Selling in France – Logistics, Mobile & Payments

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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, and today turn to Logistics, Mobile & Payments:

Logistics

According to the World Bank’s Logistical Performance Index, France is the 16th most logistically ready country in the world. France saw parcel volumes reaching 1.3bn and CAGR of 5 percent from 2013-18.

Property firm Savills predicted last year that France would soon reach a tipping point in ecommerce warehousing. Major developments such as E-Valley, a logistics hub in Northern France set to be one of Europe’s largest, and the Paris AIR2 Logistique at France’s largest river port, will accelerate the growth of the country’s ecommerce market.

French delivery preferences differ from other countries. One survey found that 86% of shoppers had received deliveries at home. However, the most key point of difference between France and other countries is that a larger number of shoppers prefer to collect parcels from distribution points than in most other countries.

The survey found that 83% of customers used delivery to relay points and 38% collection at store. 24% liked to use e-reservation, where they pick up goods at store and pay then. 13% like to have deliveries made to their workplace while 9% like to collect from a locker station.

In fact, in a survey of Western European consumers, France had the highest proportion of consumers that were willing to use pick-up points apart from the Nordics, exceeding the UK, Germany, Spain, Belgium and Italy. Relai Colis, Mondial Relay, Colissimo, Chrono Relais are some of the most widely used pickup points.

Mobile & Payments

The number of French people with a smartphone is expected to reach 47.18 million in 2020, according to Statista. This is being reflected in shopping habits; according to Fevad, sales via smartphones rose 18% in 2019, four times faster than the overall index for ecommerce.

16.3 million French consumers have made purchases on their mobile in the last 12 months, with 64% being products, 41% services such as travel and culture, 18% apps and 17% registration to cultural products.

The Ecommerce Foundation finds that the overwhelming majority of people carry out online purchases from desktop computers (at 84%), while 39% use smartphones and 23% use tablets. According to Fevad, 49% of mobile e-shoppers buy at least once a month online
from their mobile. However, the number of shoppers using mobile phones for other functions is higher, with 81% using their mobile to look for or compare products.

Fevad expects mobile to overtake other form factors within two years. Visitors to ecommerce sites have been more numerous on mobile than on computer during 2020 so far. In terms of payments, eighty percent of consumers use bank cards to carry out purchases, while 11% use online banking and 4% consumer credit. French consumers enjoy paying in instalments and thus ecommerce websites often offer payment in three or four chunks.

Come back next week to discover how to sell on Cdiscount.

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.

 

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