France is the most exciting market in Europe for distance selling today. It is both large and fast growing: ranking third in the EU, direct selling grew by 13% last year, boosted by a 53% jump in on-line sales (B2C) (see article below): the internet has finally come of age in France.
France has a long history of distance selling to individuals and boasts European leaders like La Redoute. But, similar to many EU countries, the sector was in decline until the 1990s. Now, distance selling is a growth market again as French consumers wake up to on-line purchasing as the internet spreads throughout the country and its culture. In 2004, the total market for distance selling was 11.9Bn, of which 5.5Bn was e-commerce. This compares to 67.7Bn for the total EU market.
With sales of 11.9Bn, France is the third largest market for distance selling in Europe, although it falls far behind the two leaders, the UK (22.6Bn) and Germany (20.3Bn), but equally far ahead of the rest of Europe, which hovers around 1-2Bn. Of the players in the French distance selling market today, 20% are pure internet companies. Equally, the fastest growing sectors in distance selling are those products that lend themselves especially well to on-line purchasing: electronics, photography, software and other IT-items. The table below summarises the distance selling market in France and the growth of e-commerce.
Direct selling in France
In Bn
2002
2003
2004
% 2003/04
Total Distance Selling
9.6
10.5
11.9
+13%
> Products
8.2
8.8
9.5
+08%
> Services
1.4
1.7
2.4
+40%
Total E-commerce
2.2
3.6
5.5
+53%
> Products
1.2
2.3
3.6
+57%
> Services
1.0
1.3
1.9
+48%
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France is the most exciting market in Europe for distance selling today. It is both large and fast growing: ranking third in the EU, direct selling grew by 13% last year, boosted by a 53% jump in on-line sales (B2C) (see article below): the internet has finally come of age in France.