INTERVIEW
"Leboncoin is a lung and a faithful barometer of the life of the French", estimates Antoine Jouteau, general manager of the Leboncoin group, commercial announcements website. Interviewed by Europe 1 on Tuesday, he reported a real boom in audiences and announcements since April. "There was a drop in activity at the start of the containment, and since April, we have had significant growth," he continues, saying that the site has been breaking records for three weeks, with nearly 20 million visits. daily and 30 million ads exceeded for the first time. "This is a sign of an economic and social recovery, and we can all rejoice in it."
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"An automatic catch-up effect"
For many French people, "confinement was an opportunity to tidy up his house," explains Antoine Jouteau, justifying the growing number of ads that appear on the site. However, the director general of the Leboncoin group believes that these audience records are mainly explained by "an automatic catch-up effect", which several sectors, including the automotive industry, are experiencing. "Overall, there is an economic recovery appearing in fashion, home, real estate and the automobile," said Antoine Jouteau, emphasizing the latter two sectors and referring to a "vigorous recovery".
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Explosion and evolution of real estate research
As for real estate, research has evolved since confinement. If many players in the sector have already seen it, Leboncoin is not to be outdone. According to its director general, there is "a desire of the French to have exteriors, balconies, gardens, swimming pools, with an explosion of requests on these subjects". Here, Antoine Jouteau evokes a growth of 40% on this research.
Furthermore, the latter also notes an enlargement of the search radius. "The French living in Île-de-France have increased their radius by 100 kilometers, which shows that they are ready to move away," analyzes the site director, interpreting this by opening up to new places to live, "especially medium-sized cities, not too far from big cities" for which research is experiencing growth of 30 to 40%.
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30 to 50% growth on vacation rentals
The French often ignore it, but Leboncoin is also a major operator of vacation rentals. Last year, "four million French people went on vacation via Leboncoin," says Antoine Jouteau. Holidays whose idea, this year, has been slow to germinate in the minds of the French, because of the measures put in place to stop the spread of the Covid-19. "The French were waiting to see what the starting conditions were, but today they are good since the 100-kilometer rule has been lifted," he added.
Also, since the announcements relating to the second phase of deconfinement, the French are less shy. "We are talking about 30 to 50% additional growth compared to last year," enthuses Antoine Jouteau, who notes a real desire on the part of the French to go to France. "Since Leboncoin is a French platform with a French audience, there is really a meeting of supply and demand on the platform."