Global Shopping Insights Report: Italy 🇮🇹

Battle of the drinks: juice or water?

In Italy, water is chosen significantly more often than juice, with 132% more additions to shopping lists for water than for juice. This is the largest margin in favor of water among all the analyzed countries.

Similarly, water is more frequently planned for purchase by Americans, Brazilians, and Germans, while juice is preferred by the French and Norwegians.

Which country likes Nutella the most?

Italy ranked third in the share of Nutella in the sweet and savory snacks category. The highest results were recorded in France and Germany, while the lowest were in Canada, the USA, and Norway.

Italians were 0.87 percentage points behind the second-place Germans.

"shopping" or Lidl? Most common shopping list names

Italian shopping list names stood out with a high use of the phrase "shopping", which appeared in nearly one in five lists. The phrase "new list" was also popular, appearing in 13.96% of shopping list names.

In terms of retailer mentions, Lidl was the most popular supermarket in Italy, appearing in 1.63% of shopping list names, followed closely by Coop and Conad. The total share of retailer names in Italian shopping lists was 3.43%, noticeably lower than in other countries. Higher shares were recorded in France (5.11%), the UK (5.49%), and Spain, which led the ranking with 15.38%.

Who’s behind the shopping list?

In Italy, 12.51% of active shopping lists from June 1, 2023, to May 31, 2024, were shared with at least one person.

This is lower than the global average but higher than the rates in the UK and France. The highest sharing rates were recorded by Danes and Poles, while Americans shared their shopping lists the least.

The list-sharing rate may reflect the extent to which citizens of a given country share the responsibility of household shopping.

Hot categories

Italian shopping lists feature a low share of fruits and vegetables, at 15.01%, which is below the global average (18.57%) and significantly lower than the leader, Poland (22.86%).

This may be due to Italy's unique shopping habits, where the wide availability of fresh produce and the popularity of local markets make fruit and vegetable purchases more spontaneous, leading users to include them less often on shopping lists.

However, Italy stands out for the high share of fish and seafood on shopping lists. At 2.26%, this is the highest among the analyzed countries and significantly above the global average of 1.22%. Spain, in second place, recorded a 2.15% share of fish and seafood.

Shopper favorites

Eggs, milk, bread, and toilet paper are the most frequently added items to shopping lists in Italy, standing out significantly in terms of quantity compared to other products. Interestingly, only in Italy and Spain do eggs hold the top spot on shopping lists, whereas in other analyzed countries, and globally, milk occupies first place.

In Italy, butter ranks relatively low, in 10th place. For comparison, it ranks second in France and fourth in Germany. Butter is even less popular in Spain and Brazil, where it holds 17th place.

Who shops like a pro?

In Italy, 52.98% of items on shopping lists were marked as purchased after being added. This result is close to the global average and ranks Italy ninth out of the 12 analyzed countries.

The lowest rates were recorded in the United States (47.3%) and Brazil (48.51%).

Factors such as store availability and product offerings may influence the rate of items being marked as purchased.

Sweet tooth or snack attack?

Italians prefer chocolate over chips, but the difference in additions of these products to shopping lists was only 0.89%, the smallest margin in this category among the analyzed countries.

Similarly, chocolate is more frequently chosen by Spaniards, Poles, and French shoppers. In contrast, chips appear more often on the shopping lists of Germans, Brits, and Canadians.

Loved in Italy

The Mutti brand, particularly known for its tomato products, enjoys significant trust among Italians. Mutti products accounted for 1.59% of all preserved items added to shopping lists.

Choosing a specific brand, such as "Mutti passata", indicates loyalty to the brand and a preference for this product, which is especially important on shared shopping lists.

In Italian, please!

84.03% of shopping lists created between June 1, 2023, and May 31, 2024, in Italy were in Italian, placing Italy 4th among the 12 analyzed countries.

The lowest share of the primary language was observed in the United States, where, despite around 78.3% of residents speaking only English at home (according to American Community Survey data from 2018-2022), only 46.74% of shopping lists in the Listonic app were created in English. The highest results were recorded in Poland (96.09%) and Norway (89.24%).

Shopping speed champions

Italians rank 10th (tied with the USA) in the list of nations that most quickly move from adding a product to their shopping list to marking it as purchased. The average time for this process in Italy is 136 hours (just over 5.5 days).

Danes complete their shopping lists the fastest (58 hours), while Brazilians take the longest (172 hours).

Various factors, such as shopping frequency and the availability of groceries, may influence these results.

The country of ultimate organizers

Italians used the Listonic app an average of 3.66 times per week, placing them second-to-last among the analyzed countries. The French used the app the most frequently (4.6 times/week), while Brazilians used it the least (2.67 times/week). The global average is 3.93 visits per week.

Most Italian users (34.83%) used the Listonic app once a week, while the second-largest group (26.08%) planned their shopping 4 to 10 times per week.

The lower frequency of app use may be due to different shopping habits and lifestyles, such as frequent, spontaneous small purchases at markets, larger but less frequent shopping trips, or regular dining out.