Selling in France
France is next door and feels familiar, yet it rewards the companies that treat it as a market of its own. Here is my field guide. I'm French, and helping foreign businesses expand into France is what I do every day.
- 68.6mpeople in FranceInsee, 1 Jan. 2025
- €175.3bnspent online in 2024Fevad
- £104.3bnUK–France trade in 2025DBT / ONS
- ≈90%of searches go through GoogleStatCounter
The market
The UK and France: a £100 billion relationship
France is the UK’s fifth-largest trading partner. In 2025, trade in goods and services between the two countries reached £104.3 billion: £48.0 billion of UK exports to France and £56.3 billion of imports. For a British company expanding into Europe, it is often the first stop: a short train ride away, wealthy and used to British brands.
But Brexit changed the rules. Goods now go through customs, and many UK sellers underestimate how French buyers judge a website: language, legal notice, prices including VAT, delivery conditions. The companies that succeed are the ones that build a French presence rather than a translated one.
The buyer
Meet the French buyer
- Particular about languageOne clumsy phrase or a text that “reads like a translation” is enough to lose trust.
- CautiousCompares, reads reviews and checks the legal notice before buying or asking for a quote.
- Formal in B2BVous, titles and precise email etiquette. Familiarity comes later, if at all.
- LoyalOnce convinced, a French customer tends to stay with a supplier for years.
How different are British and French business habits? Read my guide to cultural differences between France and the UK.
The regions
One country, many Frances
Paris is not France. Each region has its own dishes, words, accent and buying habits, and French people search with their own words. That is why I research keywords region by region when your market is local.
Paris & Île-de-France
Jambon-beurre, bistro lunches and terraces all year round.
Fast, direct, full of slang and verlan (words spoken backwards).
Head offices and decision-makers: almost a third of French GDP is produced here.
National keywords, but fierce competition: target precise, high-intent searches.
Hauts-de-France
Moules-frites, Maroilles cheese and ‘le welsh’, the local take on Welsh rarebit.
The Ch’ti accent; a floor cloth is a “wassingue”.
Logistics hub between Paris, London and Brussels, with a strong Belgian influence.
Cross-border searches: many buyers compare French and Belgian offers.
Alsace & Grand Est
Choucroute, flammekueche and pretzels.
Alsatian dialect and German-sounding names; many locals speak German.
Home of the European Parliament, with its own local law, a legacy of history.
A natural bridge for German companies: bilingual pages can work here.
Brittany
Galettes, crêpes, cider and kouign-amann.
Breton place names and a fierce regional pride.
Agri-food, cybersecurity and a “made in Brittany” reflex.
Regional labels and local references build trust fast.
Lyon & the Alps
Bouchons lyonnais, quenelles; raclette, fondue and tartiflette in the Alps.
A child is a “gone” in Lyon; a floor cloth becomes a “panosse”.
France’s second-largest regional economy: industry, pharma, winter sports.
Strong B2B demand: technical pages written in native French make the difference.
Provence & the Riviera
Bouillabaisse, aïoli, pastis and socca in Nice.
The sing-song southern accent: “peuchère”, “fada”.
Port, tourism and a warmer, more personal way of doing business.
Seasonal peaks: prepare summer campaigns in spring.
The South-West
Cassoulet, canelés, duck and wine.
It is a “chocolatine”, not a “pain au chocolat”, and a bag is a “poche”.
Aerospace in Toulouse, wine in Bordeaux, rugby everywhere.
Regional words change the keywords: test both forms before choosing.
Normandy
Camembert, cider, calvados, and butter or cream in almost everything.
The famous ‘p’têt ben qu’oui’ (maybe yes, maybe no): a Norman rarely commits at first.
Ports of Le Havre and Rouen, energy and agri-food, one hour from Paris.
Buyers are cautious: detailed product pages and clear prices reassure them.
Nantes & the Loire Atlantic coast
LU petit-beurre biscuits (born in Nantes), muscadet, rillettes from Le Mans.
Close to standard French; Nantes still debates whether it belongs to Brittany.
