On June 30, 2025, the business landscape across Italy’s regions was a study in contrasts—one marked by resilience in the face of economic headwinds and another by the relentless march of digital transformation. In Pistoia and its province, as reported by La Nazione, 27,064 companies remained active at the mid-year mark, a slight dip of 0.1% compared to the previous year. Meanwhile, in Sardinia, a very different story was unfolding: the number of businesses operating exclusively online had more than tripled over the past decade, according to data from Confartigianato imprese Sardegna, as cited in L’Unione Sarda.
Let’s start in Tuscany. The Chamber of Commerce for Pistoia and Prato painted a nuanced picture for the first half of 2025. While the combined area saw an overall business growth of 0.4%, this was unevenly distributed: Prato enjoyed a 0.7% uptick, but Pistoia registered a minor decline. Still, Pistoia’s performance outpaced the broader region, which contracted by 0.4%, and the national average, which fell by 0.6%. In this context, the president of the Chamber, Dalila Mazzi, offered a sobering perspective: “The overall positive data is an encouraging sign, but our responsibility is to look beyond the surface with clarity. The critical issue concerns the growing divergence between the strong dynamics of services and the deep suffering of our manufacturing sector. A healthy economy cannot stand on a single pillar.”
Indeed, the numbers reveal a complex interplay between sectors. Capital companies in Pistoia grew by 3.3%, signaling a shift toward more robust, capitalized business models. On the other hand, partnerships fell by 2.9%, and individual firms held steady, suggesting that entrepreneurs are increasingly favoring organizational structures that can weather economic storms. The construction sector posted a 1.4% gain, while business services and personal services grew by 2% and 3.3%, respectively. Notably, social assistance and private health services surged by 6.4%, underlining the rising demand for care-related offerings.
Yet, the manufacturing engine that once powered the region is sputtering. The sector overall shrank by 2.9%, with particularly steep drops in fashion (-3.8%), wood and furniture (-3.6%), paper and printing (-5.5%), food processing (-3.7%), and mechanics (-2.8%). Agriculture slipped by 1.8%, and commerce by 1%, with both wholesale and retail segments feeling the pinch. Even tourism—a traditional bright spot—saw a 2% decline, though there was a silver lining: accommodation facilities rose by 4.8%, partially offsetting the 3.7% drop in bars and restaurants. The province’s net balance of business registrations versus closures was still positive at +95, but the underlying churn was evident: in addition to the 27,046 active companies, there were 2,348 inactive or suspended, 1,015 in dissolution or liquidation, and 516 under bankruptcy procedures.
Against this backdrop of cautious stability in Pistoia, Sardinia is experiencing a digital revolution of its own. According to Confartigianato imprese Sardegna, the island now boasts 704 businesses that operate exclusively online—a staggering 218.6% increase from just 221 in 2014. This wave of online-only enterprises has catapulted Sardinia to eighth place nationally, though it still lags behind Campania, where such businesses soared by 393.5% to 6,484 in the same period. Calabria, too, saw nearly a threefold increase, up 292.2%. Across Italy, the number of online-only businesses has risen by 225.6%, reaching 43,379 active enterprises.
What’s driving this surge? For many Sardinian entrepreneurs, the answer is simple: overhead. “There’s a way to reduce store expenses for a merchant, and it’s the simplest of all: not to have a store,” quips L’Unione Sarda. The data shows that 72.6% of Sardinian e-commerce firms sell directly through their own websites, while 67.5% leverage marketplaces, apps, or intermediary platforms. The range of goods and services is dizzying—everything from clothing, home goods, and travel to IT products, books, food, and even telecommunications services. There are also more specialized offerings, such as remote vehicle monitoring, video surveillance, and artificial intelligence solutions.
Provincial data underscores the breadth of this transformation. Nuoro’s online-only businesses grew by 323.5% over the decade, now totaling 72. Sassari-Olbia climbed by 285.4% to 185 enterprises, Oristano by 200% to 51, and Cagliari by 184.4% to 396. “These data confirm the potential of e-commerce for the growth of Sardinian businesses,” said Giacomo Meloni, president of Confartigianato imprese Sardegna. “This is an intelligent way to sell products and promote the artisanal value of our territories—a parallel method to traditional commerce that allows us to overcome distances and reach even faraway markets.”
Meloni also highlighted the unique strengths of Italian craftsmanship in the digital age: “The digital revolution excludes no sector, no activity of craftsmanship or small business. We have the extraordinary opportunity to combine digital technologies with tradition, know-how, creativity, taste, and customization—traits that have always made Italian artisan products world-renowned. The mix that emerges represents the Italian model of Industry 4.0, unique in the world. And let’s never forget that markets seek distinctiveness and uniqueness, not conformity.”
But there’s a catch. Despite the e-commerce boom, the broader digital transformation of Sardinia’s business fabric is lagging. More than two-thirds of Sardinian companies still have insufficient IT know-how. Only 8% have achieved a high level of digitalization in their production systems or adopted Industry 4.0 technologies. Meanwhile, 64% remain at a mediocre level, and 28% have only just begun their digital journey. This digital divide could prove a stumbling block for the region’s competitiveness in the years ahead.
Comparing these two regions—Pistoia’s steady but fragile business ecosystem and Sardinia’s leap into e-commerce—offers a snapshot of Italy’s shifting economic currents. Pistoia, with its deep manufacturing roots, is grappling with sectoral decline but finding hope in services and construction. Sardinia, long seen as a traditionalist stronghold, is embracing the digital marketplace, even as much of its business community struggles to keep pace with technological change.
What’s clear is that both regions are searching for sustainable models in an era of disruption. As Mazzi of the Pistoia-Prato Chamber of Commerce put it, “Services are fundamental, but it’s industry that creates complex supply chains and preserves the know-how that is the heritage of our territory. Our priority today is to support the transformation underway.” Meanwhile, Meloni’s optimism about e-commerce is tempered by the recognition that digital skills must become more widespread if Sardinia is to fully realize its potential.
Italy’s entrepreneurs, whether in the heart of Tuscany or on the shores of Sardinia, are navigating uncharted waters. Some are holding the line, others are leaping ahead, but all are confronting the same truth: the future belongs to those who can adapt, innovate, and—above all—balance tradition with transformation.
