it comes to payment methods. Finally, one out of ten consumers is considered Digital Unplugged, as they prefer to get information and buy “the old way”. 

There are still so many people who struggle to trust online shopping. That is why Giuliano Noci, the Scientific Director of the Osservatorio Multicanalità believes that “In this context, the challenge for companies is twofold: on the one hand, designing interaction architectures integrated with the market, i.e. creating experiences that see the customer journey as a natural fusion of physical and digital contact points “.