Country Focus: France

Une grande nation

How grand you ask? Very. Its 551,695 square kilometres of area make it the largest country in the European Union. France is also internationally renowned for its cuisine, scenery, sports, inventions and fashion. Here are some fun facts for you:

The Economy

France has a population of 67 million and, as of 2020, is the world’s 7th largest economy by nominal figures (around EUR 37,000 GDP per capita) as well as Europe’s 3rd largest after Germany and the United Kingdom.

France employs a free-market policy but is known for its strict labour laws and industrial policy with many important companies still being, at least partly, held by the state. The division of economic sectors looks as follows: Service sector (78.8% of GDP), industrial sector (19.5% of GDP) and primary sector (1.7% of GDP). [source].

The Ecosystem

Let’s dive into the French ecosystem with our gear guru experts from Paris. France has many major retailers, especially for consumer electronics, which makes it a very fragmented market – even more so than elsewhere.

At the same time, the market is very centralized, resulting in a unique overall structure. Historically speaking, the French market is one of hypermarkets: Carrefour, Auchan, E.Leclerc, Casino, Système U, Les Mousquetaires, to name a few. In the consumer electronics industry, the Fnac-Darty Group, alongside Boulanger, has by far the biggest market share.

Fnac

The conglomerate is headquartered near Paris, in Ivry-sur-Seine, and has 180 stores across the country. In 2016, Fnac acquired Darty, and the two have since become the Fnac-Darty Group. Fnac is the market leader for small consumer electronics such as headphones and speakers.

Darty

Darty has the same headquarters as Fnac, but more than twice as many stores. Darty is historically stronger with white goods.

Boulanger

With 176 stores, Lesquin-based (Northern France, near Lille) Boulanger is also a very strong player in consumer electronics. Owned by the Mulliez family, which also owns other big retailers in France such as Auchan, Electrodépôt and Décathlon, Boulanger took over Ex&Co and its 82 stores in 2020. These will become Boulanger stores in the coming years to strengthen the Boulanger position in the CE retail market.

Auchan

An impressive 1,985 stores across France make Croix-headquartered Auchan the second largest hypermarket after Carrefour.

E.Leclerc

Featuring 721 locations, this company has some Espace Culturels for consumer electronics, which constitutes supermarket-like structures for the sale of audio and video products, books, etc.

Carrefour

Headquartered in Massy near Paris, Carrefour boasts 248 hypermarkets along with 3,989 proximity stores and 1,070 city stores. It’s the 8th biggest retailer in the world and the top food store in France.

It’s an online world

After Germany and the UK, France has the 3rd biggest B2C e-commerce market in Europe. Globally speaking, France is the 7th largest market for e-commerce with USD 54 billion revenue in 2020, having risen by 18% (in part) due to multiple lockdowns that were imposed. [source]

The main online players are:

Although Amazon is big in consumer electronics, it has some fierce competition – amongst others from specialists like LDLC, generalists like CDiscount and omnichannels like Fnac, Darty and Boulanger, all of which used the Covid situation to their advantage and boosted their online business.

Influencers

Les Numériques is by far the biggest tech-testing website. Their tests (1000+/year) are held in high esteem, and they’re also a go-to resource for all news related to technology. Other trusted platforms include FRAndroid (tech guide for information, comparison and shopping options), CNET (tech product reviews, news, prices, videos, forums and how-tos), PP Garcia (influential tech journalist and Twitcher with more than 300k followers on YouTube), Son Vidéo (blog-type hub for tests, interviews and news from the world of hifi, home-cinema, TV, headphones, vinyl) and Labo Fnac (advice platform for all things technology).

Some of the most important French influencers overall include:

Consumer Electronics

Home Appliances

Carbonators are an important market in France, and Aarke is a main competitor for Sodastream.

TV

Samsung, LG and Philipps are the standard brands for anything TV-related. However, entry level players like Hisense, XIAOMI, Thomson as well as some private and in-house brands (e.g. Boulanger) are gaining ground.

Audio

There is a small number of brands dominating this market, and new brands have trouble getting into stores. The main audio players are Apple, Bose, Sony, Marshall and, for Bluetooth speakers, JBL. Smart home and voice command devices aren’t really relevant as a category in France yet.

In its current form, the market is completely dominated by Google and AMZ. Across retailers, strong reactions to Alexa voice assistance can be observed. DAB+ isn’t a very strong sector either, especially compared to Germany and the UK, but with new radio regulations coming into effect, the trend is slowly changing.

Action Gear

This category is basically built around GoPro, with some B-brands trying to play catch up.

Office Communication

The webcam world is dominated by Logitech, with Trust being an additional relevant player.

Listing

France has the biggest margin expectations in the whole of Europe. As decisions are centralised and made independently for every category, listings with the main leaders are trickier than elsewhere. Contrary to other countries, back-conditions aren’t that high, and the main margin is indicated on the invoice.

To enter into the top 3 CE channels, it’s not only about margin and price. What matters most is what a brand can bring to the table, from (marketing) project work to investments into brand awareness. France’s retailers are keen on listing only when the product is meant for French customers. This entails French-language content, datasheets and packaging. A personal relationship with the customer is essential for building a good business relationship.

In France, comparisons with other countries aren’t really relevant as the CE market is very centralised and very fragmented. The French tend to make business decisions rather fast and are more prone to risk-taking.

AQIPA insights

Through Aqipa France, we have a solid business relationship and strong contacts across all channels, especially the top CE channels Fnac/Darty and Boulanger.

Having operated in this market for many years, we have gathered priceless experience in handling the French consumer goods industry – the Aqipa team knows all the buyers and understands requirements that are in place for each retailer.

The French brand portfolio includes GoPro, Onkyo, Pioneer, TEAC, Braun Audio, Pure, Aarke, JLab, Esoteric, Integra, eMeet, Hombli and OTL Technologies.

If you have any questions, reach out to our French Gear Guru Olivier Depoilly.

Catch up on last month’s issue about Spain.