Topic of the week – The eCommerce Market in France
The French eCommerce market is huge, the 7th largest worldwide to be precise, making it a great opportunity for retailers to ship to. It is expected that the market could reach a revenue of $78.222 billion USD in 2023 with an expected compound annual growth rate of 7.9% from 2023 to 2027. With 77% of France’s population purchasing online and 84% of a total 51.06m internet users buying online, it is a must-have market for retailers across the globe. The eCommerce market in France is an interesting one, with a list of modern trends that you should be aware of.
Paris is widely known as one of the leading fashion capitals in the world, so it is no surprise that the fashion sector is the most popular amongst online shoppers in France. The predicted revenue for the fashion sector in 2023 is around $23.18 billion USD, over 31% higher than the 2nd largest sector, consumer electronics. Having the ability to find both smaller and luxury fashion brands online has meant that online shopping, especially in this sector, has boomed. It is much more convenient to make a purchase online than to go to a physical store. This has also opened the door up to bargain hunters who can now find discounted items more widespread online, rather than having to go to a discount store. Even luxury items can be found with discounts, and with cheaper prices being one of the biggest drivers of online purchases at 54%, this has made online shopping even more popular in France. Even in the cross-border market, clothing and footwear made up 66% of purchases in France in 2022, soaring above other sectors by a considerable margin. Simply put, fashion is synonymous with France.
Interestingly, the number of online shoppers is fairly evenly split across age ranges, those aged 35-44 edging slightly ahead at 23.3% of all users. This means that it is even easier for those looking to start shipping to France, as there is no one majority demographic to target, the whole market is up for the taking. However, this does not mean that modern trends are lost, in fact they are most prominent in France, and French consumers definitely know what they want. 21% of users make both new and recurrent purchases from a smartphone or tablet. Social commerce is on the rise, with 16% of consumers making repeat purchases on social networks in 2022, the most popular social commerce platform being Facebook at 73% followed by Instagram at 26%. 43% of French consumers said that their main motivator for buying from social media platforms was due to promotional offers, bringing back the importance of price. Although home delivery still remains the top delivery choice for French consumers, Pick-Up Drop-Off (PUDO) delivery options are close behind at 71% as of January 2023. This feeds into the growth of sustainable delivery options, most popular amongst Gen Z buyers, with 63% willing to pay more for carbon-neutral delivery.
Another thing to consider within the French eCommerce market is that consumers like to buy from French retailers. As a lot of retailers experienced, local French business were struggling during COVID. As a result French buyers are now making it more of a priority that they purchase from French business and marketplaces based in France. There are currently over 207,000 active eCommerce sites in France. The most popular online store in 2022, as most might expect, was Amazon, dominating the competition in terms of net sales. However, the industry giant was followed by primarily French stores and marketplaces such as Veepee and Cdiscount, the third largest eCommerce website in France. The majority of competition was made up of other competing French retailers.
These are some things to consider if you are looking at expanding into the French eCommerce market. It is an exciting market to get into with tons of opportunities and impressive growth.
In other news
Starship expands its drone fleet
The previously talked about collaboration between Co-op and Starship Technologies has expanded once again. After a successful launch amongst 20,000 Leeds residents, a further 12,000 households will now have access to the leading autonomous grocery delivery drones. The collaboration provides quick and easy delivery of Co-op grocery orders, placed on the Starship food delivery app, with a delivery fee as low as 99p, all fulfilled in under an hour.
Web 4.0 and Virtual worlds
Most commonly known as the Metaverse, virtual worlds are on the horizon, brining about a range of opportunities, especially in the online retail sector. Immersive shopping experiences will provide more convenient and seamless ways to shop, with the ability to try on clothes virtually using Augmented reality capabilities. The development of Web 4.0 and Virtual worlds has sparked concerns, and on July 11th the European Commission presented a new strategy for tackling these issues. The four presented pillars of this strategy consist of:
- ‘Empowering people and reinforcing skills’
- ‘Business: supporting a European Web 4.0 industrial ecosystem’
- ‘Government: supporting societal progress and virtual public services’
- ‘Shaping global standards for open and interoperable virtual worlds and Web 4.0’
eCommerce Market Stats
See some statistics relating to this week’s topics in the eCommerce market below.
eCommerce in France
- 51 million eCommerce users projected in 2023
- The number of eCommerce users is expected to grow by 6% to 52 million users in France by 2025
- 95% of the population shops online
- ECommerce sales revenue in 2022 was €146.9 billion
- The market volume of the top 500 French online stores has increased by 46% since 2018
Consumer Preferences
- 50% of online shoppers in France would like to order an item online and pick it up in a store
- 54% of online shoppers research online when planning a major purchase
Most Popular Purchase Categories by Revenue (in billion USD)
- Fashion - 23.18
- Electronics – 17.64
- Beauty & Health – 11.34
Device Usage Split
- Desktop - 59.5%
- Mobile - 40.5%
*All statistics sourced from Statista and eCommerceDB
That’s all for this week…
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