France

Shocked to the core by COVID-19 in 2020 and the first half of 2021, hotels in France claims a recovery better than many other European countries in 2021 and especially in 2022, though recovery has not been homogeneous throughout all of hotels or all…

Sugar confectionery is still recovering from the impacts seen in 2020, when the height of the pandemic restrictions led to lower purchases overall, due to fewer social occasions such as children’s parties, alongside a lack of impulse purchases due to…

RTDs was not in a strong position even before the outbreak of COVID-19 and things only got tougher for producers of RTDs in 2020. Firstly, RTDs are generally considered as something to be consumed at parties, festivals, and other social events, most…

After registering a significant recovery in sales in 2021, spectacles witnessed a slowdown in 2022. The reopening of physical stores in 2021 was a welcome boost to spectacles, but such high growth was unlikely to prevail given that current value…

Humanisation and premiumisation trends continue to be key drivers in pet care in France. There has been a boom in pet ownership during the time of COVID-19, with people spending more time at home due to lockdowns and remote working diktats, and thus…

With consumers continuing to be confined to their homes for long periods of time, gardening provided a simple pleasure for consumers during the spring and summer months. It was a necessary distraction from the stresses of the pandemic that allowed…

While many consumers reduced the frequency of, or even eliminated, hair removal treatments from their beauty routines during 2020 due to the pandemic, other consumers who previously sought treatments in beauty salons opted to perform such procedures…

The impact of COVID-19 upon sanitary protection in France has been relatively limited with only small declines in retail value sales seen in both 2020 and 2021. Demand for these products is fairly fixed given the regularity of use by the menstruating…

Hosiery posted positive but rather disappointing value growth in 2021 in comparison with its double-digit decline in 2020, primarily due to the failed recovery of sheer hosiery, while the drop of non-sheer hosiery was curtailed twice in 2020. Women…

Given that human contact is the very essence of this channel, sales obviously collapsed during the first few weeks of the pandemic in 2020. The channel lost 70% of its sales in March and April 2020 according to the main direct selling trade…

While unable to reverse the long-term decline in air care, the COVID-19 pandemic did have a positive impact on the category. The bigger air care categories – electric, spray/aerosol and candle air fresheners – registered improved performances in…

The boom in pet ownership throughout the time of lockdowns and working-from-home models has, in turn, boosted growth across pet products. As pet populations increase, therefore cat litter, pet healthcare, and other pet products are seeing benefits.…

Home improvement continued to be a focus for French consumers in 2021 albeit to a lesser extent than in 2020. With consumers spending longer periods of time at home and restricting major renovation works due to financial concerns, many customers…

Home Furnishings is set to see a strong recovery in value sales in 2021 after the negative impact of store closures in 2020. The dominant category, indoor furnishings is set to see the best performance in 2021, driven by mainly kitchen furniture and…

Warehouse clubs remain a niche retail category in France as only one outlet remained in operation mid-2021, under the operation of the US-origin chained Costco upon its entry into the country in June 2017. The introduction of this business model has…

In a continuation from 2020, the ongoing difficult context of the pandemic in 2021 further revealed the fragility and the obsolescence of the homeshopping business model. This channel’s sales fell further due to the relentless competition from…

Meat consumption through retail is still above pre-pandemic levels in 2021, but it has experienced a decline from 2020. As French consumers have gradually returned to out-of-home lifestyles and activities, eating occasions at home have declined. Pork…

Booking players and intermediaries expected a strong recovery in 2022 but will again be disappointed. January and February 2022 held some promising signs in the form of recovery of departures for medium- and long-haul destinations as travellers…

Total volume sales of wine registered appreciable growth in 2021. This followed a year of double-digit declines when on-trade establishments were mandated to close and sales plummeted. Sales through the off-trade were not enough to compensate as…

Value sales of video games declined in 2021, following a year of strong growth when sales were boosted by the COVID-19 lockdown and home seclusion – with consumers searching for entertainment and ways to pass the time within the household.…