French Increasingly Embrace Internet Commerce
PARIS — Adding to evidence that the coronavirus pandemic has pushed consumers to the online sphere, French association Fevad said second quarter figures show an increase in online buyers in France. And Amazon counts the most visitors.
“There is no longer any doubt that the crisis will impact consumption habits in the long run,” said Marc Lolivier, general director of Fevad, which groups 600 companies and more than 800 web sites operating on the Internet or through catalogues.
According to a study with Médiamétrie, a company that tracks Internet usage in France, a majority of online consumers, 71 percent, bought items from Internet site operators that also have physical stores.
A hefty majority, 68 percent, are interested in online sales from local convenience stores, as well as an Internet site that pools various local stores in a town center, according to the study.
“The lockdown period has significantly impacted our way of consuming over the Internet,” noted Jamila Yahia-Messaoud, who heads Médiamétrie’s consumer insights department.
The study showed that the country added around one million Internet consumers over the second quarter, bringing the total to 41 million.
Amazon tops the list of most visited sites over the second quarter, followed by electronics retailer Cdiscount, book and electronics seller Fnac and home improvement chain Leroy Merlin.
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