The parapharmacy market - France

1.2 The European market

The European market is very diversified in terms of players present on the territory. In Europe, there are approximately ***.*** pharmacies. The countries with the most pharmacies are Turkey (***). 

France is right below the European average of *,***, with *,*** inhabitants per pharmacy.

Number of pharmacies per number of inhabitants in Europe Europe, ****, in units Source: ****

1.3 The French market

The French market for parapharmaceutical products reached more than * billion euros in ****, growing at a CAGR of approximately *,*% between **** and ****. [***]

National parapharmacy market France, ****-****, in billion $ CAGR: +*.*% Source: ****

Breakdown by types of products 

Quantity sold in the personal care products market France, ****, in million units Source: ****

However, within the French market of parapharmaceutical products, not all categories are growing at the same pace. Some categories are experimenting a strong growth, like Body hygiene (***). [***]

Annual variations of several parapharmaceutical products France, ****-****, in % Source: ****

Production

For the production part, we consider the data provided by Eurostat Prodcom under product codes ****, including ** distinct product categories, among which: make-up, manicure, and pedicure preparations, shampoos, dentifrices…. (***). It is important to note that all these products are sold in parapharmacies and therefore can be considered as parapharmaceutical products, but not only.

In ****, the national production of beauty, hygiene and well-being products reached *;** billion euros, **% more than in **** (***).

Breakdown of the production per type France, ****, in % of the production value Source: ****

National production of beauty, hygien and well-being products France, ****-****, in billion euros Source: ****

1.4 Imports and exports

International trade

Regarding international trade, we consider the data provided by UN Comtrade for Commodity code **** « Pharmaceutical products ». 

As the graph below shows, imports and exports of pharmaceuticals products have been rising in the past few years, before experiencing a drop in **** caused by the pandemic crisis and its consequences on international trade. 

Imports reached a value of ***.* million USD in ****, growing at a CAGR of *.*% between **** and ****. Similarly, exports rose at a CAGR of *.*%, and amounted to ***.* million USD in ****. 

The coverage rate fluctuates around **% and **%, showing a very high trade balance.

Evolution of imports and exports of pharmaceuticals products France, ****-****, in millions and % Source: ****

 Focusing on imports, France imports primarily from the Netherlands, which accounts for **.*% of the pie, Germany, with **.*% and Belgium, with **.*%. Other relevant countries are Italy (***).

Main origin countries of imports France, ****, in % Source: ****

Regarding exports destinations, France exports more than **% of its pharmaceutical products to Spain, and **.*% to Italy. Other important destinations are China, Hong Kong SAR with *.*% and the Netherlands, with *.*% of the pie.

Main destination countries of exports France, ****, in % Source: ****

1.5 Covid impact on the market

The COVID-** pandemic has had devastating effects on many markets and industries. Due to the nature of the virus (***) sanitary measures were put in place, the most significant of which were mandatory, government-mandated closures that kept people home and halted most economic activity.

Parapharmacies were one of the few sectors that experienced positive changes due to the pandemic. Their role gained importance significantly as primary distributors of masks, sanitary gels, thermometers, and so on.  The sales of these products alone brought in more than € *** million for parapharmacies. [***]

The pandemic also had positive consequences for the parapharmacy section of hypermarkets and supermarkets. According to Nielsen, in CAM to P* ****, the segment is growing by *.*%, thanks in particular to the explosion in sales.  The managing director of AC Marca-Ideal, which produces the Sanytol brand, the market leader in gel, explained that: "Before Covid, sales were running at about ***,*** units per week. There were peaks of several million a week and we're between ***,*** and ***,*** units now. The first aid segment as a whole has seen its sales soar thanks to alcohol, antiseptics, and thermometers."

Although pharmacies and parapharmacies remained open even during the harshest lockdowns, the fear of the virus and the government's suggestions ...

2.1 The consumption of beauty and well-being products in France

A large majority of parapharmaceutical products have a key role in the everyday life of customers: for instance, more than **% of French women use face care products (***). Most of the categories of parapharmaceutical products benefit from a strong usage rate, over **% in almost all cases.

Consumption of beaty, hygiene and well-being products France, ****, in % Source: ****

2.2 Purchase behavior for parapharmaceutical products

When it comes to purchasing behavior of parapharmaceutical products, most of the customers shop in pharmacies/parapharmacies in a mall (***). Only **% of customers shop in an independent pharmacy/parapharmacy.

Preferred chanel for buying pharmaceutical products France, ****, in % Source: ****

  Purchase frequency of baby products in parapharmacy France, ****, in % Source : Arcane Research   Purchase frequency of sun products in parapharmacy France, ****, in % Source : Arcane Research  

The purchase frequency is highly dependent on the type of products considered : for instance, baby products such as diapers or wipes are frequently purchased (***) ; on the contrary, sun products such a sunscreens are only bought every year for **% of customers.

