As of January 2024, fashion was the leading e-commerce category in France, purchased by nearly 53 percent of online shoppers. Shoes and beauty products ranked second, with 39 percent each. Amazon, Leboncoin and Aliexpress were themost popular e-commerce websites in France as of December 2023.
Online purchasing behavior in France
According to a survey conducted in 2022, over a third of French consumers reported mostly purchasing clothing online rather than offline, further confirming that fashion is the most popular e-commerce category in France. In that segment, Vinted and Shein were the most downloaded fashion and beauty apps in the country, recording approximately 3.7 million and 3.4 million downloads in 2022, respectively. As for services bought on the Internet, restaurant and food delivery was the most popular category, surpassing event tickets and beauty treatments, with approximately 34 percent of French consumers having ordered food delivery online as of March 2023.
Online fashion industry in France
With fashion being the most popular e-commerce category, many online retailers compete in the French market to increase their customer reach. In 2023, Vinted, Shein, and Zalando were the most popular fashion and apparel e-commerce websites in France based on share of visits. While Amazon was still the most popular shopping site, the rise of sustainable consumption and the importance of the circular economy for consumers today makes secondhand purchasing platforms like Vinted a strong competitor. In fact, the Lithuanian online marketplace for secondhand clothing registered a monthly web traffic of approximately 29 million visitors in France in April 2023.
