Author: Giuseppe Solano
Date: 22-05-2026

This thesis project focuses on the launch of Ceresella.it, an e-commerce platform for traditional Calabrian products, conceived as a tool to enhance the region’s agri-food heritage and promote territorial development through the digital channel.

The research is structured into five main stages: the definition of the objectives and research questions, desk analysis, qualitative analysis, quantitative analysis, and finally the development of the Ceresella.it model along with the related conclusions. The general aim of the study is to understand whether and how Ceresella.it can become a tool for enhancing Calabrian agri-food heritage through a sustainable e-commerce model. This objective is developed through three main research questions. The first concerns the market and the competitive context, with the aim of understanding whether there is a gap between the current online supply and potential demand, and which markets are the most promising. The second concerns the digital consumer, in order to understand which factors influence purchase, satisfaction, and loyalty, as well as which barriers and segments emerge. The third, finally, concerns the development model of Ceresella.it, with the aim of defining the guidelines for the digital offer, the catalogue, and the structure of the platform.

To answer these questions, a desk analysis was first conducted. At the global level, it emerged that food is among the most relevant categories in e-commerce, second only to fashion, and that Asia is the leading market in terms of turnover. At the European level, 77% of users have made at least one online purchase in the last twelve months, and there is a high penetration of digital purchasing in Northern and Western European countries. At the national level, the food and grocery sectors are growing by +7%, while 36% of Italian operators sell abroad. These data show that there is still ample space for a project such as Ceresella.it. In addition, the growth of new formats such as live shopping is emerging.

To answer the first research question, that is, to understand the current online offer of Calabrian products, four e-commerce platforms were analysed: Salumificio Livasì, producer of ’nduja di Spilinga and other Calabrian cured meats; Agricola Conforti, active in the extra virgin olive oil sector with DOP certification; Azienda Agricola Lidia Elia, producer of Calabrian citrus fruits in the Sibari Plain; and Nonnacalabrese.it, an aggregator e-commerce platform for Calabrian products. The analysis clearly shows a fragmented offer: no player covers all the main categories of Made in Calabria. In addition, logistical and service-related critical issues emerge, since shipping, customer journey, and service reliability are not always optimized. Storytelling and content also often appear weak: the value of the territory is not translated into a convincing digital experience. Finally, customer loyalty is underdeveloped: email marketing, marketing automation, loyalty programs, and CRM are limited or almost absent. This makes these e-commerce businesses highly dependent on advertising and compromises their long-term sustainability.

Alongside desk analysis, a qualitative analysis was carried out through 17 in-depth interviews. Three producers under 30 were interviewed, representing three iconic products of Calabrian agri-food culture — extra virgin olive oil, Bergamot of Reggio Calabria, and ’nduja di Spilinga — together with four e-commerce experts and entrepreneurs, including the founder of FruttaWeb and the founder of Cose del Posto, six communicators and influencers, including Tappatumi and Pasta Grammar, and finally four consumers. The age of the interviewees ranged from 24 to 75 years old, the interviews lasted between 20 and 60 minutes, and the overall fieldwork period lasted 40 days.

Four main findings emerged from the qualitative analysis. First, the value of the product depends on a credible link with its place of origin: for example, ’nduja must be produced in Spilinga and bergamot in Reggio Calabria. Second, it is not enough to simply show the product online; it is necessary to tell the story of its supply chain, context, and producers. Third, assistance, clarity, and logistical reassurance are necessary in order to reduce the consumer’s perceived risk. Finally, especially from the interviews with communicators and consumers, there clearly emerges a space for a platform such as Ceresella.it, capable of combining selection, storytelling, and reliability.

The final stage of the research was the quantitative analysis, carried out through a survey. A total of 1018 clean responses were collected. Of these, 704 came from people who buy Calabrian products in physical stores and 147 from non-buyers. A subsample of 167 online buyers of Calabrian products was also isolated. Within this subsample, the predominant age group is 36–45, gender is substantially balanced, residence is mainly in Northern Italy, while origin is mainly from Southern Italy and the islands. This suggests that a significant part of the sample is made up of consumers who have moved away from Calabria.

