Non food: trends

The decline of non-food sales slows down: GS1 Italy - Indicod-Ecr, 2014 report
The findings of the thirteenth Non-Food Survey by GS1 Italy | Indicod-Ecr were presented last June 29th at Milan’s Piccolo Teatro Grassi

The annual study, conducted with TradeLab, monitors the non-food goods sector and tracks trends.
After the sector’s drastic shrinkage in 2013, connected with the sovereign debt crisis, total consumption showed signs of slight recovery in 2014 (+0.5%), especially during the second half of the year.
According to Istat, the non-food sector shows a heartening +0.6%, reaching a total CDI value of more than 98 billion euro.
Non-food accounts for 14.8% of total consumption, compared to 16.5% in 2010. So the decline has been attenuated, at -1.4% (against -3.5% in 2013). After two consecutive crises, then, certain segments report a recovery in sales: furniture and décor (+1.6%), toys (+0.9%) and self-medication products (+3.5%). For the remaining sectors, positive indicators have still not emerged, but the crisis in consumption has been curbed considerably.

Channels diversification. The drop in non-food sales has varied by channel. Hypermarkets and supermarkets continue to lose ground to online and discount retailers.
The market share of GSAs is losing ground in historically “difficult” segments such as DIY and electronics, while the household, stationery and textile sectors are recovering.
Shrinkage of specialized retail has slowed: while, overall, Istat reports -1.6% in specialized non-food retail transactions, for the segments covered in the Survey the percentage is -2.2%. Textiles have been hit particularly hard, while household products, electronics and sports articles are growing.
At the same time, new trends are orienting the shopping experience toward an increasing degree of integration between physical and digital (on-line shopping). Understanding these trends is fundamental to adequately adapting the supply.

Note GS1 Italy | Indicod-Ecr’s Non-Food Survey gathers information on 13 segments: Furniture and Decor, Apparel and Footwear, DIY, Stationery, Edutainment, Household, Consumer Electronics, Fragrance Products, Self-Medication Products, Toys, Jewelry and Watches, Eyewear Products and Textiles.