In this five part series, in partnership with Cdiscount, we will examine the French ecommerce market and explore what UK sellers need to know about selling in France. We previously looked at the state of French ecommerce and the French Shopper, Logistics, Mobile & Payments, and today we look at selling with Cdiscount
Founded in 1998, Cdiscount is the French ecommerce leader and counts nine million active customers, with 20 million unique visitors per month. It sells all categories of products and services with a particular emphasis on homeware, high-tech, furnitures, fashion and toys.
The commission paid per item starts at 5% and depends on the type of item sold.
Each seller pays a monthly subscription of €39.99 per month (excluding VAT). It gives them access to sales to both individual and professional customers via a single platform.
The site offers payment options including payment by credit card and PayPal. It also offers 4-time instalment payment which is very frequently used among our customer base and is a payments means also available for Marketplace offers. This means is a great tool for the conversion rate.
Sellers get paid every 10 days. To sign up for the platform, sellers need to be registered in the Trade Register of their own country.
Sellers from the UK can ship directly to customers or place stock in Cdiscount’s warehouses to be fulfilled from there. The company has 500,000 square metres of warehousing.
With the current COVID-19 pandemic, fulfilment has become a key issue. Cdiscount guarantees the delivery of orders, but dispatches certain purchases such as food, hygiene products and IT, which are intended to meet immediate needs, more quickly.
Standard delivery is free of charge for purchases over €25 and delivery is mainly provided by Chronopost, Colissimo and TNT.
Cdiscount sellers can access the site’s marketing service, including handling banner, carousel and home page ads. They may boost the visibility of their offers thanks to a variety of products including sponsored products, category-specific product promotions, Smart Discount Vouchers and other premium formats and Google Shopping.
A dedicated integration team is available to help new merchants start selling on Cdiscount. Sellers also get access to Cdiscount’s loyalty programme, which accounts for a third of all orders. Members of the loyalty programme order three times as much as non-subscribed customers. As of the end of 2019, there were over two million subscribers to the programme.
Cdiscount has set up an innovation strategy to the benefits of environmental and societal issues. For instance, the company uses 5 3D machines that reduce by 30% packaging materials. Thanks to this technology, more than 80% of light parcels are packed without void. Cdiscount has also deployed delivery points network in rural areas with Agrikolis. This allows customers in rural areas to collect their parcels from farms nearby. There are now nearly 150 of the rural pick-up points, with more to roll out during 2020.
Last year, Cdiscount began a pilot of a new type of smart, reusable packaging for deliveries. Working with start-up LivingPackets and parcel carrier Chronopost, the retailer is testing a type of package called THE BOX which offers a range of high-tech features. The trial sees Cdiscount using 400 of the boxes in the Bordelaise region.
To learn more sign up for our ‘What you need to know about selling in France’ Webinar to be held at the end of this series on the 1st of October. Register here.
