French pet e-commerce expands modestly, average transaction value declines

Online sales of pet care and food products hit €1.87 billion ($2.2B) in France in 2025, according to data from market research platform NielsenIQ.

The insights, shared with GlobalPETS, point to a slight 0.1% increase compared to 2024.

This figure made e-commerce account for a 36.4% share of total pet commerce in the country, a 0.3 percentage point (p.p.) rise year-over-year (YoY). This means that over 1 in 3 euros spent on pets in France was made online.

Expenditure

Average transaction value, on the other hand, fell 6% YoY, as shoppers spent €151 ($175) on the category in 2025.

According to Pierre-Emmanuel Moron, E-Commerce Insight Lead at NielsenIQ, not only have purchases of pet products grown, but the inclusion of these supplies in consumers’ fast- moving consumer goods (FMCG) baskets has also increased.

“40.4% of FMCG e-shoppers are buying pet products this year (+3 p.p. vs. a year ago),” Moron tells GlobalPETS.

Segment breakdown

The increased demand for pet food online drove the positive result, with value growth of 1.5% YoY. Now, almost a third of pet food purchases (32.1%) are made via e-commerce.

In 2025, more dog owners bought food online (+2.4%) than cat owners (+0.9%) compared to 2024.

But the French buy far more pet products online than food: the value share of pet care is 54.2%. Despite this, pet care revenue fell by 3.1% YoY.

General insights

Taking into account all economic segments, the e-commerce sector in France, across both products and services, reached €196.4 billion ($228B) in revenue in 2025. This is a 7% yearly increase, according to the French Federation of E-commerce and Distance Selling (FEVAD).

French consumers spent €76.1 billion ($88B) online in 2025, a 4% increase YoY. The share of e-commerce in product sales was estimated at 12% of retail trade over the past year.

The services sector saw a larger surge – 9% compared to 2024 – totalling €120.3 billion ($140B) in revenue.

Online shoppers are buying more but spending less: while 3.2 billion transactions were completed online – 10% more than in 2024 – the average order value decreased by 3% in the period to €62 ($72).

100 leading platforms

FEVAD also monitors 100 leading e-commerce platforms in the country. In this index, the best performing sectors in terms of revenue growth YoY were electronics and household appliances, sporting goods, furniture/home decor, home textiles, fast-moving consumer goods and beauty.

According to the federation, the last quarter of 2025 was strong for all product categories. And although it does not provide data for the pet sector specifically in this index, the category (especially food, treats and supplies like litter) is usually included in FMCG.

Agentic AI

The use of AI by French online shoppers has also been studied. It is believed that 1 in 3 online shoppers in the country uses AI when buying online, a practice more common among younger consumers, especially those aged 15-24 (49%) and 25-34 (46%).

These are the main results from a survey conducted by the research institute Odoxa, with 1,583 respondents, between 14 and 19 January 2026 in France, and released alongside FEVAD.

The organizations say that the use of generative AI is growing by a ripple effect, as more than half of online shoppers who already use it (54%) report increased reliance over the past year.

58% use AI to save time, compare products or make an initial selection, while 73% of regular users incorporate it into their purchasing journeys.