Report on consumer’s valuation of e-commerce in France: anti-inflationary effect and vast choice

The views expressed are those of the authors only and do not necessarily represent the views of Compass Lexecon, its management, its subsidiaries, its affiliates, its employees, or clients.

In this paper commissioned by Amazon, Antoine Gracia Victoria, Celia Ruiz Mejia, Adrien Damade, Rebecca Winter and Kirsten Day study e-commerce in France. By means of a survey set up by Compass Lexecon and conducted by market research firm OpinionWay, the authors analyse the use of e-commerce by French consumers, as well as customers’ appreciation of the benefits from e-commerce to their overall shopping experience. The survey is supplemented by a quantitative analysis based on which the authors assess the impact of e-commerce on the prices paid by French consumers, online and offline.

The survey results show that French consumers widely recognise the benefits of e-commerce, foremost the vast choice, attractive prices, and time savings. In addition, the analysis of historical data shows that e-commerce growth operates an anti-inflationary effect, benefiting all consumers, whether they purchase online or in store.

Read the Executive Summary (in English) here

Read the full paper (in French) here