Broadband Internet spreading in French businesses

In January 2009, nearly all French businesses with ten or more employees had broadband Internet access. Nearly half of them (54%) had websites, on which 63% display their products or services. But only one-quarter of firms with websites offer online ordering. While the proportion of businesses with websites is stagnant, the percentage of extranet accesses have doubled in two years: by January 2009, one-third of French businesses had extranet services. E-purchasing by firms is twice as widespread as e-selling, at 26% versus 13% respectively in 2008. E-sales reached €365 billion in 2008, or 13% of total corporate sales. Three-quarters of e-sales were conduced via electronic data interchange (EDI). The €258 billion in e-purchases account for 15% of total corporate purchases.