These are the most important marketplaces for selling to ITALY!
Last updated: 16.07.2025
Italy may not be the largest e-commerce market in Europe, but it is one of the most dynamic – and also one of the most imbalanced when it comes to marketplace relevance. The new edition of our Marketplace Country Quadrant Italy shows a landscape where Amazon towers above all, while several verticals are still underdeveloped in the online space.
Market Overview
- Population: 58.8 million
- E-commerce turnover: €63.1 billion (2024, ECDB)
- YoY growth: +6.3%
- E-commerce share of retail: 12.3%
- Top 5 online stores: Amazon, Shein, eBay, Unieuro, Zalando
- VAT: 22% standard rate
- Amazon traffic penetration: ~82% – Amazon dominates across nearly all categories
Italy’s marketplace landscape remains a challenging environment: While fashion and electronics are growing steadily, categories like Home & Living, DIY or Beauty are still early in their online development. Also notable: Italy lacks strong local generalists.
The Generalists: Global giants in charge
Unlike in other European markets, Italy’s generalist space is entirely international – with no local hero in sight:
- Amazon
- Temu
- eBay
- AliExpress
- Shein
Clear market leader in all categories is Amazon. The platform absolutely dominates the Italian e-commerce; more than half of the country’s e-commerce turnover goes to Amazon and its marketplace. The second biggest player Shein makes less than one tenth of Amazon’s turnover. So without Amazon, there is no Italian e-commerce, basta.
Category Highlights
Behind the towering dominance of Amazon, and the rise of Shein and Temu, the rest of the market is a comparatively small cake which many players are fighting over. The lack of local players is obvious: Apart from Unieuro (which has gained significance after their merger with French electronics giant Fnac Darty), there is a colorful mix of German, French, British and Dutch players.
Fashion & Shoes
In the Fashion segment, Shein has stormed to the top, nearly (but not quite) outranking Amazon. Next in line, with a turnover less than half as big as Shein’s comes Zalando. In the second-hand market, Vinted is a force to be reckoned with. Yoox seems to have lost its interest in its marketplace strategy but so far the marketplace turnover is still relevant, so the platform is part of this year’s quadrant. We might re-evaluate this positioning next year.
- Zalando
- Farfetch
- Yoox
Electronics
MediaMarkt is doing very well for itself in the Italian market. The second-hand market is divided between refurbed and Backmarket. Local player ePrice is barely hanging in there in the electronics category, but losing relevance fast. We will most likely see a shift here, when local hero Unieuro’s marketplace plans come into effect this year. Unieuro already is a relevant electronics retailer and has gained speed through its merger with Fnac Darty.
- MediaMarkt
- refurbed
- ePrice
Home & Living
This category is still underdeveloped in Italy. Apart from Amazon, there’s eBay (which makes round about the same turnover in its home & living category in Italy as Ikea.it), and then the field gets very thin.
- Leroy Merlin
- Maisons du Monde
- ManoMano
DIY & Garden
Just as in Home & Living, this category still has grounds to cover regarding e-commerce share in Italy. Amazon and eBay dominate the relatively small field. The growth of Leroy Merlin in Italy should be noted, though. Again, Unieuro could become an interesting player as soon as their marketplace is live.
- ManoMano
- Leroy Merlin
- MediaMarkt
Sports
Behind Amazon, Decathlon shares the sports crown with Shein and Zalando. Behind those big four, there are many smaller platforms which could be interesting for certain product categories. We included tradeinn in this quadrant as a stand-in for similar smaller platforms.
- Decathlon
- Zalando
- TradeInn
Beauty & Care
Another underdeveloped category, especially in the area personal care and pharmacies. While cosmetics as a category are growing and have strong specialists such as Douglas or Zalando, the pharmacy category lacks strong players apart from Amazon. We included the DocMorris daughter PromoFarma to showcase the most promising candidate.
- Zalando
- Douglas
- PromoFarma
What changed since last year?
Removed due to lower relevance or strategic shifts:
- Backmarket (refurbed is now stronger)
- Conforama, Metro, JD, Printemps (not relevant enough per ECDB data)
- Subito (C2C platform)
- Alltricks, Rue du Commerce (scaled back or less relevant)
New in the quadrant:
- Yoox, Unieuro, PromoFarma, TradeInn
Structural shift:
Shein is now classified as a generalist, not just a fashion marketplace.
A fragmented landscape shaped by history
Italy’s online marketplace landscape is a direct result of international underinvestment in earlier years. For a long time, global players focused elsewhere, giving Amazon a clear path to dominance – and leaving few opportunities for local champions to grow.
This late development also explains the lack of local generalists and the limited online maturity of categories like DIY, Home & Living, and Beauty.
But things are changing. Unieuro has positioned itself well with a strong multi-category strategy and could make an impression on the landscape with its marketplace which will launch this year. Refurbed and PromoFarma show the rise of niche-focused players. And platforms like Shein, Temu, and MediaMarkt are now actively expanding into the Italian market.
Want to compare Italy with other countries or see how marketplaces rank by vertical? Check out all our Marketplace Quadrants here!