France Online Retailing Market Report 2021
£ 1,095 (Excl.Tax)
Report Summary
“The COVID-19 health crisis has accelerated the digitalisation of society, galvanising retailers into upping their game online. People have been shopping for more goods online, and doing so more frequently. Store-based players have benefitted most, and with 77% of online shoppers saying they intend to continue buying from the retailers shopped online during the pandemic, there are opportunities to build on this trust and sustain momentum. Growing awareness about the environmental impact of consumption and an increasing desire to shop locally and to support independents and French businesses highlight areas where online retailers can seek to differentiate themselves”
– Natalie Macmillan, Senior European Retail Analyst
This Report looks at the following areas:
- The impact of COVID-19 on consumer behaviour and the online retail market
- How the market will fare in the post-COVID-19 slowdown
- What people buy online
- The performance of the major online retailers in 2020
- Online shopping behaviours and what consumers look for in online retailers.
Table of Contents
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Overview
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- Key issues covered in this Report
- Areas covered in this Report
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Executive Summary
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- The market
- The economy
- Market size and forecast
- Figure 1: France: estimated online sales and forecast (including VAT), 2016-26
- The consumer
- Frequency of shopping online
- Figure 2: France: frequency of online shopping, 2020-21
- How much they shopped online
- Figure 3: France: those that shopped more online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 2021
- What they buy online
- Figure 4: France: products purchased online in the past year, 2019-21
- Where they shop online
- Figure 5: France: online retailers shopped with in the past year, 2021
- Attitudes to shopping online
- Figure 6: France: attitudes towards shopping online, 2021
- Companies and brands
- Leading players
- Market shares
- Figure 7: France: leading online retailers’ estimated shares of all online sales, 2020
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Impact of COVID-19 on Online Retailing
- Short, medium and long term impact on the sector
- Figure 8: Short, medium and long term impact of COVID-19 on retailing, June 2021
- Opportunities and threats
- New concepts, new opportunities…
- Harnessing the power of tech
- AR and VR try-on innovations can help lessen the risk of buying online
- Alternative credit options could tempt impulse online purchases
- Online shopping could help hard-up consumers limit spending
- Returns can threaten further growth
- High delivery fees: a barrier to overcome in online grocery
- How COVID-19 will reshape the industry
- Fast delivery could be an important differentiator moving forwards
- Sustainability to gain further traction
- Localism: a lasting legacy of the pandemic
- Online retailing to get more competitive
- Grocery discounters look to online
- The impact of COVID-19 on consumer behaviour across Europe
- COVID concerns are falling
- Figure 9: Europe: those extremely worried about the risk of being exposed to COVID-19, 2020-21*
- Job security is still an issue
- Figure 10: Europe: financial impact of COVID-19, 2021*
- Changes in behaviour since COVID outbreak started
- Spanish and Italians most likely to still be cutting back non-essential spending
- Concerns still linger about time spent in-store
- France and Italy most popular locations for click and collect
- Aversion to cash is strong across most countries
- Pandemic has helped local shops
- Numbers shopping more online remain high
- Figure 11: Europe: changes to shopping behaviour since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, 2021*
- Trends in shopping more online
- Figure 12: Europe: changes to shopping behaviour since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak: trends in agreement with statement “I am shopping more online”, 2020-21*
- Trends in using click and collect more
- Figure 13: Europe: changes to shopping behaviour since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak: trends in agreement with statement “I am using click-and-collect more”, 2020- 21*
- Most popular online purchases are low on spending priorities list
- Figure 14: Net balance* of expected spending on selected items in the next month, 2021**
- How the crisis is impacting on key consumer segments
- Women still more concerned about catching the virus in most countries
- Concern levelling off among older age groups as vaccination levels rise
- Figure 15: Europe: those extremely worried about the risk of being exposed to COVID-19, by gender and age, 2021*
- Women most likely to be shopping more online
- Figure 16: Europe: consumers shopping more online, by gender and age, 2021*
- Click and collect usage evenly split by gender
- Figure 17: Europe: consumers using click-and-collect more, by gender and age, 2021*
- Older consumers most likely to be trying to limit time spent in-store
- Figure 18: Europe: consumers trying to limit time spent in-store, by gender and age, 2021*
- COVID-19: market context
- France
- Germany
- Italy
- Spain
- UK
- Short, medium and long term impact on the sector
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Issues and Insights
- COVID-19 has benefited traditional store-based retailers online
- Second-hand can offer growth opportunities
- COVID-19 has benefited traditional store-based retailers online
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The Market – Key Takeaways
- COVID-19 pushes 2020 growth to over 30%
- Innovations can help retain customers
- Growth will continue, but rates will flatten
- Economic growth and confidence should improve
- Smartphone ownership and usage makes internet shopping accessible at all times
- COVID-19 pushes 2020 growth to over 30%
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Market Drivers
- French economy is recovering
- Figure 19: France: key economic projections, % annual change, 2019-23
- Consumers are feeling more confident
- Figure 20: France: trends in levels of consumer confidence, 2020-21
- Peaks and troughs in retail sales