Age of the online buyer sample

Gender of the online buyer sample

Residence of the online buyer sample

Origin of the online buyer sample

The analysis of the sample shows that average spending is between 30 and 50 euros, a relevant figure for defining the free shipping threshold. The most purchased categories are cured meats, accounting for 60%, followed by cheeses, liqueurs, preserves, and extra virgin olive oil. The most common purchasing frequency is two to three times per year, a pattern consistent with the often seasonal nature of these products. The main discovery channels are social media, followed equally by producers’ websites and word of mouth; the main purchasing channel, instead, is the producers’ e-commerce websites, accounting for 55.7%.

Most purchased categories

Average spending

Channel used to discover products

Purchase frequency

Main channels used for purchase

A Quadrant Analysis was also conducted, relating 17 items evaluated both in terms of importance and satisfaction. In the upper-right quadrant are the attributes with high importance and high satisfaction; in the lower-right quadrant are those with high importance but low satisfaction; and in the lower-left quadrant are those with low importance and low satisfaction.

A linear regression was then carried out to identify the main drivers of satisfaction. The main driver is product quality, followed by value for money, support for the local territory, and authenticity and traditions. Purchase barriers were also analysed on the sample of 704 physical-store buyers: 70.5% prefer to see or buy products in person, 15.3% consider shipping costs too high, and 15.1% report limited knowledge of trustworthy e-commerce platforms. These are highly relevant findings for the development of the project.

Finally, a Conjoint Analysis was also carried out with the aim of identifying the most attractive product page. Four attributes were tested — product image, e-commerce colour, layout, and product background — through nine cards generated with an orthogonal design in SPSS. Respondents were asked to evaluate their attractiveness on a scale from 1 to 7. The most important attribute turned out to be the e-commerce layout, with almost 37%, followed by product image and product background; the least relevant attribute was the colour of the e-commerce. From the utility estimates, it emerges that the preferred image is the applied product image, the preferred colour is white, the preferred layout is minimal, with the “add to cart” button at the top, and the preferred background is natural, for example on grass. This is the product page configuration that will be adopted within the e-commerce.

To synthesise the 17 items analysed, a factor analysis was conducted. All items showed communality above 0.5. Five factors were identified: Authenticity, Efficiency, Quality, Experience, and Image. These factors were then used for cluster analysis, which led to the identification of three buyer personas: the Involved, oriented towards authenticity, efficiency, and experience; the Functional, attracted by efficiency and image; and the Selective, focused mainly on quality.

In light of the results obtained, the answer to the question “Why Ceresella.it?” is clear. First of all, there is a market opportunity: the online food market is growing, demand for authentic and territorial products is increasing, and there is a significant presence of consumers living outside the region but still connected to Calabria. There is also a competitive gap: the online offer is fragmented, no player covers all the main categories, and critical issues remain in storytelling, loyalty, and customer experience. In response to this scenario, Ceresella.it is positioned as an identity-driven aggregator of Made in Calabria, a platform that combines assortment, storytelling, and reliability.

The primary target will be the Involved cluster, which seeks authenticity, efficiency, and purchasing experience. The secondary target will be the Selective cluster, focused mainly on quality. The main barriers to overcome will be: the preference for physical stores, to be addressed also through fairs and physical events; the limited knowledge of trustworthy e-commerce platforms, to be overcome through awareness strategies; high shipping costs, which should be kept below 8 euros to avoid checkout abandonment; and doubts about online product quality, to be reduced through testing, content, and reassurance.

The development levers will be identified precisely through the Quadrant Analysis. The elements in the upper-right quadrant represent the indispensable requirements of the project; those in the lower-right quadrant, namely high importance but low satisfaction, represent the main differentiation levers: customer service reliability, rapid delivery times, and free shipping threshold. The elements in the lower-left quadrant, instead, will need to be monitored but with lower priority. The final objective of the project is to transform the visit into trust, and trust into purchase and repeat purchase.

The launch phases will be three. The first is the actual launch phase, which will include the development and creation of the e-commerce, the initial assortment with the main categories, the activation of social media and content, the development of the main email marketing and automation flows, with an initial specific focus on the Italian market. The second is the consolidation phase, oriented towards optimizing the customer experience, developing customer loyalty, and expanding the catalogue towards more niche products. The third and final phase is expansion, which includes the progressive opening to B2B, the growth of SEO and editorial content, the evaluation of foreign markets identified in the desk analysis, and the opening of new commercial channels.