Shipbuilding in Saint-Nazaire, aerospace and a lively start-up scene in Nantes.
Local references and case studies convert well in this proud region.
The Loire Valley
Tarte Tatin, goat’s cheeses and Loire wines.
Touraine is said to speak the ‘purest’ French.
Pharma and the ‘Cosmetic Valley’ cluster, agriculture and château tourism.
Neutral French works well here: a good test market for national campaigns.
Burgundy & Franche-Comté
Bœuf bourguignon, Dijon mustard, comté and escargots.
A rolled ‘r’ can still be heard in the countryside.
Wine, agri-food and precision industry, from Burgundy’s vineyards to the watchmakers of the Jura.
Terroir and origin labels matter: show where and how your products are made.
Corsica
Figatellu, brocciu cheese and chestnut flour.
Corsican, close to Tuscan Italian, is taught at school; road signs are bilingual.
Tourism, very seasonal, and a strong preference for local players.
Searches peak before summer: publish and advertise in spring.
Hover over or tap a region to see its main city and population.
Words
Say it like a local
The law
What French law requires on your website
- Toubon Law (1994)Advertising, product descriptions, instructions and consumer contracts must be in French.
- Mentions légalesPublisher identity, address, registration number and web host.
- Terms of sale (CGV)Mandatory for consumer sales, including the 14-day right of withdrawal.
- CookiesThe CNIL is strict about consent: no tracking before the visitor agrees.
- B2B payment termsCapped by law, generally at 60 days from the invoice date.
Payments
Payments and the retail calendar
Bank cards dominate, especially France’s own Carte Bancaire network. PayPal is widely used, and paying in three or four instalments is common online. In B2B, bank transfer remains the norm. Always show consumer prices including French VAT. Selling on Shopify? Shopify Markets lets you add a French version with prices in euros; just make sure the French pages are written for France, not machine-translated.
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Peaks: winter sales (Jan), summer sales (late Jun–Jul), la rentrée (Sep), Black Friday and ChristmasAugust: much of France is on holiday
Search
Google, ChatGPT and French search
Google handles around 9 in 10 searches in France; Bing and Qwant share the rest. But French buyers increasingly ask ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini or Claude which supplier to choose. To appear in those answers, your company must be described clearly and consistently, in French. That's what GEO is about.
My expertise
More than a translation: your partner in France
I am a Frenchman based in Greater Paris, and helping foreign companies grow in France is what I do every day: market research, French websites, SEO, Google Ads and visibility in AI assistants. I know the market from the inside, down to its regional quirks.
Before you invest, I can map your market: competitors, prices, target customers, standards and the words French buyers use. That is exactly what I did for PrintPunk.
A bilingual French–German market research report for entering France: trends, competitors, target customers, pricing and applicable standards, so the company could decide where and how to launch.
A German maker of reusable cups and event tableware. Since September 2025 I have handled its French SEO: technical audit, keyword research on about 1,500 French terms and a rewrite of the French copy.
Is your website ready for France?
Take my free check in 2 minutes: a score out of 100, your strengths and your three priorities for the French market.
Run the free check
Your point of contact
Antoine Sanières
International strategy and marketing consultant
Based in Pantin, on the edge of Paris, I am a native French speaker and also work in English and German, as well as in Dutch in writing. I hold two master's degrees, in international business and in digital marketing, and since founding Anton Anton in 2023 I have completed more than 100 projects for French and international companies.
I wrote this guide myself, from my experience as a Frenchman helping foreign companies sell in France.
FAQ
Your questions – Selling in France
Do I have to translate my website into French to sell in France?
Can I sell from the UK to France after Brexit?
How big is the French e-commerce market?
Is Shopify a good way to start selling in France?
Do you carry out market research for France?
Which search engine do French people use?
Which e-commerce sites dominate in France?
What should I know about doing business in France?
Can't see your question? Ask me directly – I reply within one working day
Sources: Insee (population on 1 January 2025), Fevad (e-commerce 2024), StatCounter (search engine market share), Department for Business and Trade (UK–France trade, June 2026), Insee (regional GDP).
