The concierge market - France

1.2 A booming global market

A **** study by Spherical Insights notes this trend towards outsourcing daily tasks to concierge services by a growing affluent clientele. It estimates that this market will be worth $***.* million in ****, and is expected to grow at a CAGR of *.*% over the period ****-****. Concierge services market Worldwide, ****-****, in millions of dollars Source: ****

This rise in demand is mainly driven by the willingness of high-income earners to outsource everyday administrative tasks to concierge services. Other factors, such as work-life imbalance and lack of available time, are also having a definite impact on the market.

The "Cafés Hôtels Restaurants & Divertissement" segment accounts for over two-thirds of the concierge market. The remaining third can be included in the "Transportation" category, and consists of ensuring the smooth transportation of customers from one place to another, whether they are traveling for personal or business reasons.

Geographically, North Americaremains the dominant region worldwide, with a market share of over **% (***). This is due to a growing desire on the part of the population to increase their leisure time by outsourcing tasks seen as tedious.Asia-Pacific is set to drive global growth. The region will be driven mainly by countries such as China, Japan and Singapore. ...

1.3 A growing national market

The concierge market France, ****-****, in millions of euros Source: ****

The concierge market doubled between **** and ****, from a value of ** million euros to ** million euros. The market has then grown at a much slower pace since ****, due in particular to a very large number of players and the resulting trend towards concentration and bankruptcies. The slowdown is particularly marked for small structures (***) would have fared slightly better, with *% growth per annum.

This growth has been mainly driven by the significant number of concierge service openings, and after the concentration movement, the market could find a second wind in a value-enhancing dynamic, with a retreat from the price battle and the development of high-end offerings.

In ****, the luxury concierge market enjoyed a new lease of life thanks to its "travel" business. Indeed, the latter has seen strong growth with the recovery of tourism following the confinements associated with the global epidemic. This is particularly true of Premium Conciergerie, whose sales are expected to rise by ** to **% in **** compared to the previous year. Travel-related concierge services account for ** to **% of sales. [***]

1.4 The significant impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the concierge market

Private concierge services, particularly at the top end of the market, have suffered greatly from the Covid-** crisis. These companies provide their customers with a wide range of leisure-related services, such as travel, shows and private events. However, with the generalized lockdown, these activities had to come to an end, disrupting the conciergerie business in the process.

The founder of Premium Conciergerie, a high-end concierge service, explains that he had to say no to customers for the first time during the containment period. The business has transformed from requests for luxury entertainment to more mundane requests for everyday things like shopping. As the concierge service is very popular with footballers, a significant part of its business was dedicated to finding sports equipment so that its customers could train despite the confinement. However, these lower value-added requests have an impact on the sales of the company, which normally benefits from commissions from its usual partners. [***]

Other players have seen their business radically transformed when they took part, in their own way, in the fight against the virus. Wartner, a laundry specializing in luxury hotels, has developed a digital concierge service for caregivers at the Assistance publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, along with a ...

2.1 B2C demand in the process of democratization

Traditional customers of concierge services, particularly luxury concierge services, have very substantial financial resources. This is a particularly expensive service, since concierge services have to be available **/* and work to very tight deadlines.

Private concierge services have to meet the sometimes unusual demands of their customers. Jérémy Vosse, founder of Premium Conciergerie, recounts, for example, how one of his clients wanted to arrive at her wedding on the back of a unicorn. His company had to find the horse, dye it and fit it out in four days. He also explains that most of his customers are soccer players. The most common requests are for reservations at Michelin-starred restaurants, vacation planning, shopping, wedding proposals and birthdays.[***]

However, for several years now, concierge companies have been catering not only to the needs of the wealthiest individuals, but also enabling everyone to have a touch-up done, call a plumber, book a massage, find domestic help, change their passport, have their dog looked after or organize their next vacation. This democratization of the market opens the door to an improvement in the market penetration rate, with concierge services becoming an everyday service for many French people. [***]

More and more people are also ...

2.2 Difficulty reconciling work and personal life and widespread Internet access as drivers of demand

The demand for concierge services is reinforced by the difficulty of the working population, particularly executives, to find a balance between their professional and personal lives. In addition, widespread access to the Internet offers concierge services, particularly digital ones, an increasingly large and diverse customer base.

The difficulty of reconciling professional and personal life

Do you find it difficult to reconcile your professional and personal life? France, ****-****, in % Source: ****

The number of people finding it difficult to reconcile work and personal life has risen by * points since ****.

With this in mind, many concierge services are developing a value proposition based on saving time. Indeed, by working hand-in-hand with companies, concierge services can offer a wide variety of services directly in the workplace. These services can range from florists and dry cleaners to fresh produce baskets. This saves the worker time spent commuting to and from the various shops, and enables him or her to go straight home at the end of the working day. In the same way, local or digital concierge services help their customers to save time by taking care of administrative formalities and finding medical personnel or cleaning staff for the home.

