E-commerce in France continued to grow during the first quarter of 2012 with online sales rising24% year-on-year, according to a survey released by Fevad, the French distance-selling
association.The study is based on information from 40 leading commercial websites participating in the Fevad/iCE panel and on information provided by the main payment services providers acting on behalf ofover 104,000 websites in France. This equals a 22% increase in internet retailers with 18,800 morethan a year before.
During the first three months of 2012, internet sales in France increased to €11 billion withthe number of transactions rising by 30%. The number of French citizens buying on the internet alsoincreased by 11% during the first quarter to 31 million online shoppers in total, according toMédiamétrie, a French audience measurement company. Older people increasingly went online forshopping with the figure of internet shoppers aged 65 or older increasing 22% during the sameperiod.
The shopping frequency also increased with five purchases made by each cyber-buyer during thefirst three months of 2012. This is especially due to the continuously developing onlineoffering.
However, the average amount spent online dropped 4% to €89, compared to €92 during the firstquarter of last year. This is the lowest level recorded since 2009. The downward trend in theaverage amount of the transactions registered since the beginning of 2011 is offset by the highernumber of purchases per buyer.
During the first quarter, the 40 iCE panel sites, which enable measurement of growth of theleading sites on a constant basis, recorded a 10% sales increase compared to the same period lastyear.
Sales to private customers (excluding travel and leisure) grew 7% boosted by clothes and tourismas the main growth drivers. Online revenues from textiles and fashion increased 14% during thefirst quarter. E-tourism also developed strongly with a 12% rise.
Revenues from high-tech and household appliances remained on the same growth level with a 5%increase in a declining market. The B2B sector showed strong growth rates of 9%.
The iCM panel (mobile commerce index) which represents sales via smartphones and other digitaldevices developed rapidly with a dramatic increase of 195% during the first quarter compared to thesame period last year. On average, sales from mobile sites participating in iCM (a dozen of whichare already included in ‘Fevad iCE 40’ panel) represent 3.5% of the turnover of internet sites.
As the representative federation of e-commerce and distance selling in France, Fevad bringstogether 560 companies and 800 websites including the leading e-commerce sites in the country.
