Successfully launch your webshop in France with Carte Bancaire

The French e-commerce market is growing enormously and therefore offers many opportunities for webshops. To illustrate the size of the market: 35.5 million French people made an online purchase in the first quarter of 2016. Moreover, the amount that French consumers spend online increased by 14% compared to last year (source: Médiamétrie – Observatoire des Usages Internet – T1 2016). France is currently one of the leaders in e-commerce in Europe.

A large number of French people, 46%, also buy through foreign web shops (source: Fevad). So it is definitely worth taking advantage of this and entering the French market. Fortunately, you can do this effortlessly with Carte Bancaire via Mollie.

Carte Bancaire most popular payment method

The most widely used card for online payments in France is Carte Bancaire. (Previously, some of the cards were issued under the name Carte Bleue. The payment card is still popularly called that.) Carte Bancaire is the local payment card and is used by almost all French people. About 80% of French online shoppers have used Carte Bancaire in the past six months (source: Fevad). Mollie is one of the few Dutch payment providers that supports payments via Carte Bancaire.

Tips for the French market

Are you planning to serve the French market with your webshop? Then you have to deal with slightly different challenges than with your Dutch customers. We are happy to give you some tips:

1. Give your website a French look. In fact, nothing should reveal that the customer is on a non-French website. Think, for example, of a French domain (.fr) and good French language use. The language in the Mollie payment screen automatically adapts to the browser language of your customer. However, it is also possible to ‘force’ the language, so that the text is displayed in French anyway on a French-language website.

2. Think carefully about the logistics. How do you want to ship products? And how will you process returns? Do they go to the Netherlands or do you choose a return address in France?

3. Also activate other relevant payment methods. In addition to Carte Bancaire, the payment methods are PayPal et virement bancaire popular among the French.

Are you interested and do you want to try the French online market? If you already use Mollie payments, you don’t have to do anything. In any case – if you have not yet done so – request the payment method credit card. You can receive your first payments from France via Carte Bancaire within one working day.