A **** Sodexo report highlights the ...

2.3 As a result, the rise of B2B demand to satisfy company employees

Faced with the emergence of startups and the development of new ways of working and getting involved with the company on a daily basis, many companies are looking to offer new services to their employees. As employees find it increasingly difficult to balance their personal and professional lives (***), companies are looking for ways to make their lives easier. Concierge services figure prominently among the programs on offer, as they make it easier for workers to organize their lives by reducing the travel time needed to obtain various goods and services, and the time needed to find professionals.

As a result, "office of the future" real estate complexes always incorporate a concierge service dimension to free employees' minds from ancillary tasks and help them concentrate serenely on their work. In Saint-Ouen, for example, the So Pop building, renovated by Covivio, promotes a new way of working, with a catering area that can be converted into a workplace as the day progresses, a Click & Collect area, a bar and café open all day long, and a "cafeteria" open to the public.teria open all day, a ***-square-meter fitness area, an ***-square-meter rooftop restaurant, wi-fi access and, of course, a concierge service. [***]

For employers, ...

2.4 Audience analysis

Audience breakdown by age France, ****, %, %, %, %, %, %, %, %, %, %, %, % Source: ****

Audience analysis of the market studied shows a major concentration in the **-** age bracket, which represents **.**% of the total audience, followed by the **-** and **-** age groups with **.**% and **.**% respectively. These proportions differ significantly from those of the French population, where the most represented age group is ** and over with **.**%. The ** and over age bracket is less represented in the audience of the market studied compared to the French population. Audience breakdown by gender France, ****, % of total audience Source : Semrush Analysis of audience data for the market studied shows an uneven breakdown by gender. Women represent a majority with **.**% of the total audience, while men account for a slightly lower share with **.**%. This trend indicates that the market may be more attractive or accessible to women, but is still significant for men. Audience breakdown by gender and age France, ****, % of total Source : Semrush Analysis of the data shows that women represent the majority of the audience in the market studied, across all age groups. They are particularly present in the **-** (***) age brackets. However, their presence decreases slightly in the intermediate age brackets. In comparison, men account for a smaller share of the ...

3.1 A wide variety of value propositions among concierge services

There are a wide variety of concierge business models. Even if these categories are not exclusive, it is possible to distinguish four main types of player in this market.

Corporate concierge services

A corporate concierge service is a set of day-to-day services made available to company employees at their place of work. These services may include dry-cleaning, ironing or clothing alterations, shoemaking, personal parcel delivery, the sale of stamps, newspapers or bread, beauty or wellness treatments (***) or any other service to facilitate employees' personal lives. [***]

A corporate concierge service should therefore be located in business districts such as La Défense or the *th arrondissement. [***]

Private concierge services

A private concierge is a service offered to private individuals to make their daily lives easier by managing services such as key delivery, housekeeping, administrative formalities and childcare. While this type of service was traditionally reserved for the more affluent segments of the population, it is now tending to be democratized, thanks in particular to the development of digital technology.

A private concierge service would do well to set up in the heart of a city, to reach urban customers with a potentially greater appetite for this kind of service. [***]

Digital concierge ...

3.2 Concentration in the concierge market

After strong growth between **** and ****, the concierge sector has experienced more difficulties. The proliferation of players has heightened competition and led to a simultaneous movement of bankruptcies and concentrations. This movement is also due to the low margins on the market, with an average net profitability of *.*% in ****, which is pushing players to join forces to achieve synergies and economies of scale.[***]

Bankruptcies

Since ****, the list of conciergeries that have gone bankrupt is very long: ZK Haute Conciergerie, Société Lyonnaise de services aux particuliers, Extra Time Conciergerie, Private Conciergerie Management, Conciergerie Services, Todolist Conciergerie, Eden Conciergerie, Essentiel Conciergerie, JMGP Conciergerie Services, To Do Today... It is possible to explain this situation both this situation can be explained both by cyclical factors, with less dynamic economic growth, and by management problems, with poor strategic positioning or insufficient financial resources to manage day-to-day concierge services.

Mergers

To avoid having to close their doors, many players have opted for mergers and acquisitions. This type of operation enables them to reach a critical size to achieve economies of scale in terms of resources and synergies. In Brittany, for example, Les Conciergeries Rennaises absorbed My Loge.

Companies in other sectors have also decided to diversify ...

3.3 An ecosystem built on numerous partnerships

As private concierge services, market players act as intermediaries between private individuals and professionals capable of providing the requested service. Their success therefore depends on the quality of their network of partners and the ease with which they can interact with other structures.

