BW Online | January 23, 2001 | A Gallic Web Explosion

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JANUARY 23, 2001

FROM LE MONDE INTERACTIF

A Gallic Web Explosion
The number of French Net users has risen dramatically, driven by chat, women's topics, and games, though a huge potential remains untapped

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Internet here, Internet there, Internet everywhere. That was the message last year in France. Widely promoted in the media and in advertisements, the Internet has filtered through every aspect of French life. But how does the Net really impact French society, who uses it, and how is it used? These are questions MMXI Europe, which studies Internet usage in various countries, set out to answer in a yearlong study from October, 1999, to September, 2000.

The results were dramatic. The growth of Web users in France has actually doubled since January, 2000. And MMXI discovered there's still a great deal of potential, even if people already have an Internet connection.

TARGETING WOMEN. Indeed, among 22 million individuals who have access to the Net, only 12.8 million actually use the Web actively and on a regular basis. And although men are still a majority on the Net, women, who represent 33% of Internet users but 56% of the general population, are an as-yet-untapped reservoir for sites. They're sure to increasingly target female Web users, who, in France, tend to favor cultural, practical, and family topics. Among the sites they tend to frequent: aufeminin.com, which specializes in subjects of interest to women, French newspaper Liberation.com, and Disney.fr.

But despite a spectacular increase of 97%, France still has a much lower Web population than its European neighbors. Because the market is already more saturated in Germany and Britain, growth in those countries was lower than in France, reaching 68% and 37%, respectively. France is also less open to international sites than its neighbors, which tend to favor American e-commerce sites, for example, over local ones. In France, three of the country's five most popular Web domains are French, and include Wanadoo, Free, and LibertySurf.

What topics of interest helped create the sudden explosion of Web users in France? According to Fabienne Schwalbe, managing director for MMXI France, personal Web pages have largely contributed to the boom in Internet use. "More than one Web user out of two surfs on personal Web pages," says Schwalbe, which means the French are extremely fond of chatting online.

GAMING IS BIG. In fact, the French are extremely attached to leisure sites in general. Online games are, therefore, a big hit in France, with one in five Web users taking part. One favorite is online lottery bananalotto.fr, thanks largely to its presence in the media and its strategic ad campaigns. Sites offering sports news, especially during major events such as the Olympics and the French Open, also saw their audience numbers explode this year.

French Web users connecting to music sites also are steadily on the rise, at roughly 1 million. Surprisingly, though, the site attracting a third of these users is Universalmusic.fr. Could it be that the French are more respectful of copyrights than people in other countries, who clearly prefer free music sites such as Napster? In fact, in contrast to predictions, free music sites drew only moderate numbers of French Web users for the year. That could change, though, since such sites have received so much press attention lately.

Regarding e-commerce, MMXI has found that momentum is building. Indeed, the audience for e-commerce sites rose 180% over the past 10 months. Yet again, it's the French sites that take the lion's share. The Web site of the French national railroad (SNCF) and the site of giant book and music retailer FNAC are in the lead. But here, the French have only slightly caught up to the rest. "Online window-shopping is becoming more and more intense, but Web users have yet to actually make a purchase," Schwalbe says.

Looks like there is still plenty of room to improve next year's growth numbers in France -- and lots of opportunities for companies and Web sites looking to penetrate a quickly ripening market.