SumUp publishes the Cashless Fashion Observatory and identify digital payment trends in clothing stores during the latest retail season winter sales.
The season did not achieve the desired results: according to the Italian Fashion Federation-Confcommercio, in February sales fell by 4.6% compared to a year ago (in January the drop was -4.5%), and around one in two companies closed the season with a negative sign. Among the causes of this decline are the high cost of living, which leads Italians to look for advantageous deals all year round without waiting for sales, but also the milder temperatures, which reduce the need to purchase winter clothing.
Despite the overall slowdown, Sales made through digital payment tools are growing, a sign that cashless can be an important lever for responding to new customer habits, offering them a more satisfying in-store shopping experience and being more attractive on the market.
Between January and March, cashless transactions in clothing stores grew by +10% compared to the previous year, while the value of the average cashless receipt – an indicator of an ever-increasing diffusion of card payments even for small amount expenses – fell by all of Italy by -3%, reaching 56.8 euros.
The provinces with the highest increase in cashless transactions during the sales season are in the lead Varese (+128.2%), Perugia (+105.2%) and Fermo (+98.6%). In Massa-Carrara you can find the lowest digital receipt (€29.7 euros). The province in which, however, the average cashless ticket has fallen the most is Oristano, -57% compared to 2023.
Umberto Zola, Growth Marketing Lead di SumUp
The 2024 sales season that has just ended has made it clear that consumers are aiming for economically sustainable shopping. However, the steady growth of digital payments at a national level, with transactions increasing in most provinces, is an excellent sign: it means that buyers prefer to opt for an alternative to cash, expecting efficiency and speed at the checkout, but also that Italian merchants intend to offer customers innovative payment solutions…
Digital payments, SumUp reveals winter trends
Sales cashlessdove Cashless payments are growing – The provinces that recorded the highest growth in digital transactions in the 2024 winter sales period are Varese (+128.2%), Perugia (+105.2%) and Fermo (+98.6%). In fourth place in the ranking is Pordenone (+79%), in fifth Como (+62.3%), Ancona is in sixth position (+60.9%), Rimini in seventh (+59.4%) . Closing out the Top 10 are Reggio Calabria (+56.1%), Livorno (+49.1%) and Belluno (+46.7%).
The lowest digital receipts of the winter sales – After Massa-Carrara, to find the lowest average cashless receipts you need to go to Rieti (€31.1), followed by Vibo Valentia (€33) and Matera (€35.8). Verbano-Cusio-Ossola (€36.7) is the only northern province before Caltanissetta (€37.5), Syracuse (€37.6) and Isernia (€39.8). Taranto (€41.6) and Chieti (€42.6) close the ranking.
At the top of the ranking of the provinces in which the average digital receipt has fallen the most, however, is Oristano with a decline of -57% compared to 2023: here the ticket went from €120.7 to €51.9. Belluno follows with a decrease of -49%, where the receipt drops from €157.8 to €80.5. Also on the podium is the average digital ticket of Isernia which, dropping from €69.8 to €39.8, marks a -42.9%.
Clothing, digital payments also growing in 2023 – The data on the cashless trend in clothing stores in the first months of 2024 show continuity with those relating to the whole of 2023. Digital payments grow at a national level by +17.4%, while from one year to the next it remains the value of the average cashless receipt was almost constant (€56.8 versus €57).