Ecommerce Hangover: ecommerce growth is slowing down. What’s going on?

We are currently in a unique historical phase, which can be described as an “Ecommerce Hangover“. After experiencing a period of rapid growth and acceleration during and immediately after the pandemic, the growth of ecommerce in recent months has become more moderate, almost returning to a “normal“ state compared to the past. This trend is observed not only in Italy but also in Europe and the United States.

In this context, by analyzing a sample of internal data and other official sources, we conducted a study to understand the extent of this phenomenon and identify some solutions to reverse this trend. 

Our research highlights that:

• Over the past three years, the growth rate of ecommerce has decreased, shifting from a +43% in the reference sample between 2020 and 2019 to +18% between 2022 and 2021
• The growth of marketplaces is also rebalancing.
• In Italy, online sales are stabilizing as well. The total number of online buyers has remained relatively unchanged in recent years compared to 2021, while the number of online purchases has experienced a decline in the early months of 2023. This reversal of the trend is likely due to inflation and a shift back to offline purchases (Netcomm NetRetail 2023). 
• People are returning to shopping in physical stores. In the USA, 40% of spending by Generation Z and Millennials is allocated to physical stores (Forbes), while in Europe, Eurostat predicts by the end of this quarter that year-on-year retail sales should grow by +2.80%.

Within this report, you will find:

• Data and insights on the Ecommerce Hangover phenomenon and the back to offline Retail.
• Insights on how omnichannel is a key success factor for brands.
• 5 essential actions to reactivate ecommerce growth.