INTERVIEW
Finished, shopping in supermarkets. Since March 17 and the start of confinement, decided to try to stem the spread of Covid-19 on French territory, all non-essential businesses have been closed. As a result, many French people have decided to use online commerce platforms. Guest of the morning of Europe 1, the director general of Amazon France Frédéric Duval returned to the results of the web giant in France for three weeks.
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Sales concentrated on a few categories
"In this crisis, we want to have a modest management role because we are a resource for a good number of French people who have to stay at home," began the director general of Amazon France. "Obviously we don't do things as usual, it's very different", he specifies, because Amazon concentrates its sales on only a few categories.
"Those which are important for the French during this period", explains Frédéric Duval. "These are categories that are hygiene, food, but also office equipment, or products that are also necessary for children and to keep them occupied," he explains.
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And on these categories, containment is felt ... clearly. "We are on a strong appetite from French customers for delivery," says the director general of Amazon France. In terms of sales, "these are significant increases, which are between before and after the crisis which are more than 100%".
Third-party merchants "are free to upload the products they want"
However, it is still possible to go to the Amazon site and buy non-essential products, such as game consoles or skis. On this point, Frédéric Duval kills any controversy in the bud by explaining that it is not Amazon that ships these products.
"These are third-party merchants (...) Companies that sell on Amazon and that ship themselves," he said, acknowledging that the confusion may have been made. "These companies are free to put the products they want online", and some in the food industry have seen their sales multiplied by ten or twenty, says Frédéric Duval.
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Asked to react to recent news from the company, which would have put pressure on employees, which would have caused the resignation of two executives, Frédéric Duval said that "employee safety is the priority". "There is absolutely no pressure. Ms. Pénicaud and I share the same goal: to provide employees with a safe working environment," he said.