“France ranks third place in Europe after the UK and Germany.”

E-Commerce in FraNCE

OPPORTUNITIES FOR FOREIGN ONLINE SHOPS

British online shops have great market potential when expanding into France. One option to ensure successful entry into the French market is through keeping shipping costs on the UK level. French customers generally pay high delivery costs to merchants. This results in a competitive advantage over French sellers. Convince potential French customers with your larger product range and offer free returns.

FACTS AND FIGURES

France ranks third place in Europe after the UK and Germany. The country has an internet penetration rate of 88% and almost 92% of all Internet users buy online. The French E-Commerce market is one of the most developed markets in Europe

The infrastructure in France today is well established: Full coverage of broadband networks is now over 65% in the Paris area and the touristic regions in southern France. The densely populated regions in the Northeast benefit from over 75%.

When it comes to online shopping, leading regions with percentages ranging from 55% to 70% are the Ile-de-France and Paris along with Aquitaine, Midi-Pyrénées and Limousin.

Mobile Commerce

In 2020, smartphone sales in France will reach 17.5 billion euros, an increase of +95% in 2 years, according to RetailMeNot, which is presenting its latest report on figures and trends in e-commerce and m-commerce in France.

This is a record figure, well ahead of tablets (+16%) and PCs (+8%). In 2019, smartphone sales amounted to 12.7 billion euros and are estimated at 17.5 billion euros in 2020, then representing 28.8% of online sales (compared to 13.2% in 2017).

According to the RetailMeNot study, m-commerce per user is expected to grow by 11% in 2019. French shoppers who prefer the mobile phone will each spend €720 via the mobile phone.

payment

DIFFERING PAYMENT METHODS IN AN INTERNATIONAL E-COMMERCE LANDSCAPE

Alongside sales strategies, marketing channels and customer service, providing the appropriate range of payment options is one of the most vital ingredients for running a successful online retail business. Customers who can’t find their preferred method of payment at the checkout are more likely to abandon their basket.

In line with the increasing internationalisation of e-commerce, certain payment methods and providers are becoming standard European options – above all credit cards and PayPal. As can be seen in the study, within Europe there are still various country-specific options when it comes to online payment. For retailers, it is important to recognise these and develop the payment offering according to their market. For example, a UK retailer interested in reaching out to Polish consumers would do well to identify the country-specific e-payment alternatives to PayPal, and offer these as payment methods.

The analysis in the chart below is based on the 50 online retailers with the highest national Alexa traffic rankings within the 100 most-clicked shops on idealo.co.uk, idealo.de, idealo.fr, idealo.it, idealo.es and idealo.pl

The credit card remains number 1 among the means of payment. A good quarter of web shoppers use online payment services like PayPal. No. 3 is the Chèque Cadeau. After fourth place, occupied by the Carte Bleue Virtuelle, the "Plusieurs fois sans frais" (payment by instalments without costs) comes in fifth. This payment method should definitely be offered by customers with more expensive products.

The biggest French specificity with regard to the payment options is the Scheck. This traditional french payment options is still used by 5% at the virtual checkout. This rather outdated payment method can still be found in more than two-thirds of French shops. What you hardly find in an online shop in France are direct debit, invoice purchase and payment on delivery.

LOGISTICS

The French logistics market is currently experiencing a concentration of forces. A few years ago, Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten took over the French re-commerce market leader PriceMinister.fr and the logistics expert Alpha Direct Services (ADS).

The formerly state-owned La Poste in turn acquired the e-commerce agency MixCommerce as well as the logistics service provider Orium. La Poste is positioning itself more broadly with its Pickup Services: the company now has 18,000 pick-up points ("Points Relais") in France.

La Poste competes on the market with UPS, among others: the American logistics company also operates Points Relais in France. The practice of ordering products online and then collecting them offline from the nearest parcel shop of the major providers Mondial Relais, Relais Colis and Kiala is widely used in France.