How do you attract new customers? What digital strategy should you adopt to improve your company’s standing? What kind of CRM should you adopt to optimise sales & marketing activities? How should digital channels be used to reach more markets? These were the subjects addressed at the webinar organised recently by Business International/Fiera Milano Media, as a way of preparing for the forthcoming HOST Milano, TUTTOFOOD and Transpotec Logitec trade fairs. An opportunity to bring together around the same virtual table (until live meetings are once again possible) some of Italy’s leading experts on online sales in the B2B and B2C segment. It was moderated by Federico Gasparotto, founder and CEO of Growth Automation Studio, with contributions from Marino Casucci (CEO, Intergic), Niccolò Giustiniani (business innovation manager, Overture) and Giovanni Cappellotto (ecommerce & retail consultant). They were asked to speak about the future of ecommerce in our country, at a time when it has become increasingly important to understand what the best model is in order to reach new partners, how to accelerate digital business, how to set yourself apart from the competition and how to make best use of the strategic role of logistics and transport.

The underlying theme bringing all these aspects together was one of the most striking phenomena of recent months: the acceleration of the digital approach and the dawn of a new age in which multi-channel systems and presence on social media have become crucial to business today, as has the adoption of hybrid environments combining the physical and digital spheres, i.e. the in-store experience and online sales made through ecommerce platforms. According to data gathered by the eCommerce B2C Monitoring Body, promoted by the School of Management at Politecnico di Milano and by Netcomm, ecommerce in Italy in 2020 was worth approximately 22.7 billion euros, with a record growth of +26% (4.7 billion euros more than in 2019).

The digital commerce sector now needs to be further strengthened using the best platforms and technologies because, as was said during the webinar, “managing content on digital touchpoints is like putting on a play: if one of the actors misses their cue, or comes on stage without a prop, the scene will not work”. And when it comes to more general matters of digital transformation, Italy can certainly be said to have missed its cue. Even though ecommerce is the real key to successful B2B, analysis by the Politecnico reveals that only 32% of Italian businesses are equipped with digital systems to monitor the supply chain. However, in 2020 sectors like ecommerce and food did record an increase of 6% compared with the previous year.

All the experts taking part in the webinar agreed that these figures should be a matter of concern. Because if in the coming months firms that have demonstrated their agility in keeping up with the changes taking place will undoubtedly be the most successful, not everyone is acting in the same way as the key domestic and international players in the two highly interconnected sectors of Food & Beverage and Hospitality. This year, both of them have been called upon to display their synergies and interdependence, at the two key trade fairs – one for hospitality and away-from-home eating, the other covering the agri-food ecosystem – HostMilano and TUTTOFOOD, which this year are being held simultaneously (at Fieramilano, from 22 to 26 October).