Retail Trade in Italian Listed Companies During Crisis Years: 2009–2018

Abstract

The Italian history of retail trade is a mirror of the evolution of the national economy during the decade 2009–2018. The main problems that the retail trade has encountered in this period are: (a) the general reduction of the spending power of consumers; (b) the inadequacy of the traditional retail trade with respect to the new purchasing methods. This research focuses mainly on excellent Italian companies that have been able to adapt to change, taking advantage of the opportunities offered by new consumer trends. However, in the last five years, these companies also show signs of weakening, especially in the core business. The situation is well represented by the trend that Pearson's correlation coefficients assumed relative to some key variables in the period between 2014 and 2018, compared to the previous five years.