France is the EU's second largest country. Of its more than 68 million inhabitants, more than 80% shop online. The French e-commerce market is one of the largest in Europe. French consumers expect fast delivery and communicate mainly in French. Read here what you need to consider if you want to conquer the French market with your webshop.

If your products comply with EU legislation, you are allowed to sell them in France. Do check whether product requirements (in Dutch) in France are the same as in the Netherlands, as France has additional requirements for dietary supplements, food, and medicines. In some cases, special labelling requirements may apply. And that French customers are interested in your products.

If you sell products to French customers, you have to abide by French laws and regulations. They may differ from the laws and regulations you are used to in the Netherlands. For example, France has stricter regulations for packaging and recyling. Consider also how the French GDPR works.

With the anti-waste law AGEC (in French), France aims to increase the proportion of recycled packaging compared to disposable packaging. In addition to packaging, the law also covers the materials from which products are made.

Recycling rules in France are based on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). In French, this is called Responsabilité Élargie du Producteur (REP). Are you the first in the chain to market products in France? For example, packaged electrical and electronic appliances or products containing batteries. If so, as a ‘Producteur’ you are responsible for managing these products throughout their lifetime. 

RVO has information on how to comply with French packaging and recycling regulations (in Dutch).

In France, the GDPR is called the Règlement général sur la protection des données (RGPD). This is the data protection law. You can only sell to customers after they have given you permission to collect their data. You must also store data securely. The French organisation Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertés (CNIL) checks whether businesses comply with the rules.

The French domain name administrator Afnic assigns domain names with a .fr extension. Individuals and EU companies without a French branch can also apply for a .fr domain name through an authorised registrar, which will submit your application to Afnic. Afnic has a directory of authorised registrars including Dutch companies. You can search the overview by name or country. Make sure your website and your general terms and conditions fits with local laws and regulations.

Make your webshop attractive to French customers. French people prefer to shop in a French-language webshop. Have the translation done or checked by a native speaker. Someone who speaks and writes French perfectly. This will make the texts on your webshop feel familiar to French customers. This increases the chance that a visitor will actually buy something. Also make sure that communication via your customer service is in French. The level of English in France is lower than in the Netherlands, for example.

Apply for a .fr extension for your online shop. Research shows that 90% of the French population trusts online shops with a local extension, which means they will be more likely to buy something.

The main search channel (in Dutch) for reaching a French audience is Google. Make sure to check the most important keywords for your business and product and use them – in French – in your website content. You can also advertise via Google and Instagram Shopping.

If you are not ready to open your own French webshop, you can offer your products on a marketplace. As a provider on this platform, you will make contact with French customers. French consumers also like to shop on online marketplaces. Many marketplaces require you to have French customer service. For this, you need employees who speak French. Popular marketplaces in France are:

A quality mark for your webshop is proof of quality and reliability. Sector organisation Fevad has its own trust mark (in French), which is part of the Ecommerce Europe trust marks network. Other examples of quality marks are:

In addition to these trust marks, France also has a large number of industry and product-specific quality labels.

Make sure that your online shop offers French payment methods. French consumers want to pay quickly, easily and securely. They prefer to pay via PayPal or with a credit or debit card. The most widely used card for online payments is Carte Bancaire. Formerly some of these cards were called Carte Bleue and many French people still use that name.

If your online shop sells products to French consumers, the 'destination country principle' applies. This rule also applies to entrepreneurs who are not subject to VAT and to legal entities that are not entrepreneurs, which means that you have to charge French VAT to French consumers. More information on French VAT rates and those of other member states can be found in the European Commission’s Taxes in Europe database. The French term for VAT is Taxe sur la Valeur Ajoutée or TVA.

There are 2 ways to file French VAT returns:

The EU has a threshold amount of €10,000 per calendar year. This threshold applies to your sales to French customers together with your other intra-EU sales to individuals. Do you remain below this threshold each year? Then, as a Dutch webshop, you may charge Dutch VAT.

Read more about VAT and international business.

Online sales in France continue to grow. French e-commerce turnover was 175.3 billion euros in 2024. This represents an increase of 9.6% compared to 2023. Online sales of products rose by 6% to €66.9 billion. Online services rose by 12% to €108.4 billion. The French e-commerce market continues to grow slowly:

French e-commerce umbrella organisation Fevad has reports and press releases on the e-commerce market in France. These reports are available in French and English.