E-commerce sales in France look set to grow nearly 20% to €45 billion this year after continuedstrong business with 21% growth in the third quarter, the country’s e-commerce association
predicted today.Online sales are expected to increase 18% to €9 billion in the peak pre-Christmas season,according to Fevad, which represents more than 560 distance-selling companies operating 800e-commerce websites in France.
French internet sales increased by 21% in the July – September third quarter of 2012, thusmaintaining the growth rate of the April – June second quarter, the association’s quarterly surveyof leading e-commerce sites and payment platforms found. This was despite an overall decline inconsumer spending in France in the quarter, Fevad pointed out.
The iCE40 index, measuring sales of France’s largest websites, showed that the market leadersincreased their sales by 7% in the third quarter, slightly ahead of their 6% sales growth in thesecond quarter. This suggests that smaller websites outgrew the market leaders during thequarter.
Online sales growth in the third quarter was driven by a 1.7 million increase in the number ofonline shoppers in France and an increase in the average number of online transactions. Thesefactors outweighed a moderate 4% decline in the average purchase price to €88 since the start ofthe year, Fevad explained.
Online competition also continued to increase in France with the number of active e-commercewebsites up by 20% in the third quarter and expected to exceed 120,000 by the end of 2012.
As in other countries around the world, m-commerce – sales via mobile devices such assmartphones and tablets – is booming in France with annual growth of more than 150%, and an 18%increase compared to the previous quarter.
In terms of product groups, clothes and fashion sales increased 13% in the third quarter, thanksto an additional week of sales in July and the ‘back to school’ period in September. Sales ofhi-tech products and consumer electronics increased by 7% against the background of a decline inoverall retail sales for this sector. Online B2B sales were 3% higher in the quarter while in thedigital products market travel and tourism sales increased by 6%, the Fevad survey showed.
At the same time, market researchers GfK and Fevad presented a parallel study showing the onlinesales of hi-tech products and consumer electronics in France rose 7% to reach €2.3 billion in thethird quarter compared to a 6% drop in sales in shops and other traditional retail outlets. Thismeans 16.5% of these products are now sold online and the online share is likely to top 17% by theend of this year given that electronics are likely to be a vital element in e-commerce sales forChristmas, according to the study.
Fevad managing director Marc Lolivier said: “The GfK study underlines both the dynamism and thedramatic growth potential of the French online market for electronics, which is becoming a majorfactor for all distribution players.”
