Keystone-SDA
Retailers in Switzerland’s Ticino are facing growing pressure as cross-border shopping in Italy rises sharply. Estimates suggest the annual value of purchases made abroad by Ticino residents has increased from CHF500 million (approximately $550 million) to CHF700 million over the past five years.
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Shops and supermarkets across the border have become the main retail providers for Ticino residents, Enzo Lucibello, president of the Ticino Association of Large Retailers (Disti), told Swiss news agency Keystone-SDA, confirming a report by the Corriere del Ticino. The trend is also supported by data from Global Blue, a major VAT refund operator.
Since February 1, 2024, the minimum spending threshold for VAT refunds in Italy has been set at €70 (about $75), down from just under €155 previously. The city of Como in particular has recorded a 6% increase in tax-free spending over the past two years – double the national average, according to Corriere del Ticino.
Swiss shoppers have played a central role in this trend, accounting for 61% of total spending. According to Global Blue, a further 31% comes from buyers from outside the EU, whose numbers have also risen significantly in recent years.
While these non-EU customers tend to spend heavily on luxury goods, Swiss shoppers focus more on supermarkets and everyday retail. In fact, one in two uses the tax-free scheme exclusively for purchases in supermarkets located near the border.
+ Swiss cross-border commuter numbers on the rise
Threshold still too high
The rise in cross-border shopping is inevitably weighing on Ticino retailers. “Italy and Switzerland are playing in two different leagues – there’s no doubt about that,” Lucibello told Corriere del Ticino.
He argues that the Swiss government’s decision to lower the duty-free threshold for private imports from CHF300 to CHF150 at the start of 2025 is still too high to effectively curb the trend. During consultations, the retailers’ association had called for the limit to be reduced further to CHF50.
Last year, the retail sector was already hit by an unfavourable euro-franc exchange rate and by Italy’s recent cuts to fuel excise duties. “The result is that people shopping in Italy also fill up their cars and still have money left for dinner,” Lucibello said.
Allowing an additional Sunday opening for shops of up to 400 square metres in Ticino’s tourist regions has helped slow the outflow of customers somewhat, but turnover has continued to decline, he added.
Translated from French by AI/ds
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