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Italian Market 2022 Annual Roundup: A New Government, Changing Consumer Habits, & Tighter Belts

Let´s start as usual with our economic and political update. Mrs. Meloni is in full swing and she and her ministers are trying to bring some good news to the table. There is nothing super exciting but something is moving. But a bittersweet feeling remains, are we really are in good hands? And the lack of innovation and interest in modernizing the country is something that seems missing especially for the younger generation.
By Franz Josef Holler

Economically we are still in a tough situation as inflation is still above 10% or to be exact at 11.8% from October 22 onwards and there is still no improvement in sight. This has reduced spending power and rising interest rates are slowing down investments and company sales goals are way harder to reach than in 2021. From September store owners are quite happy with their sales compared with the first six months of the year when they were really bad. Also the mantra of shopping locally and spending less money online is something that is starting to show, as Italian online stores are ending the year with a lot of stock and discounting has began earlier. Overall in 2022 online shopping still grew 20% in comparison to 2021, but looking at the detail of physical products sold online the business grew only 8% but the year before it was 18%. Small store owners are now more careful when it comes to investing money into their online businesses as it requires a serious and well-planned budget. An online store is as much work as a physical store, something many business owners underestimated in the years before.

The snow season also started better than expected and most deliveries where in time, not like at pre-covid levels but still early enough. The first snow came by the end of November and was perfectly in time for the ski resorts to plan their openings. The average price rise of ski resort tickets is up 20% and this will mean demand will be reduced as people spend their money more carefully this year.

Stores do not complain about sell through. Alessio from Zoopark in Varese comments: “The Winter months work great for us as we are a true core shop giving excellent customer service and support. Our core customers trust us and that keeps us alive with extra turnover we gain from outdoor brands, but the unstable circumstances made the first six months of the year a real challenge and not being able to work constantly throughout the years makes it a problem with our staff who need to work all through the year.”

Splitboarding & ski touring is still a huge trend in the north of Italy especially for 25-year-olds and upwards and is a category every core store has introduced. Outerwear sees the big outdoor names dominating the market followed by a strong Picture Organic brand who seems to touch the interest from many customers with their colourful line being produced in an eco-friendly way using recycled materials.

Shopping more sustainably is gaining more and more momentum than in previous years and people pay more attention. 2022 is coming to an end and was for sure a true rollercoaster. What remains is a lot of uncertainty in many ways. People are afraid of the future and many small store owners more than ever are questioning their business models, for many it’s the passion that drives them to go on as it is for sure a difficult time for many of us, financially and mentally. Let’s start with a positive mindset in 2023 even if world problems didn’t end at the end of 2022.