Recent research by PwC highlights the parallels between the Fashion and Food supply chains, the two emblems of Made in Italy, with the need to promote system actions by mutually enhancing each other's successful models. The 600 million euro “Italian supply chain bonus” intervention included in the August Legislative Decree is a good starting point, but more structural action will be needed in the coming years not only to return to pre-Covid levels, but also to consolidate the prestige of Made in Italy by expanding its scope to new markets and new targets.

In this new and constantly evolving context, the 2020 edition of the Netcomm Forum, the reference Italian event for digital commerce that sees partners TUTTOFOOD and Fiera Milano, was very interesting with data, trends, case studies, experts and round tables.

Food will be the absolute protagonist, also thanks to the contribution of TUTTOFOOD and Fiera Milano: capitalising on the dialogue and constant dialogue with all the stakeholders of the supply chains through the multisector ecosystem of the event, TUTTOFOOD and Fiera Milano proposed an ‘in the field’ vision of the sector’s most current developments.

Ideas to be replicated and an incentive to be maximised

“Fashion and food are united by the fact that on the one hand they are essential for everyone's life and, on the other, an opportunity to live and express their identity and lifestyle - said Netcomm’s chairman, Roberto Liscia -. A unique feature that allows Food to draw parallels with the success story of the digital commerce of Italian fashion, capturing useful insights to consolidate the growth of e-commerce after the boom during the lockdown. According to our estimates, we are talking about growth peaks of up to 150% in some segments, which may continue up to 96%. We have calculated that during the confinement there were at least two million new buyers who bought food online: calculating that each of them does the shopping for a household, we are talking about at least 5 million new consumers. Of these, according to our calculations, at least 36% will carry on using e-commerce for food and drinks even after”.

The confinement has in fact given a particular boost to Food & Grocery: according to data from the B2c Netcomm eCommerce Observatory - Milan Polytechnic, it has reached 2.5 billion euros, with a boom of + 56%. In general, the emergency has made buying online known to many who did not use it before. Also according to the Observatory, at the end of 2020 the increase in digital sales will be over a quarter - + 26% - compared to last year, bringing spending to as much as 22.7 billion.