The B2C market in France is expected to grow by 12.20% on an annual basis to reach US$145,937.8 million in 2022.
Medium to the long-term growth story of the B2C Ecommerce industry in France promises to be attractive. The B2C Ecommerce is expected to grow steadily over the forecast period, recording a CAGR of 9.87% during 2022-2026. The country's B2C Ecommerce Gross Merchandise Value will increase from US$130,068.2 million in 2021 to US$212,674.8 million by 2026.
The B2C e-commerce industry has recorded strong growth over the last few years, especially since the global pandemic outbreak in 2020. The growing consumer shift to online shopping channels has continued to support the growth of the e-commerce industry in France in 2021. The 12 months, 2021, was also seen as the year of consolidation for the e-commerce industry.
Driven by the global pandemic outbreak, the French B2C e-commerce industry is poised for further growth in 2022. While online purchases have surged during the pandemic, one trend that evolved is buying environmentally, ethically, and responsibly, including buying from French websites. The growing market size means growing competition among domestic and global players. Consequently, players are expected to increase their investment in new technologies such as artificial intelligence, voice search, and virtual reality.
Moreover, the emergence of social commerce is projected to become the next growth driver for the French e-commerce industry. While the market recorded growth across different e-commerce sectors, travel and tourism posted a strong growth recovery in 2021. With the segment projected to reach pre-pandemic levels in 2022, the online travel and tourism industry will further assist the industry growth in France over the next three to four years.
Amid the rising demand among consumers, brands are now selling products from their old collections under the second-hand label. This trend is expected to accelerate further, which will subsequently assist the growth of the overall B2C e-commerce market over the next three to four years in France.
The report also covers niche trends such as market size by live streaming engagement model and cross-border purchases. It also covers ecommerce spend share by operating systems, devices (mobile vs. desktop) and cities.
E-commerce platforms are expected to increase their investment in virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and voice search
Amid the rising e-commerce market in France, the competition in the sector has also surged significantly over the last few years. To increase their market share, players are looking to boost customer satisfaction and, as a result, are turning to new technologies that allow them to build customer loyalty.
Virtual reality and artificial intelligence are improving user experience and thus are driving sales opportunities for e-commerce platforms. In France, online shoppers are using Google Image to perform a reverse search to find online stores selling the product they want. Consequently, the publisher expects e-commerce platforms to increase their investment in virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and voice search over the next three to four years to boost customer satisfaction.
Social selling is expected to become the next growth driver for the e-commerce industry in France
In 2021, social commerce gained increasing traction among consumers globally, and France is no different. This trend is expected to accelerate in France as more and more consumers are projected to turn to social networking sites to complete their purchases online further. This trend is much higher among young generation consumers. Consequently, several businesses in the country are using social networking sites to reach a younger audience and generate more sales.
Global e-commerce retailers are entering the high fashion luxury space in Europe to expand their market share
The online retailer is now focusing on providing brands and designers with innovative resources to attract the fashion-engaged customer base in the European region. This retailer's strategy is to tap into the five wealthiest nations in Europe, including France, to drive growth in business over the long run
In May 2022, e-commerce giant Amazon expanded in Europe, including France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and Spain, with high-fashion products. The retailer entered the European region after the successful launch of Luxury Stores in 2020 in the United States.
Amazon introduced Luxury Stores to provide a new shopping experience for established and emerging luxury fashion and beauty brands. Now, the retailer has elevated the experience by introducing virtual shop window videos of models in the Luxury Stores microsite shows.
Amazon now features nine designers on its website, including Elie Saab, Altuzarra and Jonathan Cohen. Other designers selling in the United States version had seen sales grow to 30%.
Importantly, these luxury fashion brands are expected to offer free delivery and return to maintaining the same e-commerce model as the retailer. In addition, the brands will have the choice to distribute through their warehouses or Amazon's.
Therefore, the world's largest online retailer intends to bring the convenience of mobile shopping and rapid delivery to the fashion-engaged customers catered by exclusive boutiques and highly staffed stores. This is expected to attract a significant number of customers to the fashion hub of France over the medium to long term perspective.
French retail giants are entering into the social commerce space to expand their customer reach
With the shift in the pattern of taste and preference of the consumers, retailers are taking digital initiatives to expand market share in the country. French retailer Carrefour, which launched its e-commerce platform in October 2020, now announced the development of its social commerce platform to provide a unified experience for its millions of customers.
In February 2022, Carrefour partnered with Brut, a leading digital media company in Europe, to create Brut Shop, social commerce market or live shopping platform.
Through this platform, customers can access a unique website to make their online purchases while participating in live-streamed video events on social networks.
The French retail giant, which stated that nearly 60% of Carrefour customers are interested in live shopping, is using its retail and social media strengths to attract more customers in the country.
Carrefour will be able to lure young customers, drive e-commerce conversions, and at the same time elevate both differentiation and customer engagement with their products.
The entry of the leading food retailers in France in the quick commerce space is expected to intensify competition in the online food service segment over the next three to four years. Grocery and fresh food delivery startups are raising funding rounds to compete with regional and global behemoths in France. With the competition in the online grocery and food delivery space continuing to intensify in France, France-based firms are raising funding rounds to compete with regional and global behemoths in the country.
In December 2021, La Belle Vie, one of the leading grocery and fresh food delivery services, announced that the firm had raised EUR 25 million or US$28 million in its Series B funding round, led by Left Lane and Quadrille Capital. Notably, the EUR 25 million investment means that the firm had raised EUR 42 million since its inception.
The firm plans to use the capital round to fund its expansion and presence in more French cities by the end of 2022. The online grocery platform, founded in 2015, offers more than 17,000 everyday items and other products. Using its proprietary supply chain solution, the firm delivers 15,000 orders a week. Notably, in the IIe-de-France region, the firm delivers products within one to three hours in more than 1,300 cities.
Along with its plans to expand and boost its presence in more French cities, the firm is also planning to accelerate the growth of its quick commerce solution, Bam Courses, which was launched in September 2020. Currently, Bam Courses operates in Paris and offers a 15-minute delivery service by leveraging the seven distribution centers across the capital city.
