PARIS (Reuters) – The French government has set at least three euros, all taxes included, the cost of shipping books for any order less than 35 euros, the ministries of finance and culture announced on Friday.
This decision stems from the law of December 30, 2021 aimed in particular at protecting the country’s 3,000 or so independent bookstores from e-commerce giants.
Since 2014, shipping costs could not be free but Amazon, followed by other groups such as Fnac, limited them to 0.01 euro.
The minimum amount of 3.00 euros is the result of negotiations between the two ministries and the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Communications, Posts and Press Distribution (Arcep).
“Arcep’s proposal strikes a balance between achieving the objective set by the legislator and preserving the book market”, reads the press release from Bruno Le Maire and Rima Abdul-Malak.
“The price of 3 euros, commonly applied for the delivery of other products, does not appear to be a deterrent for buyers and the threshold of 35 euros favors the grouping of orders, a virtuous gesture in terms of ecological transition”, add the ministers.
The Syndicate of the French bookstore, which campaigned for a price closer to 5.00 euros, expressed its disappointment in a press release entitled “The account is not there”.
“The thresholds adopted will lead booksellers to continue to sell systematically at a loss if they send books to their customer’s home”, he writes, estimating the net loss at 3.00 euros on average on the sending of a book. paperback or a comic book, up to 3.50 euros for a large-format book.
PURCHASING POWER
“At the moment with the problems of purchasing power, it’s a delicate decision but booksellers have a special place in the hearts of the French,” Laure Darcos, senator Les Républicains at the origin of the text of the text, told Reuters. original law. “Never would we have imagined a few years ago that we would be twisting the arm of the e-commerce giants in this way.”
Questioned by Reuters, Amazon repeated the arguments transmitted to Arcep last spring, which underline the “major inflationary effect” of an increase in the cost of shipping for readers, “in particular those who live far from the points of physical sale and have no other alternative”.
The American giant adds that 46% of the deliveries purchased via its site are purchased by residents of municipalities with less than 10,000 inhabitants.
Amazon deplores the “additional cost” represented, while more than 400 million books are sold each year in France, including 17% online, according to a Kantar TNS Sofres study for the Ministry of Culture.
The minimum pricing will be compulsory for all sellers of new books, with no possible derogation via loyalty programs, the Ministry of Culture told Reuters.
The purchase of a book with other products will also require the payment of three euros. From 35 euros of purchase of books, a delivery at one cent will be possible.
France will notify the European Commission of a draft order for an opinion. The pricing will come into effect within six months of the publication of the order.
(Report Elizabeth Pineau with the contribution of Geert de Clercq and Jean-Stéphane Brosse, edited by Sophie Louet and tangi Salaün)