Market Overview

The online retail eCommerce market in France for 2011 is estimated around $ 49 billion | Preferred Payment Method: Carte-Bleue (co-branded with VISA), MasterCard, American Express, PayPal and Cheques | The French e-commerce market is most likely to grow another 15-17% in 2012.

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Payment Market  | France

The online retail market in France for 2011 is estimated around $ 49 billion | The French online market is Europe’s 2nd largest following the United Kingdom (107.7 billion USD).  Over 50.2 million ‘Les Bleues’ have access to internet (80%) | More than 28 million shop online. French Economy ranks 10th on the GDP world ranking with $ 2,214 billion. Online Retail Sales in France is doing OK, but progressing more slowly.

The growth rate of total online spendings decreased from 53% in 2005 to 22% in 2011. The average spending amount per order is around the 115-120 US dollar. The estimation of the number of online businesses is around 104,000 in 2011.

The number of smartphone subscriptions in France have exceeded 18M in 2011 | The French mobile commerce market would be a fraction of the total online spendings (1-2%).

Taken into consideration the fairly low ratio between online spenders and people having internet access, there is still huge potential for growth.

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Payment Market  | Preferred Payment Methods

Pre-dominantly the major credit cards are the preferred e-commerce payment methods in France. Carte-Bleue – the domestic payment product often co-branded with VISA ranks 1 as preferred online payment method, followed by MasterCard, American Express and PayPal (over 10M users, 2011 est). Cheques are still fairly often used as the French seem to remain quite traditional and slightly anxious to use other online types of payment. The usage of Maestro (SecureCode) is growing.

For the acceptance of Carte-Bleue, online businesses would need to have local presence or use a certified Payment Gateway licensed to operate on the French market.

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Payment Market  | Payment Gateways

Payment gateways or Payment Service Providers are the ‘hub’ for eCommerce merchants to various payment methods. Below a couple of Payment Gateways that operate on the French eCommerce Market and (might) support (local) payment methods.

Paybox | Payline (Monext) | Docdata Payments | Ogone | WorldPay | SIPS

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Payment Market  | Payment Acquirers

Merchant Acquirers are the financial institutions that authorize and settle payments. Payment Gateways are connected to these merchant acquirers. Below the Merchant Acquirers that are licensed to operate on the Frence Market.

Banque Palatine | Barclays | Groupe Banque Populaire | Groupe BNP Paribas | Groupe Caisse d’Epargne | Groupe Crédit Agricole | Groupe Crédit du Nord | Groupe Crédit Mutuel – CIC | HSBC France | KBC France | La Banque Postale | LCL | Monte Paschi Banque | Neuflize OBC | Société Générale | Trésor Public | WorldPay | ATOS | European Merchant Services | Elavon | JCB  International | Diners Club International | American Express

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Payment Market  | Industry bodies

Fédération du E-commerce et de la Vente à Distance (FEVAD) | home shopping association

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Payment Market  | Research & Publications

yStats.com | France B2C E-commerce Report 2011

Reportlinker.com | e-Commerce Industry in France (multiple publications)