For years, artificial intelligence helped online stores sell. Now it is starting to do something new: buy on people's behalf. AI assistants and agents search, compare and complete the purchase by themselves. For sellers this changes everything: convincing a customer is no longer enough, you also have to be picked by a machine. Let's look at the numbers, made simple.

The numbers of Italian e-commerce

The market is large and still growing.

• EUR 90.6 billion: the value of Italian e-commerce in 2025.
• +6% growth year on year.
• x55 in 20 years: how much turnover has multiplied.
• Leading sectors: Travel EUR 22B, Marketplaces EUR 17B (+15.7%), Leisure EUR 13B, Fashion EUR 6.5B.
• Fastest growing: Health & Beauty +24.2%.

The rise of "agentic commerce"

This is the new phenomenon: software that buys autonomously. The signals are already strong.

• AI-driven traffic to shopping sites grew 7x in one year (from 6 to 41 million visits).
• Amazon's AI assistant has 300 million users and drives +60% conversions.
• Morgan Stanley estimate: by 2030, 20% of US e-commerce spending will flow through AI agents.

Where selling really happens: apps and social

Customers increasingly buy inside apps and content, not only on the website.

• 17.7% of top Italian e-commerce revenue comes from apps (Marketplaces 29.6%, Fashion 28.4%).
• TikTok Shop Italy: 58% of conversions happen in-app (3x better than external links).
• WhatsApp: 45-60% conversions, versus 2-3% for email.
• Marketing budget: SEM 22% (was 30%), SEO 16%, marketplace ads 7% (was 3.2%).

How customer experience changes: 3 defenses

If a machine is choosing too, stores must lean on what an algorithm cannot copy.

• Brand strength: being recognized before the search.
• Immersive experience: live shopping, gamification, shoppable content.
• Direct relationship: first-party data, WhatsApp, personalized CRM.

Company priorities confirm it: grow revenue (25%), acquire customers (17%), build the brand (15%), retain customers (14%).

The Shine Software vision

At Shine Software we read these numbers as an opportunity. Italian e-commerce is mature and AI is reshaping how people buy: sellers must be found by AI agents too, be present across apps and social, and build a direct relationship with customers. We help merchants on Magento and Adobe Commerce turn these trends into concrete choices — clean product data for AI discovery, marketplace and conversational integrations, modern buying experiences. Our vision: solid technology serving a more human digital commerce.