9/9/2011 00:00:00
According to the update of some data of the “Report on Regional Economies and the Tertiary Market” carried out by Confcommercio, in Italy the small retail business in late 2010, were about 758 thousand, in modest growth (+0.4%) compared to the previous year. The highest rate of growth was recorded in the central regions (+1.1%), the lowest in the South (+0.1). The region with the greatest increase (+2%) was Lazio, while Sardinia has recorded the biggest drop (-1.4%). As for the large stores – from supermarkets to hypermarkets, from department stores to large specialized areas – these have developed mainly in the Centre-South, with an overall increase of 341 stores (66% of total) in the past year. More dynamic the development of non-food stores (increased by 0.5%) compared with those in the food area (+0.1%) and among individual product sectors, the growth of computing and telecommunications shops stands out – in nearly all regions – in the face of a widespread downsizing of many furniture and home furnishings stores. A significant role in the Italian distribution system have also other forms of distribution – such as street trading (daily and periodic markets, fairs, itinerant vendors), e-commerce and sales through vending machines – which in recent years have shown a strong dynamism in terms of development of enterprises and turnover.
