What you need to know
Electricals retailers have held up relatively well in France during the last few years of economic hardship, despite eight consecutive year of declining spending. However, conditions have been difficult, with steep downward pressure on prices, particularly in the main growth area, telecoms. The challenge from online has grown, and as Amazon has built its business in France, none of the domestic retailers has been unaffected
Darty is the single largest specialist, followed by Boulanger, part of the Mulliez family empire. Fnac is a similar size to Darty, but only around half of its wide offer of cultural leisure and technological products is electricals. There is a big structural change on the horizon, with a deal for Fnac to acquire Darty currently awaiting approval from the competition authorities.
The key for all retailers in this sector is the successful integration of an online and in-store offer. All the big players are investing and innovating and the winners will be those that get this combination right.
Areas covered in this report
This report covers the electrical goods market in France, with a focus on electrical specialists including high street and out-of-town operators. The report does not cover in detail non-specialists, such as department stores and hypermarkets, although these are covered briefly in the Channels of Distribution section and also in our consumer research.
The report combines analysis of the market in France, including market sizes, specialists’ sales and forecasts, along with our in-depth consumer data, which analyses shoppers’ behaviour.
For the purpose of this report, Mintel has used the following definitions:
Consumer spending: The total amount spent by French households (including sales tax) on:
Appliances
Audio-visual, photo and information devices and accessories
Phones and other devices used to communicate.
Retail sales: total sales of all types of goods and services (excluding sales tax) via stores and directly to the consumer by specialist retailers of electrical items. It includes online sales of these retailers where the majority of sales are in bricks and mortar outlets.
The Channels of Distribution section provides Mintel estimates of the proportions of spending on electrical items via other channels, including the grocers, mixed goods retailers and non-store retailers.
