Per PayPalour country is among the 10 most important in the world. “Italy is at the top globally in terms of penetration, of customers who use the platform – he claims Maria Teresa Minotti, country director of the Italian branch of PayPal –. But there is a peculiarity that makes our country uniquealso compared to other markets in Europe: the diversity with which PayPal can be used”. In fact, PayPal can also be used to carry out digital payments that are not just for standard e-commerce. You can pay them too gas and electricity or telephone bills, taxes and, more generally, the collections from the public administration.
A great big opportunity
“In Italy – specifies Minotti -, l’e-commerce today is worth about 50 billion euros. Compared to other European markets, such as France and Germany, we are still small in size. However, if we consider the potential for different payment scopessuch as that of the public administration, which last year with PagoPA reached approximately 62 billion euros, it is clear that there is a very big opportunity”.
In 2021, PayPal introduced the service for Italian consumers Buy Now, Pay Later with the mode Paga in 3 rate. “This functionality – says Minotti – allows payment in three installments even in areas other than traditional e-commerce: for example, it allows you to defer the payment of bills. This possibility, in a fairly critical economic context such as the current one, offers the possibility of divide the payment for amounts from 30 to 2000 euros into several installments and at no costwhile the merchant receives the amount due in a single solution, as if it had not been deferred”.
Also in 2021, Paypal also introduced the feature Give at check out which allows for donate 1 euro every time you make an online purchase. “The customer can choose your favorite Charity – adds Minotti -. However, PayPal delivers diversified options over time also depending on particular historical moments or greater need for support”. Today there are over 200 charities which can be viewed in the function, while the sum raised amounts to 1.8 million euros.
on the front ofethics and some donations, among European countries dominates Greece, Italy is the second. In this area, PayPal is by far the preferred method for online payments (72%).
“Last year – underlines Minotti – we have strengthened our offer within the digital payments of the Public Administration, making it available also on the Io app used by over 30 million citizens, thanks to the collaboration with PagoPA and PayTipper”. It is instead of these days the insertion of PayPal among the payment methods available in the Eni Live appwhich follows the introduction of PayPal nell’app di Enjoythe Eni Sustainable Mobility car sharing service, active since June 2022.
Ten million active accounts
From the survey presented recently by Netcomm, they are over 33 million subjects who buy online. Among them, PayPal boasts ten million active accounts. They are evidently people who agree to share their financial data online. Despite this, as emerges from the PayPal commerce index 2022In the 48% of cases is the safety/trust factor to represent the main obstacle to online shopping for Italians. And it is precisely on this that PayPal aims, namely a play a major role in instilling trust. And the results are seen: 67% of consumers trust the company to protect your financial data and make digital payments.
Not only. The data collected by PayPal shows that 63% of users would abandon the cart if the Buy Now, Pay Later option were not present. If the survey is limited to Millennials and Generation Z, the figure even reaches 68%.
It is a trend that is constantly increasing: in the first quarter of 2023, almost 33% of PayPal merchants in Italy were paid through the “Pay in 3 installments” service”. PayPal reminds you that it currently works with in our country 90 brands/merchants of the Italian Top 100 and of these 70 accept the “Pay in 3 installments” formula. And, as mentioned, this opportunity to divide the amount into three installments does not only concern purchases, but also payments from the public administration.
Shopping across the border
The Internet opens a window to the world and allows you to cross national borders. This also applies to purchases. According to the PayPal commerce index 2022, 73% of Italian consumers make purchases abroad. This is mainly because i prices are cheaper and why products not available in Italy are available. Likewise, 83% of Italian merchants sell on international markets. These sales contribute on average almost to the 20% of turnover.
Another trend highlighted by the PayPal commerce index 2022, but also emphasized by the Netcomm report, are sales linked to social networks, i social commerce, who are further expanding the adoption of digital payment systems. Today, 77% of consumers make online purchases or digital payments through your own device (usually a smartphone) e 41% use a social platform. The average of sales via social media is close to 15%. On the other hand, the share of Italian companies that currently sell using social media platforms reaches 67%.