The estimations are based on bank card transactions with digital retailers using the Worldline, PAYBOX Services, Monext Payline and Ogone payment platforms. These four providers handle 90% of bank card purchases at French e-tailers. Together, they have accounted for EUR 40.26 billion (USD 53.68 billion) in sales during 2013, compared with EUR 36.2 billion (USD 46.41 billion) in 2012.
The same source also unveils that slowing growth is typical of a maturing market, and some decline was expected. But the actual figures were something of a surprise, after rises of around 20% in 2012 and 2011. The average basket size dropped by almost EUR 5 (USD 6.67), to EUR 81.51 (USD 108.68). Baskets shrank by roughly the same amount in the 2013 holiday season, compared with the equivalent period in 2012.
The number of online bank card transactions has increased almost 18% in 2013. Another encouraging sign was the rapid adoption of one-click payment options, which enable shoppers to store their bank card information with a retailer and check out with a single click, after confirming the order details.
A further development, potentially linked with the growing acceptance of one-click payments, is the rise in shopping and buying with mobile phones, smartphones and tablets. M-commerce sales have risen much more rapidly than overall sales, according to a spokesman for Worldline.
eMarketer estimates that the number of digital buyers in France will pass 29 million in 2014 and rise by a further 600,000 annually through 2017—ensuring an expanding customer base for online retailers.
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