May 15, 2020
Every year, the number of people who use the internet keeps growing worldwide. Digital has transformed societies and changed consumption patterns. Taken individually in this area, France is undoubtedly a successful country. But what is it really worth compared to the other great powers? Here is the point in this article.
NUMBER OF INTERNET USERS AND CONSUMPTION HABITS
According to a report published in 2019, there are more than 4.39 billion Internet users worldwide and 3.48 billion users of social networks. The number of people using social media on their mobile devices is estimated at 3.26 billion.
In France, 92% of the total population, or 60.42 million people, use the Internet , just ahead of the Germans (90%) and the Spanish (82%). In the Netherlands, there are 95% of Internet users. As in Europe, online presence is also very important on other continents. It is estimated that more than 288 million Americans are connected to a total population of 328 million. China has more than 828 million Internet users out of a total population of 1.3 billion people.
98 % of Chinese internet users are mobile internet users, compared to 86% in Spain, 74 % in France and 66 % in Germany .
What about the time spent online per day? An internet user spends an average of 6 h 42 min per day on the web. The Spanish (7:30 a.m.) led the way, ahead of the Germans, the Dutch (6 a.m.), the French (4:38 a.m.) and the Chinese (3 a.m.).
What are all these people doing on the internet?
Research, online shopping, streaming and social media : habits are the same everywhere. Google, Facebook and YouTube are among the most visited sites. Over 65% of Dutch people are active users of social networks, compared to 56% in France , 54% in Spain and 41% in Germany. Among our German neighbors, WhatsApp is the most used messaging application, ahead of Facebook.
In the United States, the number of users of social networks is estimated at 202.8 million people. YouTube (73%) and Facebook (68%) come first in the country of Uncle Sam. Due to censorship, the Chinese only use their own social networks. Over a billion people are active on social media. Most of them use WeChat, a multifunction platform.
What about e-commerce?
French people like to shop online. E-commerce generated more than 100 billion euros in 2019 . In France, 71 % of Internet users have already made an online purchase. Orders are mainly placed on computer or mobile (57%).
In Germany, 88% of the population purchases online, compared to 62% in Spain and 67% in the United States. In China, more than 500 million people place orders online. In this country, the most purchased products on the net are cosmetics, bags and clothing.
Platforms like Alibaba and Taobao are key players in e-commerce in China. In France, spending is directed towards travel tickets, clothing and cosmetics . In Germany, travel tickets and books are the top products and services. In Spain, digital books are also very often purchased online, while in the United States, household appliances and clothing are the most popular products.
Regarding the online payment method, 40 % of French people use mobile banking services . However, very few of them (13%) make payments via a smartphone. In China, mobile payment is popular, since this method of payment is used by more than 68% of the population.
THE USE OF DIGITAL IN COMPANIES
Digitalization has forced companies to review and rethink their mode of operation. With new technologies, we can use websites, social networks and emailing to reach our target quickly and efficiently. In this area, France is lagging behind, because only 65 % of French companies have a website , compared to 87% in Germany and 95% in Finland. However, in France, the percentage of SMEs present on social networks is 41% and only 16% of French companies offer online commerce. Together, China and the United States have 10 of the 20 major global internet players. We can cite among others: Apple, Google, Amazon, Alibaba, Tencent…
In addition, in the United Kingdom, 10 % of GDP is generated by digital, against 9.2 % in China, 8 % in the United States and 6 % in France .
THE INTEGRATION OF DIGITAL IN THE BANKING SECTOR
The French Fintech (financial technology) ecosystem is in a good position in Europe, where we are witnessing the emergence of new players. Digitization allows banks to keep up with new technologies and better meet the needs of the public. France has nearly 352 Fintech companies , compared to 300 in Spain, 235 in Italy and 162 in Austria. Berlin alone hosts 175 companies in this sector.
The German capital is considered an El Dorado for finance startups. Fintech represents 4.7% of startups in this country. However, London is considered the European benchmark in this area. Almost half of the British population uses the services of Fintech . But the United States remains the largest market for companies in the sector. The city of San Francisco alone has more than 1.2 million direct jobs in this sector.
DIGITAL IN THE ENTERTAINMENT WORLD
A source of novelty, digital has also transformed habits in the entertainment world. Naturally, the global market has seen renewed interest with digital technology. For example, the video game industry reached $ 152.1 billion in revenue in 2019 . In this sector, it is the Chinese giant Tencent which takes the lion's share with nearly 20 billion in revenues. The Japanese giant Sony (14.2 billion) and the American firms Microsoft (9.8 billion) and Apple (9.5 billion) occupy second, third and fourth places respectively.
The publisher Ubisoft, leader in France, is also in a good place with a turnover of 2.2 billion dollars .
CENSORSHIP AND GOVERNMENT CONTROL
Today, thanks to new technologies, we can spy on an individual and have a ton of information about him. Digitization has allowed many governments to put their residents under surveillance, without their knowledge. Some governments also subject their populations to extreme censorship. In China and Iran, many platforms like Facebook and Google are blocked . Content deemed inappropriate is also censored in these countries. If in France and the United States, the restriction is weak, it must be admitted that mass surveillance is a reality in these 2 countries.
We note that France is an advanced country in the field of digital transformation. But it is seriously lagging behind in several areas such as Fintech compared to certain major powers such as the United States and Germany.