2.3 Demand trends : dermocosmetics and organic products

Dermocosmetics

The dermocosmetics market is very much in vogue: worldwide, the dermocosmetics market has more than doubled over the last fifteen years. Western Europe accounts for the vast majority of this market with **% of the world value, and France is the *rd largest market behind Italy and Germany.

Pharmacies-parapharmacies play a central role in this boom in dermocosmetics, since these two distribution channels account for **% of skincare sales. [***]

Organic products

Over the past years, the penetration rate of organic cosmetics has been increasing constantly: in ****, only **% of women declared using organic cosmetics, and they were **% in ****. The main reasons given for the use of organic cosmetics are a concern over health, the effectiveness of the product, and a concern for the environment.

Penetration of organic cosmetics France, ****-****, in % Source: ****

Reasons to prefer organic cosmetics France, ****, in % Source : IFOP  

3.1 A wide range of players

The distribution of pharmaceutical products in France is split between different types of players:

Pharmacies Parapharmacies Hypermarkets and supermarkets Pure-players

Market shares per type of player

Market share by channel France, ****, in % of the market value Source: ****

Pharmacies remain leaders in the distribution of parapharmaceutical products, with **% of the market value in ****. They also keep growing faster than other distribution channels:

Source: ****

The market is dominated by pharmacy and parapharmacy networks

Almost all the pharmacies and parapharmacies in France are members of a network, but only **% of them are franchised. The networks and franchises can be either generalist or specialized (***). [***]

The main pharmacy and parapharmacy networks in France are the following:

Lafayette Conseil et Lafayette Pharmacie (***) Pharmabest Aprium Pharmacie Parashop (***) Scale effect and price competitiveness

One of the main advantages of pharmacy networks is a strong volume effect, allowing for unbeatable price competitiveness. For instance, Lafayette Conseil opened in **** in France the largest parapharmacy of the country, located in One Nation (***). The surface is * *** square meters and it offers more than ** *** product references, with strong price competitiveness thanks to its large scale: the managers of Para One declared that the products are sold approximatively **% to **% less than in a regular pharmacy ...

3.2 Online parapharmacy

Since ****, the sale of non-prescription drugs on the internet has been authorized in France. However, to date, only *.*% of the **,*** French pharmacies have an online platform. With the explosion of investments by mass distribution in the online drugstore market, this is expected to change radically, and the changes are already visible.

E-health has accelerated in recent months with the intervention of the State, which wishes to amend the health bill in order to relax the very strict supervision of the conditions for the online sale of drugs. The plan focuses in particular on e-prescription and the vital card on smartphones: in ****, the Ministry of Health launched an experiment with electronic prescription of drugs in order, ultimately, to improve the coordination of health professionals and compliance with treatments. With the same purpose, the vital card on the smartphone will be tested in the Rhône and the Alpes-Maritimes from summer **** for generalization by ****.

Although physical stores will always be present and e-commerce will never replace proximity to the pharmacist, the comfort and differentiation strategy of e-pharmacies will definitely play a role in the following years. This is especially true in cities where the density of pharmacies is high: services such as online ...

3.3 Companies and employees of the market

The range of activities linked to parapharmacies in France can be quite wide, as it goes from selling basic beauty products to selling OTC medicine. To capture these different activities, we can use the following categories for the national NAF classification:

**Z Retail sale of pharmaceutical products in specialized stores **Z : Retail sale of medical and orthopaedic articles in specialized stores **Z : Retail sale of perfumery and cosmetics in specialized stores

The activities **.**Z and **.**Z have experimented a strong growth over the past ten years, illustrated by a growth in number of employees and number of firms. On the contrary, the activity **.**Z faces a stagnation.

Employees and companies registered as **.**Z France, ****-**** Source: ****

Employees and companies registered as **.**Z France, ****-**** Source : ACOSS  Employees and companies registered as **.**Z France, ****-**** Source: ****

3.4 Geographical distribution

The following map shows the distribution of the companies relevant in the field of parapharmacies in France. As we can see, the Southern regions register the highest numbers of companies, and that Île de France registers the highest number of all. On the contrary, North-Western regions have a significant lower presence of companies under these NACE codes and so do some central regions.

