Goodbye retailers, in the first three months of 2024, 4 stores disappeared every hour. E-commerce wins

More deliveries, fewer retailers. Storefronts are moving from road to online: in the first three months of 2024, ten thousand retail businesses have virtually disappeared, which means an average of over 4 fewer salespeople per hour. A breakdown corresponding to the unbridled development of online shopping: according to our estimates, throughout 2024 they may increase by +13%, generating over 734 million shipments to potential customers, with an average practically 84,000. parcel deliveries per hour. Nevertheless, trade between storefronts and parcels should not be equal to the economies of territories. As purchases migrate to global eCommerce platforms that often pay taxes in different countries, the tax revenue generated by stores further migrates.

Tax at a loss

According to estimates, the disappearance of economic activity from the territory led to the immediate loss of over €5.2 billion in taxes by Italian tax authorities since 2014. The confesercenti raised the alarm. In total, in the first three months of 2024, 9,828 companies disappeared from the retail sector, which is about a thousand models more than in the same period last year. The closures had a small impact – 17,243 between January and March – but mainly a slowdown in the number of new businesses. In fact, the newest company openings say no, and in the first quarter of this year there were only 7,415 of them: ten years ago there were more than twice as many. This highlights the difficulty that brand new companies face in dealing with a market increasingly dominated by huge teams and internet giants.

The most affected areas

The desertification of business activities affects the entire territory of the country, even if areas with a more developed business structure show the worst balances. In absolute terms, Campania experienced perhaps the most severe business shortage, with an unfavorable stability of -1,225 business activities in the quarter; adopted by Lombardy (-1154) and Latium (-1063). Between closing and not opening, the variety of local retailers serving the area decreased by approximately -14.3% compared to 2012. On average, there are 12 companies per thousand inhabitants. If home storefronts disappear, and with them native customer service, online shopping deliveries will increase.

Say goodbye to free returns for online purchases, that’s why online stores must remove them

According to our estimates, in fact, in just ten years they have increased practically tenfold: in 2013 there were about 75 million of them, this year they must reach 734 million nationwide, of which more than 1/3 in the three most affected areas: Lombardy ( a total of over 124 million deliveries), Lazio (around 71 million) and Campania (69.6 million). Thanks to branch discounts, it is also possible to reduce the tax base for tax authorities. According to Confesercenti’s estimates, the Italian clothing business has lost over 92,000 companies since 2014. And with them, irpef, tari and opposing taxes – from the occupation of public land to promotion – often paid by retailers. Overall, business desertification has led to a cumulative tax shortfall of €5.2 billion over the last ten years. Central tax authorities and national authorities lost: in the case of lost revenues, in fact 17.4% – 910 million – would have come from IMU, 12.6% – or 660 million euros – from Tari, 42.7% (2.24 billion) To of this Irpef are added 223 million (4.3%) further regional and municipal Irpef, 700 million euros Irap (13.4%) and finally 510 million euros of various city taxes (9.7% of the total).

De Luise: “We want new European insurance policies”

“Online platforms are an incredible replica of home business storefronts, a place where you can discover and buy everything, and an opportunity that an increasing number of people are taking advantage of to make their own purchasing choices,” explains Patrizia De Luise, national president of Confesercenti -. A change in consumption habits that could also profoundly change the morphology of our cities and our past. And it is “not only” – that is, the impact on domestic wealth, employment and taxes – that we must pay attention to. “Not to judge, but to examine and replicate in the ‘system’ the negative effects of shifting shopping from the streets to the community.”

And then: “Businesses in space actually play an important role not only in the economic system, but also in the social structure: they create wealth and jobs, they enable residents to simply enter companies, and they contribute to domestic funds through the payment of taxes and taxes. In this context, it may result from the fact that there is an urgent need to develop a completely new European scope that could provide sufficient instruments and help domestic companies aimed at creating a fairer and more aggressive atmosphere, guaranteeing equal tax situations and compliance with the fundamentals aimed at defending competitors. National and European policies must not shirk the obligation to provide fair and honest competitors and to compensate for large imbalances with supportive interventions for small and medium-sized enterprises, and in particular for companies in the service market and domestic retail sectors, which may occur regardless of the minimum tax in 2024 r.”