GENERAL INFORMATION
- Italy is the third largest country in the Eurozone with a 42 076 US$ per capita GDP. The economy is stagnating with a GDP growth rate at 0.6%;
- Italy is the fourth most populous member state of the European Union with a population of 59,221,785;
- Italian is the official language. Keep it in mind while mastering campaigns. It’s better to use the national language rather than English in Italy;
- The three largest cities include Rome (2.8 million), Milan (1.3 million) and Naples (1 million);
Now, let’s figure out some features of the Italians.
According to the 2015 statistics, 48.0% of single people are over the age of 65, of which 61.6% are women and 29% are men. On the whole, the aging population drives greater demand for products and services. As we mentioned above, currently the median age is 46,3 and it’s expected to reach 50 years by 2030. It is useful to know that 40.9% of women in the age of 65-74 years are overweight and 76.9% of them are constant drug consumers. So you see that nutraceuticals product can work very well for the Italian market.
Italians value quality products and good customer service more than promotions. Moreover, they tend to prefer domestic products. So, we suggest focusing on providing quality products and services. Also, make sure your product lives up to the expectations. Studies proved Italian people are highly concerned with the quality of materials and ingredients.
As for households, only 31% of the Italian population lives alone, the majority continues to live with parents. Moreover, Italian millennials are marrying less and having fewer children. For instance, a single person household in Milano equals 52%. Thus, dating proves to be another promising vertical.
DEVICE USAGE (Percentage of the adult population)
97% of Italian people use mobile phones and the distribution of laptop and tablet usage is 62% and 31% respectively.
Average daily time spent using the internet via any device is 6 hours 04 minutes.
E-COMMERCE VALUE
- eCommerce market is expected to generate up to US$18,991m in 2019;
- Revenue is expected to show an annual growth rate (CAGR 2019-2023) of 10.4%, resulting in a market volume of US$28,227m by 2023;
- The average revenue per user (ARPU) currently amounts to US$515.73;
- The average revenue per user (ARPU) in the eCommerce market amounts to US$515.73 in 2019;
PAYMENT METHOD
It is expected that 39% of the total eCommerce purchases will be paid by E-wallet in 2019.
However, in 2017, a credit card was the main payment method used by Italians while shopping online, with PayPal and other digital services following after. As for the bank transfer payments and cash-on-delivery, they both remain the most uncommon payment methods for purchases.
BEST-PERFORMING VERTICALS
The search trends of the past few days include erectile dysfunction, diet, diabetes, cellulite, and other inquiries related to vitamins. For example, in Trentino-Alto Adige people are interested in the subject of diabetes compared to other regions. Keep it in mind, while using zip targeting to customize your campaigns in Italy. In general, we see nutraceuticals as one of the leading verticals.
Online dating is also very popular. Predominantly, people from Piedmont, Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna, Veneto, and Lazio are interested in it. On the whole, most Italians are looking for mobile apps. Today, user penetration in online dating is 4.8% (2,6 million users), but it’s expected to reach 5,3% by 2023.
Then, Italians prove to be adventurous, so gambling has a huge success among residents of Sicily, Campania, Calabria, Basilicata, and Apulia.
Finally, money making offers are also some of the most popular ones. The opportunity to make money on Bitcoins looks quite attractive to Italians. Or you can promote investing in Hi-tech company stock. But keep in mind, that you have to make your creatives look credible and reliable.
CREATIVE’S TIP
- Italians prefer real-looking photos of women with blonde hair. Take a look at the example below:
- They also love scandals, rumors, and celebrity news;
- Body positivity is a new emerging trend gaining popularity among Italian people;
- Italian men love shopping as well as women. They also tend to spend a lot of time at home with their children (stay-at-home dad trend).
- We also suggest taking into consideration siesta time (3.30 hours) while designing content for entertaining, food or time-consuming services;
- Try to use photos of bright millionaires, which highlight their appearance, and public lifestyle. They do not look like boring office plankton in gray suits. Those who declare, practice or personify success with a work schedule of no more than two to four hours a day. An example is Gianluca Vacchi. It does not have to be a real person, for the image in the teaser a "shell" is enough;
- We also recommend using names of real millionaires as common nouns in the headlines, for example, "This method will make you Mark Zuckerberg in three days";
- If you are going to promote a bicycle, for example, we strongly suggest using the photos of girlfriend or some millionaire riding it. By doing so you CTR should increase;
- We also noticed that being a dog-lover is becoming the trend, so you can use photos of people with animals in your campaigns.
MGID traffic distribution is following: desktop (13%), mobile (83%) and tablets (4%). Overall, MGID processes around 1,6 million clicks per week in Italy.
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