The Ultimate Guide to Navigating Cdiscount: France’s Leading E-commerce Platform
- 15 December 2023
With our Ultimate Guide to Navigating Cdiscount, you will learn about the main features and advantages of that marketplace. Join us as we unravel the potential of Cdiscount, showing you how to go through the account registration process, and optimize your presence for success in the thriving world of French e-commerce.
Introduction
Cdiscount stands as a beacon to connect with over 23 million potential customers. Based in Bordeaux, France, it’s a dynamic and thriving French e-commerce platform, founded in 1998 by a trio of Charle brothers: Nicolas, Hervé, and Christophe.
As of Q3 2023, Cdiscount is in Top 10 of the French e-commerce websites, reaching more than 16.5M monthly visitors, according to FEVAD (French national e-commerce association, including 600+ web stores). The platform sells about 100K various products, divided into 40 distinct categories, and its revenue is still growing as it exceeded 200M USD in 2021, and that’s a significant improvement over the 2019-2021 period.
This article’s aim is to present you with a comprehensive guide on Cdiscount and its main features. We’ll try to explore how useful it can be for you to leverage that e-commerce platform’s potential when you’ve got your own e-commerce business.
Understanding Cdiscount: An Overview
Founded in December 1998 by three brothers, Cdiscount started as a place for cultural products. However, its owners quickly learned how to ride the trends, and the platform opened to hi-tech and household appliances.
In 2000, Cdiscount became the subsidiary of Casino Group, a French retail giant, which had been operating since 1898. Casino Group is currently the second online powerhouse when it comes to online selling in France.
Main Features and Advantages of Cdiscount
With a diverse catalog spanning 40 general categories and 2000 subcategories, the platform provides sellers with a versatile space to connect with their target audience. The user-friendly interface and consistent development initiatives surely contribute to Cdiscount’s allure as a preferred choice for both sellers and consumers alike.
What’s more, Cdiscount’s reach does not end in France. It’s also well established in Belgium as well as in Colombia, Ecuador, and even Thailand. Thanks to the support from Casino Group, Cdiscount’s offers get additional boost through Casino Group’s regional campaigns and local banners. Therefore, it poses a great opportunity for e-commerce owners to try their luck on unexplored markets.
Some of key features Cdiscount supports are:
- EAN-matching product offers,
- cancelations,
- multiple shipping options,
- marketplace fulfillment services.
Setting Up Your Account: A Step-By-Step Guide
Before you start selling on Cdiscount, you will need to learn the basics of how to set up your own Cdiscount account. You will have to go through the verification process in order to start your journey on that marketplace.
First, let’s go through the account registration process. Follow our step-by-step guide to do it smoothly.
How to set up your Cdiscount account?
It is a really simple thing. You’ve got 2 options when asking the Cdiscount administrators for an account:
- doing it directly on their website,
- sending them an e-mail.
The first option is basically the fastest and the simplest, so let’s go through it step by step:
- Open the https://marketplace-registration.cdiscount.com/ website (you can change the language to English at the top of the page).
- Fill in the form:
- give your e-mail address,
- give your telephone number (for recovering lost passwords),
- use the drop-down menu to choose how you learned about Cdiscount.
- Go to your inbox and check your mail for the verification link.
- Once you click it, you will be moved to a more complex form where you will be asked to provide more specific information, such as your marital status or your position within your company.
Cdiscount Account Verification Process
When you’re done with setting up your Cdiscount account, it is now time for its verification.
There’s a list of documents you will need to provide as well if you wish to become a Cdiscount seller. The documents needed may vary, depending on the country in which your company is registered. Also, if you’re from Poland, for example, the documents should be translated into English before submitting them.
Another thing is that Cdiscount requires you to subscribe to Octopia. It’s Cdiscount’s complex solution for marketplace management.
You’ve got 30 days to submit the required documents once you verify email addresses for validity.
If you want to be successful on Cdiscount, you should learn how to browse through its items efficiently. Getting to know what others sell is crucial if one wants to find their niche on the marketplace.
How to browse through products and categories
Cdiscount has a lot of categories and subcategories. Searching for items by browsing more and more types of items is one way to do it. The advantage here is that you can get familiar with the general structure of the marketplace, but it can be bothersome for a longer run.
Cdiscount search bar
Another way is to use the search bar. Unfortunately, it’s very simplistic. You can type there any word you wish, and it will give you some results, but it’s much better to know the tags that the marketplace uses and recognizes.
Filter the results
Once you get your results, you can use extensive filters to narrow down your search. Cdiscount features a whole lot of filters that change depending on the category of products you’re looking at. For example, if you’re looking for a pillow, you will be able to filter your search results by size, material, type of pillow, color, price, or even the level of comfort.
Cdiscount Qualiscore
The Qualiscore is Cdiscount’s original algorithm. It’s a grading system from A to E, assigned to each offer based on quality criteria. These grades are used by that algorithm to control the visibility of the offers on the marketplace.
