French eCommerce Poised for a Big Jump in 2017
While France hasn’t exactly been quite as avid for mobile payments as, say, the UK, there’s still a lot of activity going on in France. New word from the French eCommerce Federation suggests that ecommerce in the country is about to take a healthy climb, up 11 percent from last year’s figures to reach $85.85 billion total.
2016 was already a pretty impressive year for the country’s ecommerce figures, as French folks everywhere got together to buy 72 billion euros’ worth of stuff online. The holiday shopping season alone accounted for around 14 billion of that total, and online shopping in general was up 18 percent. Mobile shopping, which was up 30 percent over the previous year’s figures.
While there was more shopping, the report noted an unusual trend. The average value of the basket of goods involved in that shopping was down seven percent, a combination of lower prices on goods owing to greater competition in the market as well as lower-cost shipping, with many items shipping at no charge at all.
Some have wondered if the recent terrorist incidents—particularly the November 13, 2024 attacks in Nice—have had an impact on ecommerce. After all, people who don’t feel particularly safe do enjoy shopping from the comfort of home. Given that France is number 36 on the Global Terrorism Index report—just one step behind the United States—it’s a safe bet that that concern could factor in.
Of course, that’s not the only explanation, though it certainly could be part of the mix. Given that the most popular retailer in France is Amazon, however, it suggests that it could be mainly a matter of convenience. Amazon’s all-in-one nature is likely as popular with the French as it is in the US, so the notion that most anything can be had and paid for from a mobile device could be driving ecommerce sales.
Admittedly, this is mostly conjecture, but the key point remains: ecommerce is increasingly popular in France, and mobile payments firms can be a big part of this movement. In fact, astute providers can make it work to their advantage and potentially drive up their own systems at the same time the system as a whole is on the rise, letting a rising tide lift all boats.