We aim to be the most customer-obsessed business in the world and over the last two decades have worked ceaselessly to build ever stronger ties with the French people. Today we are trusted by tens of millions of French consumers and according to an IFOP survey[1], 94% of our customers see us as helping their everyday lives. We are especially popular in small villages and rural communities, where two thirds (64% and 67% respectively) of inhabitants say they cannot do without us. As unmissable feature of day-to-day life, Amazon helps reduce the relative isolation of rural people compared to those in more urban areas and enables equal access to merchandise across this divide. 85% of Amazon customers surveyed in the countryside say we provide them products they cannot find in their local shops.
Since 2010, we invested more than €20 billion in France, including infrastructure and compensation to our employees.
Constant and long-term, our commitment aims to boost the national economy, create quality jobs and actively support French SMBs.
"However, our investment in France is not limited to these figures", says Frédéric Duval, Amazon.fr Country Manager. "Constant and long-term, our commitment aims to boost the national economy, create quality jobs and actively support French SMBs. We are proud to contribute to the flourishing of culture and innovation in France, because we believe that our success is intrinsically linked to the well-being and prosperity of the French community as a whole".
No. 1 direct job creator in France
Backed by 20,000-plus France-based permanent employees in 2022, Amazon offers a wide range of jobs (400+ different occupations) in its Clichy offices, Amazon Web Services and at more than 35 warehouses throughout France.
According to data from the French Employment and Investment Directory[2], Amazon has been France’s no.1 net job creator overall since 2010. A report recently published by independent consultancy Roland Berger also reveals that three Amazon fulfilment centers (Ile-de-France, Hauts-de-France and Grand Est) have been France’s top-three business permanent jobs creators since 2010.
Going beyond the numbers, our top-class HR policies are valued highly by our employees. For the fourth consecutive year Amazon France has indeed been “Top Employer” as certified by the Top Employers’ Institute, an award which recognizes the excellent workplace, career development prospects and training offered to employees. An independent IFOP opinion poll showed that more than 8 out of 10 Amazon staff working in its logistic sites would recommend working for us to their loved ones and plan to stay with the company over the next few years.
IFOP Corporate & Work Experience research director Flora Baumlin comments: “Amazon staff are happier about the various aspects of their job, i.e. job satisfaction, recommendation to loved ones, relations with colleagues, work/life balance, training opportunities, than French employees on average. What’s more, most see themselves staying with Amazon for at least two years at the very time when it is more critical than ever for businesses to attract and retain loyal staff”.
In 2022, Amazon has supported about 100,000 direct and indirect jobs, including more than 20,000 direct permanent jobs, more than 42,000 indirect jobs in areas like construction, logistics and other professional services as well as more than 35,000 jobs created by the SMBs selling on Amazon.
Unwavering support to French small and medium-sized businesses
Our success is underpinned by the success of our selling partners who rely on us. Hence, since 2003 when we opened Amazon up to third-party sellers, we have spared no effort to help the thousands of small businesses, entrepreneurs, contractors, producers and SMBs who turn to us.
As of now, we are delighted that more than 16,000 French small and medium sized businesses trust us to help them grow turning in Amazon-generated sales of 90 million products in 2022, up over 10% year-on-year. Some have taken advantage of the opportunity to refine their strategy and realize their ambitions, such as Charente-based start-up StickerGreen, which has set itself the goal of becoming the first carbon-neutral printing company: "In the history of our young company, there is clearly a before and an after Amazon, both in terms of sales and international development” says Valentin Nicolas, the company's managing director. "Amazon has really been a gas pedal, because the cash generated by sales will enable us to invest in carbon sinks, notably forests. As a result, we should achieve carbon neutrality as early as 2024". Amazon is a trustful partner, providing guarantees that comfort customers in their choice and facilitate the act of buying", adds Pierre Guitton, founder of Teqoya, a Bordeaux-based company specializing in air purifiers.
Out of these 16,000 French businesses, 2,700 have sales of €100,000+, including 280+ achieving this milestone for the first time in 2022. Similarly, 450 French entrepreneurs and SMEs now have sales of €1 million+, 40 for the first time in 2022. "Amazon gave us immediate visibility, whereas we would have had to invest a lot more effort and resources to promote our products on our own site", explains Martial Longatte, head of digital strategy at Le Comptoir de la Gastronomie, a century-old national gastronomic heritage brand.
Nearly two thirds (65%) of such businesses showcase French savoir-faire abroad with their total exports exceeding €750 million, up nearly 20% year-on-year. "Today, we sell in around ten European countries. We generate 50% of our sales internationally, of which 80% on Amazon. Both from the point of view of its presence with sites in every country and its tools for translating product sheets and adapting the offer, Amazon is a real export facilitator", says Julian Grimau, co-founder of Bananair, a French brand of plush toys and giant poufs.
Finally, half of such businesses rely on our Fulfilled by Amazon service, which takes care of shipping and delivery. Ybrush Marketing Manager Emilie Cucherousset stresses: “Fulfilled by Amazon have really boosted our sales and exports, particularly in the USA where we don’t yet have our own warehouse.”
"All these testimonials from selling partners and entrepreneurs who want to get into e-commerce reflect our deep commitment to French SMBs and the French economy as a whole. By helping them grow, we're helping to build a more robust and inclusive economy," says Clara Getzel, Director of Small Business Services at Amazon.fr.
Our support to SMBs is also found in the development of our Digital Accelerator e-training program in partnership with more than 50 organizations. Free of charge and open to all, more than 45,000 entrepreneurs from all backgrounds have seized the chance to learn about doing business online. According to feedback we got from April to May 2023 course trainees, 91% of users have found the program useful for starting their business online (48%) or the development of their existing online business (51%). Users notably plebiscite the program for learning new skills (19%) and setting up their business either online or offline (16%).
