{"id":783,"date":"2021-06-24T13:56:43","date_gmt":"2021-06-24T13:56:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aqipa.klixpert.io\/?p=783"},"modified":"2022-12-05T14:53:02","modified_gmt":"2022-12-05T14:53:02","slug":"country-focus-france","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/www.aqipa.com\/en-gb\/insights\/country-focus-france\/","title":{"rendered":"Country Focus: France"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Une grande nation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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:<\/p>\n\n\n

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  1. Un amour universel: France is the most popular tourist destination in the world, with Disneyland, the Louvre and Eiffel Tower being some of the most desired spots for the 200 million annual visitors. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. The very origin of selfie culture: The camera phone was invented in France in 1997 by enterprising Parisian Philippe Kahn. The first picture he took was of his new-born daughter, Sophie, which he then forwarded to family and friends. Other French inventions include Braille, the hair dryer, the stethoscope, the parachute and the metric system.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Reading between the wines: As one of the world’s biggest producers of wine, the French drink a collective 11.2 billion glasses of the fine stuff every year.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

    The Economy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    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<\/a>].<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The Ecosystem<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    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<\/a>, Syst\u00e8me U<\/a>, Les Mousquetaires<\/a>, to name a few. In the consumer electronics industry, the Fnac-Darty Group<\/a>, alongside Boulanger, has by far the biggest market share.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Fnac<\/h2>\n\n\n
    \"fnac\"<\/picture><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

    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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    Fnac<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

    Darty<\/h2>\n\n\n
    \"Darty\"<\/picture><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

    Darty has the same headquarters as Fnac, but more than twice as many stores. Darty is historically stronger with white goods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    Darty <\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

    Boulanger<\/h2>\n\n\n
    \"boulanger\"<\/picture><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

    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, Electrod\u00e9p\u00f4t<\/a> and D\u00e9cathlon<\/a>, Boulanger took over Ex&Co<\/a> 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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    Boulanger<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

    Auchan<\/h2>\n\n\n
    \"Auchan\"<\/picture><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

    An impressive 1,985 stores across France make Croix-headquartered Auchan the second largest hypermarket after Carrefour. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    Auchan<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

    E.Leclerc<\/h2>\n\n\n
    \"E.Leclerc\"<\/picture><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

    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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    E.Leclerc<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

    Carrefour<\/h2>\n\n\n
    \"Carrefour\"<\/picture><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

    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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    Carrefour<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

    It’s an online world<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    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<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The main online players are:<\/p>\n\n\n

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