Geographic distribution of companies registered as **.**Z, **.**Z, **.**Z

France, ****

Source: ****

Source: ****

4.1 A wide and diversified offer

The category of parapharmaceutical products includes a wide range of different types of products. Among the main sub-categories, we can find:

Makeup Body hygiene: shampoo, shower gel… Deodorants and antiperspirants Fragrances Oral care: toothpaste, toothbrush, mouthwash… Body care Nutritional products, among which food supplements Face care and treatments: these are often specialized by type of skin, with for instance anti-ageing products, anti-acne, dry skins… Somebody or face treatments are very close to medical products, with for example specific items for atopic skins. Baby care: diapers, wipes, liniment,… Sun products

Below is a breakdown of the parapharmacy sales by category of products. The face care and well-being products account for more than half of the market value, with respective shares of **,*% and **,*%. On the contrary, sun products represent a very low share of the value, due to a strong seasonality of the demand concentrated on the summer period. However, very different growth trends exist within the category, with baby products growing at +*,*% in value and hair care products declining by -*,*%. [***]

Breakdown of parapharmacy sales by type of products France, ****, in % of the market value Source: ****

Source: ****

4.2 Pricing within the category

Overall, the consumer price index for Hygiene, beauty and well-being products has been declining over the past few years: the index peaked at ***,** in ****, and reached ***,** in ****. It is interesting to note that this decrease in Consumer prices happened despite an overall rise in the Production price index, growing from ***,** in **** (***). [***]

Production price index of Fragrances and hygien products France, ****-****, index *** in **** Source: ****

  Consumer price index for Body hygien, beauty and well-being products France, ****-****, index *** in **** Source : INSEE   Consumer price index for pharmaceutical products France, ****-****, index *** in **** Source : INSEE  

5.1 The regulatory framework for food supplements

The European Union has established a series of regulations, through Directive ****/**/CE whose objective is to protect the health of consumers and to ensure transparency of information communicated on food supplements. This directive defines food supplements as food items whose purpose is to supplement the daily diet, constituting a source of nutrients with a nutritional effect and sold by doses.

Among the main provisions of this Directive are the following:

- Annex I lists the vitamins and minerals that may be added to food supplements.

- Annex II provides a list of sources from which Schedule I substances may be produced.

- Labeling and placing on the market requirements

This original Directive has since been amended by new legislation to refine the list of authorized products. For example, in ****, Regulation ****/**** adds organic silicon to the list of authorized products, after a scientific study concluded that this element does not present any health risk. The marketing of food supplements containing non-listed substances is totally prohibited.

5.2 The Cosmetic Regulation n°1223/2009 & REACH regulation

Regulation ****/****, known as the Cosmetics Regulation, is one of the main regulatory texts at the European level for the cosmetics market.

Designation of a responsible person

For each product placed on the market, companies must designate a Responsible Person (***). The Responsible Person can be the manufacturer, the importer if the manufacturer is outside the EU, the distributor or anyone else established in the EU. This Responsible Person will be both the point of contact for the authorities and the guarantor of the safety and conformity of the product.

Composition of the product

The Regulations establish a list of prohibited, restricted or permitted ingredients.

- Prohibited substances: mainly CMR substances (***).

- Restricted substances: there are *** restricted substances in the regulations, which may be used under very specific conditions such as maximum percentage use or purity of the substance.

- Allowed substances: *** food colorants allowed, ** food preservatives allowed, and ** UV filters allowed.

The Product Information File

For the product to be placed on the market, it is necessary to submit a dossier containing information on the product. This dossier must contain, among other elements, a description of the product, a report on the safety of the product, evidence of the effect claimed by ...

Nomenclature and Harmonized System of World Customs

The Harmonized System is an international nomenclature for the classification of products. It allows participating countries to classify traded goods on a common basis for customs purposes. At the international level, the Harmonized System (***) for classifying goods is a six-digit code system. [***]

The HS comprises approximately *,*** article/product descriptions that appear as headings and subheadings, arranged in ** chapters, grouped in ** sections. The six digits can be broken down into three parts. The first two digits (***).

The Harmonized System was introduced in **** and has been adopted by most of the countries worldwide. It has undergone several changes in the classification of products. These changes are called revisions and entered into force in ****, ****, ****, **** and ****. Detailed amendments to each HS nomenclature are available at attachment links below.

Source: ****

6.1 Segmentation of market players

6.2 Les principales enseignes de parapharmacies

Ci-dessous est présenté les principales enseignes de parapharmacies (***) sont très présentes dans la distribution des produits de parapharmacie en points de vente physique. En effet, ces acteurs ont l'avantage de disposer à travers leur réseau d'enseigne de distribution alimentaire d'une implantation locale sur l'ensemble du territoire national, qu'ils peuvent mettre à profit pour le secteur de la parapharmacie. 

• Parashop Diffusion
• Nocibé (Douglas Groupe)
• Weleda
• Pharmavie
• Giphar groupe
• Elsie Santé
• Lemoine Groupe
• Sanofi Aventis
• Pierre Fabre
• Eau Thermale d'Avène (Pierre Fabre Groupe)
• NAOS Bioderma
• Pharmazon
• Pharm Upp
• Objectif Pharma
• Mediprix
• Hygie 31- Laf Santé Lafayette
• Docmorris DoctiPharma
• Atida Santé Discount
• Paraland – BeautéLand
• Nepenthès