A fully-fledged French TV and entertainment producer with Prime Video
In TV show and film production too, we have built unbreakable bonds with French people. Having produced ten French shows in 2021, in 2022 we followed this up with a further compelling and ground-breaking nine, together with five bought-in productions. Shows such as LOL: Qui rit, sort ! have become embedded in French pop culture. Others like Franck Gastambide’s movie Medellin have been a big hit on the world stage. Medellin reached number one in sixty-eight countries and was the second most popular Prime Video non-English movie release. Our coverage of Ligue 1 football and the French Open tennis tournament has also hauled in a big audience. Given we strive to reach all our Amazon Prime French members, we will continue to broaden our entertainment offering across all film genres while staying true to our heritage - being bold and breaking new ground. We are committed to financing French production to the tune of 40 million euros per year.
"Our proposal emphasizes diversity - diversity of genres, themes, talents, stories. Our goal is for Prime Video to resonate with French society. With this in mind, we have concluded an ambitious agreement with producers and authors for French creation - we are proud to be one of the first international players to commit to such approach," emphasizes Brigitte Ricou-Bellan, General Manager of Prime Video in France.
Lastly, 90% of our French productions are aimed at our French subscribers but Prime has more than 200 million subscribers worldwide and Prime Video is available in more than 240 countries and territories around the world. Prime Video is a magnificent shop window to get the world to watch French savoir-faire and culture, thanks to a great mix of talent in front of and behind the camera.
Contribution to the financing of public services and the French welfare system
As we continue to hire talent and expand our operations in France, our contribution to the financing of French public services and social system keeps growing too. We are completely transparent about this and have been openly disclosing our revenues, taxes and social security charges arising from our French business since 2019. In 2022 :
- The total revenues of Amazon’s activities in France were approx. €10.5 bn (2021: approx. 9 bn).
- Our total tax contribution, taxes and levies collected by the French State (combining direct and indirect) was more than €1.7 bn (2021: more than 1 bn). Over €580 million (2021: over €470m) of this piece is what we incurred directly as a business on items like corporate tax, employer payroll taxes, and other local taxes.
A positive impact in local communities: the example of the Augny logistics site
Besides Amazon’s contribution to the national economy, our business boosted regional development, as borne out by a study by the independent consultancy Roland Berger carried out one year after the opening of Amazon's Augny Fulfillment Center in Eastern France. The study highlights how our business helped to energize and grow the local economy in the Moselle and to a lesser extent, in the two neighboring French counties of Meurthe-et-Moselle and Meuse. In practice, this has resulted in :
- Creating 4,000 direct jobs, reducing the local unemployment rate by 2.9%.
- Helping fund welfare system spending to the tune of €35 million in 2022 including savings from unemployment benefits avoided through a targeted recruitment policy carried out in liaison with local government agencies.
- Generating more than €2m in local tax paid directly to the Metz metropolitan area, the Augny municipality and, to a lesser extent, Moselle county.
- Renewed economic activity and business development that have clearly helped bring about a booming region.
Staff, social and environmental commitment
Finally, this review would not be complete without an overview of our sustainability commitment in France. Sustainability underlies our business across the board and can be found in countless steps: ingenious packaging, recycling waste, eliminating all single-use delivery bags from the Amazon fulfillment network, turning to electric delivery vehicles and launching bicycle deliveries, to name a few. For many years we have put our heralded innovation strengths to work on bringing logistics practices that reduce our impact on the environment.
Indeed, we have invested heavily in electric vehicle fleets: thousands of electric vans electric vans already deliver packages throughout Europe and by 2025 this fleet will include at least 10,000 delivery vans and more than 1,500 electric trucks. Meanwhile, we introduced bicycle deliveries in France from 2017 and now more than a dozen French cities benefit from our "last mile" bicycle deliveries. This cuts our carbon footprint, urban traffic and noise pollution alike. We plan to invest more than €250 million over the next five years to electrify and decarbonize our transport network in France further.
Meanwhile, backed by 400+ renewable energy projects in 22 countries, we approach our goal to power our global business with 100% renewable energy by 2025. In 2022, 90% of electricity consumed by Amazon was attributable to renewable energy sources. In France, after the delivery of a first 15 MWp solar park in Préchac in French county Gironde, we announced a second 23.4 MWp project in Saint-Frichoux, near Carcassonne. Planned in 2025, it will raise our renewable energy capacity in France to 38.4 MW.
We have also taken big steps to preserve biodiversity. In 2022, we funded a €3 million donation to the Nature 2025 Program set up by CDC Biodiversité. This is an initiative to preserve, restore and sustainably manage an estimated area of 600,000 square meters (80 football pitches). Under the Right Now Climate Fund too, we have invested €1.5 million in North Sea Farm 1, a first-of-its-kind seaweed production project located amongst offshore wind turbines.
An example of how we act locally, close to the communities where our employees live and work, is our participation in planting an urban forest right in Metz’s city center.
Finally, all our initiatives address social disparities and seek to reduce inequality. We are committed to staff diversity and inclusion, fair pay and great career opportunities for all our people. We are seeing good results here with our scores on the Professional Equality Index now exceeding the 75% threshold established by the French Government, reaching 99% In our fulfillment centers
Much remains to be done and we are working on it. But this 2022 review illustrates once again how important Amazon views France. Teaming up with public services and local businesses, we will continue to support the French economy, nurturing social inclusion and striving to attain a more sustainable future.
Come back next year for our 2023 review.
[1] March 2022
[2] Trendeo