It’s hard to tell exactly how it’s being calculated, but it’s a mixture of high-quality product pictures, good keywords and engaging SEO product descriptions that make for a high Qualiscore in the end of the day.
This means that the products you will see at the top of your search results will definitely have high Qualiscore. You can use them as the examples for your future product pages, so that you will know what Cdiscount’s system prefers.
Making the Most of Your Shopping Experience
To optimize your experience while using Cdiscount, try following the strategies we talk about in this section.
Leverage Discounts and Special Offers
Discover the art of captivating vast Cdiscount’s audience by strategically utilizing discounts and special offers. Uncover insights on crafting compelling promotions that not only attract attention but also encourage conversion.
Explore ways to make your products irresistible (such as seasonal discounts, or exclusive deals) ensuring a memorable and rewarding shopping experience for your customers.
Comparing and Analysis of Product Opinions
Learn to leverage and analyze customer reviews effectively on Cdiscount. Uncover strategies for encouraging positive feedback and addressing concerns promptly.
Octopia Customer Review feature gives you a unique possibility to test your products by certain customers. Nearly 90% of customers prefer to test different products before they actually decide whether they want to pay for it. Thanks to Octopia Customer Review you will have access to valuable insights that will allow you to optimize your conversion rates.
Understanding Seller Policies and Customer Support
Navigating the Cdiscount Marketplace effectively entails a comprehensive understanding of the platform’s seller policies. Here are key guidelines that sellers need to be aware of:
- Tax Obligations: Revenues generated through Cdiscount Marketplace must be reported to the relevant tax authorities. Sellers are obligated to adhere to tax regulations, including potential social security contributions and membership in a social security scheme.
- Order Processing: All sellers are required to process their orders from the country they designate as their shipping country. In case of multiple shipping countries, the seller should set the country with the longest shipping time. Also, upon receiving an order, sellers must promptly process it within 2 business days.
- Target Audience Settings: Cdiscount Sellers have the option to tailor their customer base. There’s a “Publish” option Sellers may uncheck if they wish to sell their products only to private customers.
How to Use Customer Support and Solve Issues
Utilization of customer support is crucial for a seamless experience on Cdiscount. This is what you can do as a Cdiscount Seller to solve your problems while using the platform:
- Onboarding Support: During the initial month, an account manager is assigned to support sellers. This personalized assistance is designed to familiarize sellers with the workings of the Cdiscount marketplace.
- Contacting Sales Support: Sellers have the option to contact Cdiscount’s sales support team via two channels – calling the support team or submitting a support ticket through the Cdiscount Seller Area.
Secure Transactions and Payment Options
Cdiscount features a few payment methods for its customers. First of all, there’s a possibility to pay by debit/credit card (both Visa and Mastercard) and with vouchers. Secondly, you can also pay by PayPal, and last but not least – the platform lets the customers pay in installments (up to 4 installments), but this option is available only for items above 1000 Euros (about 1000 USD).
Secure Payments with Cdiscount
According to Cdiscount official privacy policy, the marketplace’s systems comply with the PCI DSS standard when it comes to payments. It’s a world-known card-payments security standard whose aim is to protect customers’ cards’ data and their personal information.
Cdiscount for Business: B2B Opportunity
Cdiscount offers decent B2B opportunities for those who would like to level up their e-commerce businesses with this French platform.
How can companies make use of Cdiscount?
Cdiscount offers premium subscription plans for those who would like to gain access to extra features and take their e-commerce businesses to a completely different level.
The picture above shows all the premium subscription plans available with Cdiscount. As you can see, they vary in terms of what they offer. Unicorn plan has the most in stock for you since it offers unique reports with such data as:
- customer behavior,
- share of sales you have made,
- sales period,
- the number of visits/orders categorized by the users’ devices,
- … and many others.
Going premium will also give Sellers a possibility to integrate their Cdiscount e-stores with Google Shopping which should greatly increase your products’ visibility.
Integrating Dealavo with Cdiscount
In Dealavo, we offer you a useful Cdiscount integration, which gives you unparalleled advatange in the world of e-commerce.
Dealavo – main features
Dealavo is a price monitoring tool with an advanced repricing function. It lets you easily manage your prices and gives you access to such features as:
- Dynamic Pricing – automate your pricing strategies with AI-enhanced algorithms,
- competition tracking – monitor your competitors’ pricing strategies to adjust to the market more precisely,
- data visualization – read and analyze plenty of data visualized in a clear and transparent way.
Conclusions
Cdiscount is a gateway to the French e-commerce market, offering a unique blend of opportunities and features. While it may not rival Amazon‘s popularity, Cdiscount stands as an accessible platform for new sellers, especially those looking to build brand recognition in the dynamic French market.
Although the account registration and verification process may seem a bit daunting, it’s still worth giving it a try.
