Competition Analysis
In France there are around 20,000 to 25,000 POS of books (libraries, wholesalers, hypermarkets, supermarkets and a variety of book retailers). Further, France has more than 3,000 independent local bookshops with 400 in Paris.
A breakdown of physical and virtual shops shall be made in order to better understand the competition landscape in France. The following players are the largest in France:
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Amazon: As stated in the previous section (cf. Germany and Italy), Amazon is an enormous player in the e-industry vending (Marosevic, 2014). As a matter of fact, it is in the lead throughout the French market. Amazon has also knocked down Cdiscount.com to set it back to the second position.
However, scandals regarding Amazon (tax evasion in Luxemburg and working conditions mainly) are also a big issue in the French book industry. The Ministry of Culture has made an effort to crack down on Amazon’s tax practices by prohibiting free shipping of books. This law will be explained in the business environment analysis.
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Fnac: It has more than 199 stores across France and abroad with 75 department stores within France and a turnover of 3.8 billion euros in 2015. The company has more than 8.000 employees in the country. Moreover, according to the Group-Fnac, the 199 stores had more than 60 million customers in 2015 and 200 million visiting customers (Groupe-Fnac, s.d.).
Additionally, Fnac is a hybrid undertaking with both physical and virtual platforms (this concerns both books and stores). Fnac also sells second-hand books therefore can be a great threat to BWB.
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Group Flammarion: This entity is the fourth largest publishing group in France. It is a holding, which has several brands, distribution channels and publishers. This French giant is also a hybrid unit. However, it does not focus on second hand market. Hachette Group: It is one of the biggest publishers and retailers in the country with more than 2 billion euros in sales. (No used books assessed)
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Other competitors: Lalibrairie.com is a big e-player that sells both used and new books. Correspondingly, it provides together e-books and e-readers. There is also Franceloisirs.com that is popular in France. It provides more or less the same services as the former (cf. annex 6 for a list of the top ten online libraries that sells books). Last but not least, 2ememain.be provides used items (books and other goods).