About 2.2 billion euros. This is the spending of Italians on the occasion of Black Friday who in the next ten days will buy mountains of products that will be delivered in 41.5 million packages according to the latest edition of the Netcomm B2c eCommerce Observatory – Milan Polytechnic School of Management and the Netcomm Delivery Index which highlights the growing phenomenon both in terms of value (+7) and volume (+9%).
On to Cyber Monday
In the next ten days, until Cyber Monday, almost 35 million Italians will participate in this shopping spree, confident of finding gifts, the most convenient gadgets, while the most efficient and competitive sellers will generate three times the turnover of the average day. The product categories most impacted by this initiative are: Apparel, Food & Grocery, and Beauty & Health. Experience related to the world of travel and events is also good. Furthermore, Netcomm highlighted growing trends for certain categories: products in the Games and Hobbies category were purchased almost five times more in the run-up to Christmas during the Black Friday period compared to the average day of the year, while purchases of musical instruments and household appliances tripled in this period. Services are also growing, first among all travel ticket purchases, growing by 13% compared to 2024.
«We estimate that 34.9 million Italians will use online channels for their purchases during this period: this is evidence that confirms the power of this initiative, which has now become the best moment in which Italians concentrate the majority of their Christmas purchases and beyond – explains Roberto Liscia, president of Netcomm -. At the same time, it is interesting to observe the imbalance between the increase in parcel volumes and the increasingly limited growth in the economic value of purchases made during the promotional period. For Black Friday 2025, Italians will increasingly focus on saving, and this is related to two relevant phenomena in digital retail today: on the one hand, the rapid expansion of the second-hand goods market, on the other hand, the increasing influx of products from abroad characterized by lower average prices. Both factors are contributing to a decline in the average value of carts, even as demand continues to increase.” This is the effect of the presence of Temu, Shein and similar platforms that offer products at low prices.
Merchants will generally apply an average discount of around 25% according to various promotional schemes, ranging from selected products to the most loyal customers. Free shipping is an option adopted by 19% of merchants.
«This year Black Friday has the characteristics of a more consolidated phenomenon not only because its growth rate is far from the beginning of the phenomenon in Italy, but also because there is greater maturity on the part of consumers and merchants – underlines Valentina Pontiggia, Director of the Netcomm B2c eCommerce Observatory – Milan Polytechnic -. There are two main factors that explain this change. First, once the novelty effect wears off, consumers become more aware of the dynamics of discounts and online purchases. Second, extending the discount period to at least one week allows merchants to manage traffic and operational peaks with less stress. Industry players are also investing more in strategic planning of promotional activities, including through advance planning aimed at strengthening marketing activities (75%), logistics (65%) and customer service (52%). Finally, it’s Black Friday in the name of exclusivity: more and more eCommerce sites are providing promotions for their most loyal customers, giving rise to a targeted and personalized approach.
