France

Ecommerce in France has increased by 15 percent during the first quarter of this year and increased by 13 percent during the first six months. During this period, online retailers in France generated sales worth 35 billion euros.

Ecommerce in France has grown during the second quarter of this year. Online sales increased by 12.95 percent, compared to the same period last year. The number of online purchases has also increased during this period: it grew 18.12 percent year-on-year.

Essilor International, a leading optics company from France, has acquired UK-based online glasses retailer MyOptique. This ecommerce player operates websites across Europe, such as Glasses Direct and SunGlasses Shop in the UK, Lensbest in Germany, the UK and the Netherlands and Lenson in Sweden.

French online shopping club Vente-Privee has launched its first European campaign. With the motto "À la Française", the company advertises on social networks in Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom while using typical clichés about France.

Amazon has reportedly taken over a warehouse in the 18th district of Paris, which led to rumors that the American ecommerce giant will be launching Amazon Fresh in France. However, according to sources around the French tech website Journal Du Net, this warehouse is meant for Amazon launching its one-hour delivery service Amazon Prime Now in France.

French postal service company La Poste and railway company SNCF have deployed their first lockers in a hundred stations in Ile de France and now announced they will install more lockers in the major train stations of Paris and the main stations in other big cities in France.

French ecommerce company Vente-Privée.com has improved its position in Europe after buying Privalia, a Spanish online fashion outlet. The value of the sale hasn't been officially disclosed, but rumors say Vente-Privée is the new owner after paying 500 million euros for the Spanish ecommerce player.

Beauty and personal care could be the next big online category in Europe, consulting firm A.T. Kearny thinks. But only if the products and online shops meet the unique needs of consumers. Nonetheless, online sales of beauty and personal care is expected to increase by more than 8 percent year on year until 2019.

The 3SI Group, formerly known as 3 Suisses International, has decided to pull the plug on all of its retail activities in France, Belgium, Spain, Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic. It has changed its business strategy drastically and will now focus solely on service activities.

The ecommerce market in France is maturing. And so the priorities of online merchants evolve. A new study has shown that a vast majority of ecommerce players wishes to focus on excellent customer service. Also, many of them want to invest heavily in a good mobile shopping experience.

Visa will make its online payment service Visa Checkout available to merchants and consumers in the United Kingdom, France, Ireland, Poland and Spain this year. With Visa Checkout, users have the security and convenience of the Visa card, but then in the digital world.

Online fashion and lifestyle retailer Lesara has expanded to France. By opening a dedicated website here, Lesara could potentially reach more than 66 million new customers. In just two years' time, the German discounter is now active in 22 countries across Europe.

The online furniture industry in France is hot. Whereas the general ecommerce penetration in this country is still lower than in Germany or the UK, it is the opposite for online furniture. New data shows that 12 percent of sales in the furniture industry are made online, which is significantly more than the 6 or 7 percent achieved elsewhere in Europe.

Strategic investor VDD SAS has acquired Pixmania, the French ecommerce retailer that was previously owned by Mutares. This German company bought Pixmania in 2013 during a repositioning process with the goal to sell the company again when it has shown clear operational improvement. Pixmania is now part of a company that also owns and runs French online store Vente Du Diable.

Ecommerce in France was worth 64.9 billion euros last year and could reach the 70 billion euros milestone this year. Total sales of the online retail industry increased by 14.3 percent last year, compared to sales in 2014, when sales increased by 11 percent compare to the year before.