Emotional shopping is driving Italy’s e-commerce boom, with the market expected to reach $148 billion by 2030
For brands, the new competitive advantage is no longer price alone, but the ability to build trust, empathy and lasting emotional connections with consumers.
Increasingly, purchases are driven by emotion rather than necessity. Italy’s e-commerce market is accelerating rapidly and is set to become one of the country’s most important drivers of consumer spending. Forecasts suggest the market will reach a value of $148.5 billion by 2030, supported by an average annual growth rate of 18.9%.
These figures reflect a structural shift. Online shopping is no longer simply an alternative to physical stores; it has become a central part of how Italians shop.
Italy’s growth mirrors an equally dynamic global trend. Worldwide, e-commerce is expected to exceed $5 trillion by the end of the decade, supported by around four billion digital consumers. Yet the real transformation is no longer being driven solely by technology or faster delivery. Consumer behaviour itself is changing.
From rational purchasing to emotional commerce
Until recently, competition between online platforms centred on price, promotions and logistics. Today, however, success increasingly depends on the customer experience. Consumers are choosing brands that create genuine connections, demonstrate authenticity and foster a sense of belonging.
This shift has given rise to emotional commerce—a model in which purchasing decisions are influenced as much by emotion as by practical need. Engaging video content, compelling storytelling, online communities and personalised communication are becoming powerful tools for shaping consumer behaviour.
As a result, companies are moving beyond a purely transactional approach to focus on building long-term customer relationships. Increasingly, success depends not only on the product itself, but on how the brand makes consumers feel throughout the purchasing journey.
The new challenge for brands: earning trust
These themes were central to discussions at the Spring Richmond E-Commerce Forum in Rimini, where retail leaders and digital professionals examined the future of the sector.
Speakers agreed that storytelling has become an essential component of the relationship between brands and consumers. Industry experts argued that the future of e-commerce will be defined by a brand’s ability to create empathy and build trust.
“It’s no longer enough to offer a good product or an efficient service,” said Claudio Honegger, Co-founder and CEO of Richmond Italia. “The brands that succeed are those capable of building relationships throughout the entire customer journey.”
A market reshaping consumer behaviour
The continued growth of e-commerce is expected to reshape the strategies of Italian businesses over the coming years. Marketing, customer service, social media and digital content will become increasingly integrated into a single ecosystem designed to generate both emotional engagement and commercial results.
The result is a consumer landscape in which the boundaries between entertainment, communication and shopping continue to blur. In this environment, the most valuable competitive asset will no longer be price alone, but a brand’s ability to earn trust, build recognition and establish meaningful emotional connections with consumers.
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