An increasing number of Italians buy food and wine on line: products of excellence or limited local produce, perhaps wines or cheeses tasted on holiday and which they want to try again. For convenience or for gourmet desire. A trend that, with the approach of the festive season, intensifies, due to lack of time or to try something really special. So much so that websites offering food and wine are proliferating and new competitors are arriving on the market. The latest is eBay which has opened eBay Gusto (in the picture the home page), a new section of the on-line auction website dedicated to food and wine, with 265,000 proposals and 1,000 wines from famous cellars at affordable prices selected by Tannico. And with an ace up its sleeve: the entry expected shortly of Eataly, which already has a website in the various markets (in Italy since last year) but which is apparently attracted by the opportunity to export to 176 countries, the catchment area of the on-line auction site.
Double-digit growth
The figures confirm the trend. According to research by eBay/Ipsos, Italians seek inspiration and are more active in on-line food and wine shopping during the pre-Christmas period: in 2013, on-line food and wine sales recorded a 31% increase in November and a 47% increase in December, for a total increase of 23% for the year, while exports grew, compared to 2012, by 46%. In addition, 65% of Italians said they were looking for inspiration before buying foodstuffs. The most popular products on eBay.it are biscuits, coffee and tea, with a sale every 2 minutes. Followed by Wines, with a purchase every 5 minutes, and Delicatessen, with an article every 10 minutes.
“Given the exponential growth in the marketplace of the Wine and Delicatessen category, the forecasts for the future are more than positive. And it will be Mobile promoting the growth of this category; already today, nearly half of the purchases made on eBay are in fact made via Mobile. Moreover, we decided to inaugurate the eBay Gusto section by giving space to the two most important brands in this sector: Tannico, which recently opened its own eBay Store, and Eataly which will open shortly”, explains Claudio Raimondi, eBay Country Manager in Italy.
Italian excellences
E-commerce is a very interesting channel for promoting Italian excellences and local products. So much so that eBay has signed a Protocol for the protection of PDOs and PGIs with the Ministry of Environmental, Agricultural and Forestry Policies and the Italian Geographical Indications Consortia Association.
“The partnership with eBay – says Franco Denari, CEO and co-founder of Eataly Net – combines the experiences of two different brands, but with a unique factor in common: continuous innovation in the digital world. On the one hand eBay, international and innovative, and on the other Eataly Net, which in one year has acquired significant experience in e-commerce. Transmitting via web the excellence of Italian food and wine is a key challenge for Made in Italy products and the eBay Gusto channel will be its best spokesman in Italy and in the world”.