Ecommerce in France expected to reach 60 billion euros this year

The growth of the ecommerce industry in France is now less strong than it was a few years ago, but this does not prevent the industry from setting new records quarter after quarter. Between April and June this year, the Fédération E-commerce et Vente à Distance (FEVAD) has recorded more than 13.3 billion euros in online sales, up 10.5% year-on-year.

The French ecommerce industry, despite the fact it’s falling behind on other similar countries like the United Kingdom, still remains a very important market, writes Next INpact. It’s expected to reach total online sales of 60 billion euros at the end of this year. “This begins to weigh on the retail market across all sectors”. Although a handful of online retailers (Amazon, Cdiscount, Fnac, et cetera) capture the majority of ecommerce sales in France, the fact remains that this market is also growing thanks to the increase in offer.

According to Fevad, the ecommerce industry accounted for 8% of total retail (non-food) in 2013 and it says this could reach 9% this year and 10% in 2015.

160,000 online retail sites in France in 2014
There are now about 147,000 online retail sites in France, compared to 128,000 a year earlier. Three years ago there were 90,000 online retail sites, while there were only 60,000 ecommerce sites five years ago. Fevad estimates the number of online merchant sites growing to 160,000 at the end of this year, which would correspond to an increase of about 100,000 sites since 2009.

Fevad illustrated how fast the French ecommerce industry grew, by showing that throughout the year 2006, the French market accounted for only 11.6 billion euros, while eight years later, one quarter alone (April 2014 – June 2014) recorded more online sales.

Average basket size in France has declined
The average basket size declined again, something it has done the last few years, but now it hit a all-time low with 82 euros spent per order on average (-3%). But the number of transactions has been climbing (+7%), as the French online shopper account for nearly six orders per quarter. This means the average expenditure is 488 euros per quarter. The number of frequent buyers also increased, by 6% compared to the same period last year.

The largest online retailers in France