For these companies, the worst has been avoided and the future even looks bright at times. While the coronavirus epidemic and containment plunged the French economy into a serious crisis, some companies still managed to fare well. Executives of delivery companies, specializing in hygiene, or even in new mobility, several entrepreneurs came to testify on Friday, in La France bouge sur Europe 1.
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Food delivery companies ...
The confinement having resulted in a marked reduction in travel, and prevented millions of French people from being able to do their shopping normally, the delivery companies were able to make themselves essential. This is the case of Fraiche family, a 100% organic packed lunch delivery company, which recorded growth of 800%. "Being confined has given people more time and increased the need for delivery," says company founder Séverine Picard.
An "unexpected" opportunity for a company launched in July 2019, which can now look to the future with optimism. "The containment gave us the means to widen our range of suppliers, to bring products that we did not deliver before, such as toilet paper, detergent," continues Séverine Picard, who anticipates that this strong demand could persist in the coming months.
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... and those of large parcels
It is also a delivery company, but in a completely different sector, that of bulky parcels, Delivening has also experienced an explosion in its activity, coming to lend a hand to retailers deprived of their usual delivery service due to confinement. "Some stores have entrusted 100% of their delivery volume to Delivening," confirms its co-founder Médéric Gasse, adding that turnover, usually 50,000 euros in April, had jumped to 200,000 euros this year. And there too, the next few months look positive, since "half of the brands that called on us have decided to continue with Delivening", says Médéric Gasse.
Protective equipment and Marseille soaps
Health crisis obliges, the concern of the French faced with the risk of contamination has allowed several companies to continue to operate. However, at the start, things looked bad for Bertrand Lesay, CEO of the company Direct Signalétique, specializing in the manufacture of traffic signs. But while his business was idling until mid-April, local demand revived everything. The mayor of Hazebrouck, in Hauts-de-France, where Direct Signalétique is located, has indeed asked the company for protection for the town's baker.
After installing plexiglass protection, and faced with the success of the initiative, Bertrand Lesay then decided to develop a full range of protection products, and "it was a hit". Result, in one week, Direct Signalétique made "the turnover of a month of the last year", assures the entrepreneur, "overwhelmed" by the requests. "For the past three weeks, it has been complete madness," he further describes, "we are at 200 calls a day against 3-4 before confinement.
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Unlike Direct Signalétique, Raphaël Seghin, CEO of the Fer à Cheval soap factory, had anticipated the crisis. "We started overproducing soap in January, and by mid-February, we had an action plan ready in terms of security, production and prioritization of distribution networks," he told Europe 1. Result, the company "produces about 30% more, if we take the entire period of confinement". Selling online has quadrupled in a month.
Gardening products are tearing off
For many French people, confinement was an unprecedented opportunity to take more time to devote themselves to long neglected activities, such as gardening. Almost at a standstill in mid-March, Mon petit coin vert, an e-commerce site for gardening boxes, gradually revived its activity in April, before seeing "sales multiplied by three between March and April" , says Robin Morvan, the co-founder, while the site has crossed the threshold of 2,000 subscribers.
Deconfinement: acclaimed bikes and scooters
Finally, deconfinement particularly benefits companies specializing in new forms of mobility, such as Green Riders, in Seine-Saint-Denis, which offers the rental and sale of electric scooters. "We are more than 40% compared to an average month", enthuses its founder Sena Adjovi, according to whom "the crisis has accelerated the growth of activity". And to analyze: "Customers are looking for a means of transport to be able to respect barrier gestures."
More than ever, the bicycle is also on the rise. Thus, at Go Sport, bicycle sales "have approached an increase of around 300%", testifies Benoît Legrand, network director of the retail chain, adding that up to 1,000 bikes can be sold in one week .