Also this year the most important event in Digital Retail, the Netcomm Forum, has arrived. On 17-18 May, leading market players and industry stakeholders will gather at MiCo Milan for two days of innovation and discussion on the topics of e-commerce, online communication and business digitisation.
What is the Netcomm Forum
Netcomm è il punto di riferimento in materia di e-commerce e retail digitale nel panorama nazionale e internazionale. Nato nel 2005, riunisce oltre 450 aziende composte da società internazionali e piccole-medie realtà di eccellenza. Netcomm promuove lo sviluppo dell’e-commerce e dell’evoluzione digitale delle imprese, generando valore per l’intero sistema economico italiano e per i consumatori.
For years, the Netcomm Forum has been committed to supporting companies in digitisation processes, with workshops and talks by experts in the field to provide more and more tools for understanding and improving services related to online trade.
The world of digital commerce has a history of its own, but only in the last few years – also as a consequence of the pandemic, which has given a strong impetus to online shopping – has it seen exponential growth and become an indispensable opportunity for companies and brands in every sector.
According to Osservatori.net, e-commerce in Italy in 2022 reached EUR 33.2 billion for product purchases and EUR 14.9 billion for services A considerable development, which is increasing all the time, but which, in addition to representing a great earning opportunity, has led companies to a parallel need for digitisation of internal sales flows and communication channels, often at considerable cost.
The Italian Digital Panorama
Despite the fact that investment in digital is still below the global average (+2.1% in 2023, compared to +19% in the rest of the world), Italian companies are demonstrating a growing awareness of the potential of digitalisation and today around 65% of them adopt digital technologies. What are the cornerstones of the Italian digital landscape today?
Online shopping
At just under 50 per cent, the percentage of Italians buying online in 2023 will be slightly lower than in 2022, but still largely up on the pre-pandemic period. Above all, the habit of online shopping has been consolidated, with food products in the large-scale retail trade thus maintaining a privileged place among the growth sectors for digital purchases.
Time spent online
The average time spent online is around 6 hoursA considerable amount of time, which has been steadily increasing in recent years, which in 2023 sees a slight decrease, however, of time spent on the Internet in favour of social media, which confirm their usefulness also as a search for products and services to purchase.
Predominance of mobile over desktop
The preference of users of mobile devices over desktops/pcs, both for searching for information and for online purchases, is also confirmed for 2023. According to data from the Osservatorio Mondo Retail in 2021, in Italy, the mobile phone was the device most used by Italians to make online purchases, accounting for more than 50 per cent of total E-commerce sales.
AI and Metaverse
Users’ shopping and shopping experiences are becoming increasingly multichannel, interactive and immersive, with a focus on the consumer and the personalisation of the shopping journey. The use of multiple channels by brands becomes indispensable, as does the use of ChatApps to improve the customer experience.
Rdcom: the brands’ ally for multichannel
Created and established in 2000 by Daniele Poerio, Founder and CEO, rdcom is the leading player in instant business messaging for customer loyalty and advertising.
SMS and email campaigns for customer care and services, alerting, contact acquisition, surveys, couponing: rdcom develops tailormade communication solutions for every business.
Protagonist of rapid and valuable growth in Italy and abroad, rdcom collaborates with the main international operators in the sector. We are a partner of the Mobile B2C Strategy Observatory of the Politecnico di Milano and a member of the Mobile Ecosystem Forum association (MEF).
Alongside the core business related to the SMS channel and Email, in which it is the market leader in Italy, the value proposition – which will be presented at the Netcomm Forum 2023 – expands with ChatApps, such as WhatsApp and Viber, and RCS (Rich Communication Service), which allow messages enriched with carousels, links and call to action.
Come and meet us and discover our services at Stand Q01, Floor 1 of the Netcomm Forum!
In the meantime, you can get in touch with our experts and start developing your multichannel communication strategies by writing to us at support@rdcom.com.
