Retail & distribution

Introduction Distance Selling/Catalogue Selling in Europe Profile of the French Consumer Direct selling in France Online selling in France Good news for suppliers to French hypermarkets Department stores in France La Poste Consumption trends Hard discount stores in France

In 2000, only 4% of French consumers had ever made a purchase on line. By 2004, it had grown to 23%. The association of mail order businesses (FEVAD) attributes this growth to a combination of three factors: a wider offer of products on the internet, greater availability and higher speed internet access and more trust in on-line payments. Indeed, confidence in on-line payments appears well established as a recent survey by FEVAD counted 98% of consumers ready to make further purchases on-line.

On-line consumers tend to make more frequent purchases than the more traditional methods of distance-selling: 67% of them buy on-line at least once every two months. The typical profile of French on-line consumers has also evolved. Five years ago, they were typically men (59%), less than 35 years old, living in towns (+200,000 people) and with university degrees (44%). Today, 55% of on-line buyers live in the countryside, more than half are women and their socio-economic background is more aligned with that of the average population.

The change in the consumer profile is clearly linked to wider internet access, but also to the diversification of supply as mail order companies spring up. Four years ago, on-line purchases were largely reserved for either high-tech or cultural items like books.

Today, purchasing services, from insurance to  on-line travel, is nearly as large as the product category. The table below gives a breakdown of direct selling by product category sold in France. One further characteristic of French distance selling is its geographic concentration. For historic reasons, Northern France is home to 80% of all French companiesinvolved in distance selling today.