{"id":8974,"date":"2022-05-20T08:30:10","date_gmt":"2022-05-20T06:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eurotext.de\/en\/?p=8974"},"modified":"2025-01-30T11:54:48","modified_gmt":"2025-01-30T10:54:48","slug":"ecommerce-in-france","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eurotext.de\/en\/blog\/ecommerce-in-france\/","title":{"rendered":"E-commerce in France"},"content":{"rendered":"

France<\/strong> is a big player in the e-commerce market, ranking second in Europe and fifth overall in the world in terms of online purchases in 2020. This makes it an attractive target market for companies in Europe and the rest of the world. Ready to learn more about France\u2019s e-commerce market? In this article, we\u2019ll share the background information and statistics you need to start planning your expansion into the French market.<\/p>\n

Facts and Statistics about France<\/h2>\n

France is one of the largest nations in the EU. Its 635,700 km2<\/sup> <\/strong>make it larger than Germany<\/a>, Austria, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia\u00a0 put together. Because of its close proximity to nearby economic partners such as Germany, and because of its close relationships with procurement and trade markets, it is an important economic player<\/strong> whose influence stretches across multiple continents and foreign territories.<\/p>\n

France\u2019s largest metropolitan area is the capital Paris<\/strong>, where over 12.6 million of France\u2019s 67.4 million residents live. Other major regions include the city of Lyon<\/strong> in the south-east (2.3 million), Marseille-Aix-en-Provence<\/strong> on the Mediterranean coast (1.7 million), Toulouse<\/strong> in the south of France (1.3 million) and Bordeaux<\/strong> in the south-west (1.2 million).<\/p>\n

France has a semi-presidential system of government <\/strong>in which both a president and prime minister share executive powers. The president is elected by universal vote every five years, and is limited to two terms in office.<\/p>\n

France is one of the founding members of the EU and the United Nations, as well as a member of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the World Trade Organization (WTO). It is a part of the European domestic market and its currency is the euro<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Language and Localization<\/h2>\n

The official language of France is French<\/strong>, which enjoyed a prominent place as the world\u2019s international language of choice for hundreds of years. Although English has now taken on that role, French is still used in a great number of countries outside of France. It is the official language in 29 countries and 12 dependent territories, including parts of Canada, Belgium, and Switzerland.<\/p>\n

The francophone community consists of around 300 million people<\/strong> who speak French either as their native or second language. About 40% of them live in Europe, 35% in sub-Saharan Africa, 15% in North Africa, 8% in the Americas, and 1% in Asia and Oceania. France generally has close economic relationships to the francophone countries.<\/p>\n

Students in France typically learn English or Spanish as a second language. However, that doesn\u2019t mean that they want to shop in these languages! The numbers vary, but different studies estimate that less than 50% of French people speak English at a conversational level,<\/strong> and less than 10% speak fluent English.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, studies have shown that consumers vastly prefer to shop in their native language, and 40% never shop in a second language \u2014 so offering French consumers a website in their native language<\/strong> is certainly worth the effort.<\/p>\n

Internet usage in France<\/h2>\n

Data from Statista indicates that 83% of the French population uses the internet on a daily basis<\/strong>. 86% of households have an internet connection and 76% of individuals access the internet on their mobile phones. 99% of the population has access to 4G mobile networks.<\/p>\n

French consumers are sophisticated internet users<\/strong> and go online to learn more about products and services, to comparison shop, and to make purchases. The universal 4G coverage and popularity of mobile devices means that the French are online no matter where they go<\/strong>. They often do research or make purchases while outside of their homes or offices.<\/p>\n

Researchers predict that the internet will become even more omnipresent in the lives of French consumers in the future \u2014 including in terms of e-commerce. By 2023, businesses will be able to reach an estimated 52.8 million potential customers using the internet<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Currently, about 69% of French businesses have a website, and about 28% of all retail and trade services in France are involved in e-commerce. French companies primarily use Facebook for their social media presence.<\/p>\n

Economy and Online Shopping Behavior<\/h2>\n

France\u2019s economy is the fifth largest in the world<\/strong> and accounts for approximately one fifth of the Euro area gross domestic product (GDP). The services sector contributes about 70% of the GDP. France is also a global leader in manufacturing in the automotive, aerospace and railway sectors as well as in luxury goods and cosmetics. Moreover, France\u2019s labor force is highly educated<\/strong>, boasting the highest number of science graduates per thousand workers in all of Europe.<\/p>\n

French consumers like to shop online! In 2020, online sales created $112.2 billion US dollars in revenue<\/strong> and approximately 76% of the population made an online purchase<\/strong>. The most popular online stores in France are:<\/p>\n