Retail, digital investments are increasing: they have reached 3.1% of turnover in 2023

They grow digital investments by the principals retailer Italians: they went from 2.5% of turnover in 2022 to 3.1% in 2023. The physical store returns to acquire a central role in investment plans, with innovation that aims above all to simplify and make the experience autonomous of the customer. Among the main drivers paths are the digital signage systems (implemented and strengthened in 2023 by 44% of top retailers) which capture the customer’s attention from the moment they enter the store with communications linked to products and promotions. THE digital kiosks (35%), which encourage exploration of the assortment. The self scanning solutions (24%), which make the customer autonomous and, thanks to the connection with self check-out systems (21%) and of innovative payment (18%), help streamline the payment phase.

The process of online-offline integration then continues, and work is underway on the adoption of solutions (in store and in the back-end) capable of activating and enhancing the omnichannel sales models. These are some of the evidences that emerged fromDigital Innovation Observatory in Retail of the School of Management of the Polytechnic of Milan.

“The most adopted omnichannel solutions include lo infinite shelf (24%), to integrate the physical and digital assortment ei online selling systems (21%), to offer the possibility of purchasing online directly from the store” he explains Elisabetta Puglielli, director of the Observatory. “Continue the journey of omnichannel data strategy, with a focus on customer data platforms (53%) and CRM systems (53%), to integrate online and offline data, uniquely profile the customer and activate personalized marketing and sales initiatives. Much attention is also paid to the centralized management of operations, through inventory integration systems (26%), to monitor inventory and centralized order management solutions in real time (24%) and to optimize cross-order fulfillment. channel”.

In 2023, retailers have studied the applications ofGenerative Artificial Intelligence, for example through personal assistants who support customers in real time (from product research to post-sales). Another crucial area of ​​experimentation comes from new ones platform-based business models: among the most widespread examples are marketplaces, the provision of new services and Retail Media, thanks to which more and more retailers are exploring the advertising sector, by making their spaces available to other brands (offline and online) and data (sales and consumer), with the aim of generating a new profit stream. Finally, focus on the initiatives of environmental and social sustainabilityfrom the transformation and recycling of company waste, to the use of recycled packaging and the adoption of electric vehicles for shipments.

All this fits into the context of the lights and shadows of the sector. In 2023 the value of online + offline product retail sales recorded, in Italy, a growth of 4% over 2022. The online channel is growing but at a more moderate pace compared to the pandemic period. In 2023 the value of online purchases, in the product component alone, reached 35 billion euros, with an increase of 8% compared to the previous year.

The impact of online on total retail remains stable compared to 2022 and equal to 11%. In continuity with the past, the dynamics of the number of sales points is negative, with the rate of decrease in the number of shops being the highest ever recorded in the last five years. Of greatest concern are the restaurants which, for the first time in recent years, are experiencing a contraction. At the end of 2022 there are 380,328 restaurants in Italy: -0.8% compared to 2021 (average rate for 2017-2021 equal to +1.1%).