Reading time : 5min 11s

Online shopping continues to make progress. A large part of the population has made the switch to it, with particularities according to visitor profiles. The main e-commerce players in France have seen significant changes in the last five years. Médiamétrie follows these developments closely alongside Fevad (Federation of e-commerce and distance selling) quarter after quarter. On the eve of Black Friday, Médiamétrie takes stock of this practice using the top 20 e-commerce websites for the third quarter of 2024.

2 French people out of 5 surf e-commerce websites every day

Online shopping has become a quasi-general practice. Thus, in the third quarter of 2024, 50.6 million monthly unique visitors browsed one or more websites and applications from the Top 20 e-commerce websites, the Internet audience ranking of the top twenty e-commerce websites in France. This means that nearly 8 out of 10 French people (79%) visited one of the top 20 e-commerce websites or applications at least once a month during the third quarter[1].

There are also a large number of people who surf these websites very regularly: 38.9% of French people visit them every day, which is 24.9 million people. On average, visitors browse them 16 days per month and visit 6 top 20 players during the month.

Bertrand Krug gave this analysis: “the frequency of consultation of these brands is growing at a sustained pace: the monthly audience of the top 20 e-commerce websites has increased by 13% in 5 years and the daily audience nearly four times more over the same period (+45% since 2019) ».

Older people are driving the growth of e-commerce

Older people have also largely switched to online shopping. While 3 out of 5 (59.8%) of them visited at least one of the top 20 players every month in 2019, this has now risen to 3 out of 4 (75.6%), representing an audience increase of 39%. They are larger in number and they visit more often: their daily audience has more than doubled in 5 years and they represent 4.7 million visitors every day in the 3^rd quarter of 2024 (2.3 million in 2019).

Among users of e-commerce websites and applications, we can distinguish two populations which are particularly keen on them: 25-49 year olds and people in higher income groups, 94% of whom visited at least one top 20 e-commerce player during the month. There are therefore 18.4 million monthly visitors aged 25 to 49, who connect on average 18 days per month to e-commerce websites. There are 14.9 million people in higher income groups and they visit them on average 17 days a month.

People in lower income groups, less numerous until now in e-commerce, are catching up: 92.7% of them now view these websites, i.e. 6 points more than in 2019. 

There is a small gender gap in e-commerce usage, with a slight dominance of women: 81% of French women visit online shopping sites every month and 77% of French men.

Ultra-discounting and second hand: looking for good deals online

Since 2019, the top 20 e-commerce websites have experienced significant changes, both in terms of volume and players. Websites such as TEMU, SHEIN and AliExpress have entered the market, a sign of the growth of ultra-discounting. Second-hand websites, like Leboncoin, which has joined the top, and Vinted, which is already present, have also made considerable progress.

The rise of Temu has been spectacular: launched in Europe in April 2023, it first appeared in the FEVAD e-commerce top 20 in the third quarter of 2023, directly in 11^th place, propelling itself to 4^th in the third quarter of 2024.

Top 20 e-commerce websites in the 3rd quarter of 2024

Image

Two categories of the population particularly stand out through their top 5 e-commerce websites. Women and young people. Women place Vinted and SHEIN 3^rd and 4^th respectively in their top 20, which is an indication of their interest in fashion. Among 15-24 year olds, Vinted is 2^nd in the top 20, while Leboncoin is second for all other target groups.

Image

 

Image

Laure Osmanian Molinero

Three questions for Marc Lolivier, Executive Director of FEVAD

What businesses have not yer converted to e-commerce ?

There are 200,000 active retail websites in France. Online shopping is an economic development channel for all merchants. Today, almost everything can be bought online and France has been able to create national or international champions, whether pure players, retail chains or brands. The main challenge remains supporting local tradespeople and businesses in the digitalisation process. Much has already been done, but we need to do even more to support them with the digital transition.

How do you analyse the changes in the Top 20 websites ? 

The audience ranking of websites that Fevad and Médiamétrie have published every quarter for more than 10 years has become the indispensable reference for the e-commerce sector. It’s a very useful thermometer which allows us to measure changes over time. So we’ve seen the emergence, in turn, of mass distribution brands, marketplaces, second-hand platforms and, more recently, the emergence of Asian websites. Despite this, in recent years the positions have stabilised and French websites remain powerful against international competition, which demonstrates the quality of our stakeholders.

What are e-commerce websites doing to convert new customers ?

Like all businesses, e-commerce websites are constantly adapting their offering to best meet consumer expectations in a highly competitive environment. But most large e-commerce websites don't just sell their products or services. They also provide offers from other sellers, through their marketplace and/or media retail activities. The aim is twofold: to offer their visitors the widest choice possible and to provide their partners with the most relevant audience. This is why the audience, measured by Médiamétrie, has become a strategic challenge for these websites.