Premium Conciergerie, a high-end concierge service specializing in the world of luxury and soccer, recently made its mark by announcing that it had integrated Virtuoso, a highly select American network of travel agencies. This collaboration enables Premium Conciergerie customers to benefit from numerous advantages when traveling around the world, such as an exclusive selection of hotels and preferential air services. [***]

Similarly, Lulu dans ma rue has developed a partnership with Société Générale. Parisian customers taking out home insurance are entitled to €** worth of Lulu services. This partnership enables the startup to make a name for itself and the bank to offer more services to its customers. [***]

Finally, supermarket chains are seeking to diversify their offer and build customer loyalty by offering a more varied range of services that go beyond the simple product. Carrefour Auteuil, for example, has teamed up with To Do Today to launch a concierge service offering a wide range of services ...

4.1 Types and prices of concierge services

Source: ****

The preferred pricing model seems to be subscription. It offers the advantage of recurring cash flow for the concierge service and, for the customer, rapid availability without having to sign up for each new need. This model is particularly relevant to corporate concierge services, since companies pay for the concierge subscription, and employees pay only for the services they require.

However, other players operate differently. Lulu dans ma rue, for example, offers à la carte pricing, with prices ranging from €* to €** per half-hour, depending on the service requested. The startup offers a wide range of services, including DIY, housework, ironing, maintenance, IT help... [***]

4.2 Market innovation requires technology and a trade-off between specialization and diversification

New technologies at the service of concierge services

Concierge services seek to know their customers' tastes and preferences as well as possible, in order to offer them the right services. Artificial intelligence (***). Other startups, such as Wiidii, use AI in the form of chatbots to handle even the simplest requests, thus saving time and resources. [***]

Specialization as a key market innovation

High-end concierge services are, by definition, aimed at wealthy or even extremely wealthy customers. However, having realized that they do not have the same needs as businessmen or footballers, some players have specialized in a precise market niche.

This is the case of Premium Conciergerie, which offers a service called Premium FC for footballers. The agency explains that it has in-depth knowledge of the lifestyles and constraints of top-level footballers, and offers them a tailor-made service. This includes permanent availability, a dedicated concierge, deferred payments, exclusive invitations, specialists and a *-minute response time to the slightest request. The concierge service also provides household staff such as cleaners and cooks.

In parallel, the company offers a service called Premium V.I.C. to customers of the most prestigious luxury companies. This service, for example, assists in the management and organization of ...

4.3 Specialization trends include the development of concierge services for Airbnb

The Airbnb rental market in major French cities

The world leader in vacation rentals, the Airbnb platform offers numerous accommodations in French cities, and even generates its second-highest sales in the Hexagone. The latter has seen strong growth over the past few years, as evidenced by the increase in the number of homes being rented out.

Airbnb France sales France, ****-****, in millions of euros Source: ****

Customized concierge services

Concierge services for Airbnb correspond to the various concierge services aimed at owners of the platform who do not wish to manage arrival and departure arrangements and potential interactions with tenants. These services are therefore outsourced to specialized companies, which perform different types of tasks: arrival and departure management, contact with travelers, maintenance of accommodations, ad management, sometimes even optimal pricing on the site... This new type of service is aimed primarily at Airbnb timeshare owners, i.e. individuals/companies offering several accommodations simultaneously on the platform. As mentioned above, the number of Airbnb timeshare owners is increasing, and therefore represents a strong potential for growth.

Source: ****

5.1 Regulations governing concierge services

To date, there is no legal definition of "private concierge". However, private concierge services do have a legal existence and a legislative framework, depending on the professions they include in their services.

The concierge function is restricted to its APE code, under penalty of tax sanctions, and to the principle of intermediation. For example, when a concierge "provides" a "personal services" type of service, he or she cannot introduce staff himself or herself. Instead, he or she must introduce an approved professional who has himself or herself hired dedicated staff as a subcontractor or service provider. This subcontractor is himself subject to the collective bargaining agreement for his branch.

Every concierge issues a framework contract with his or her customer, setting out the scope of services to be provided. Special conditions may be set out in riders. Nevertheless, it is important for the customer to check the nature of the subcontractor. This is particularly important in cases where the customer is likely to become the employer of the personnel presented to him (***). With the help of the APE code and these contractual conditions, customers can get a clear idea of the range of services they can expect from their private ...

6.1 Player segmentation

• Easylife
• Jours de Printemps Conciergerie
• Flying 7 Air
• MYConcierge
• John Paul
• To Do Today
• Groombox
• Wiidii
• Lulu dans ma rue
• Premium Conciergerie
• Conciergering
• Jana-Concierge
• Welcome at work
• Circles
• La Minut'Rit
• Les Clefs d'Or
• Ma Conciergerie
• Quatre epingles
• Zenetbien