- Figure 21: France: year-on-year retail sales volume growth, 2019-21
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- Figure 22: France: percentage change in first quarter value retail sales, by category, 2021
- Consumers are switching from in-store to online shopping
- Figure 23: France: changes in spending habits since the start of the outbreak, 2020-21
- Consumers still feeling the pressure
- Figure 24: France: financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, 2021
- …with spending seeing very little upturn
- Figure 25: France: changes to spending habits as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, 2021
- Using a smartphone to go online is increasing
- Figure 26: France: devices used to access the internet, 2021
- And smartphone ownership is almost at 90%
- Figure 27: France: personal ownership of technology, 2021
- French economy is recovering
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Market Size and Forecasts
- Online retail grew 32% in 2020
- Store-based retailers grew fastest
- Marketplaces thrived
- Figure 28: France: estimated online sales (including VAT), 2016-20
- Figure 29: France: online sales forecasts (including VAT), 2021-26
- Online retail grew 32% in 2020
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Market Segmentation/What They Buy Online
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- Figure 30: France: products bought online, 2019-21
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The Consumer – Key Takeaways
- COVID-19 results in more online shopping
- Opportunities amongst older demographics
- Amazon extends lead despite a year of challenge
- The epidemic driving development from the grocers
- Fnac – A brand ideally suited to e-commerce
- Most categories received a boost from greater online engagement
- The home has become more important
- Increased home consumption of food as restaurants were closed
- Opportunities for fashion retailers as society opens up
- Sustainability now a dominant issue in the online market
- Localism and kick-back against the big players
- COVID-19 results in more online shopping
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Who Shops Online and How Frequently
- COVID-19 drives greater use of online channels
- Figure 31: France: changes in online shopping due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 2021
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- Figure 32: France: those that shopped more online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 2021
- Frequency of online shopping has increased
- Figure 33: France: frequency of online shopping, 2020-21
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- Figure 34: France: frequency of online shopping by age, 2021
- COVID-19 drives greater use of online channels
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Products Purchased Online
- Almost all categories receive a boost from greater online engagement
- Figure 35: France: products purchased online in the past year, 2019-21
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- Figure 36: France: products purchased online in the past year, 2021
- Almost all categories receive a boost from greater online engagement
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Retailers Shopped With
- Amazon leads but with less dominance than in some countries
- Figure 37: Online-only retailers shopped with in the past 12 months, 2021
- Grocers are the most popular of the store-based retailers online
- Fnac – A brand ideally suited to e-commerce
- Figure 38: Store-based retailers shopped with online in the past year, 2021
- Amazon the most popular retailer overall
- Figure 39: France: online retailers shopped with in the past year, 2021
- Usage of store-based retailers up most
- Figure 40: France: increase in usage of selected online retailers , 2019-21
- Where they shop and what they bought
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- Figure 41: France: products bought online by retailer shopped in last 12 months, 2021
- Amazon leads but with less dominance than in some countries
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Attitudes to Shopping Online
- Sustainability now a dominant issue in the online market
- Localism and kick-back against the big players
- Figure 42: France: attitudes towards shopping online, 2021
- Low prices characterise the pureplayers
- Figure 43: France: attitudes towards statement “I find shopping online cheaper than in-store” by retailers shopped with in the past 12 months, 2021
- Amazon shoppers less likely to be concerned about environmental impact of shopping
- Figure 44: France: attitudes towards statement “I am concerned about the environmental impact of shopping online” by retailers shopped with in the past 12 months, 2021
- Opportunities to drive loyalty
- Figure 45: France: attitudes towards statement “I will continue buying from the retailers I bought from online during the pandemic once the COVID-19/coronavirus outbreak subsides” by retailers shopped with in the past 12 months, 2021
- Sustainability now a dominant issue in the online market
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Companies and Brands – Key Takeaways
- France has a unique e-commerce sector
- Store-based retailers grew more than the pureplayers during the pandemic
- Drives dominate grocery
- New delivery partners and operators filling in gaps
- Localism is a growth driver
- Amazon dominates to a lesser degree
- Sustainability issues are a key focus in non-food
- France has a unique e-commerce sector
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Leading Online Retailers
- Store-based retailers grew more rapidly than pure-players
- Amazon had a tough year
- Flash sales operators are popular
- Diversifying into second-hand selling
- New delivery/collection methods
- Figure 46: France: leading online retailers by sales (excluding VAT), 2016-20
- Store-based retailers grew more rapidly than pure-players
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Market Shares
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- Figure 47: France: leading online retailers’ estimated shares of all online sales, 2016-20
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Appendix – Data Sources and Abbreviations
- Abbreviations
- Data sources
- Abbreviations
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