Ecommerce is still a relatively young shopping medium in France, with less than half of the country's population making purchases on the web, according to recent data from research companies Fevad and Mediametrie. However, retailers in the country are quickly adopting mobile devices as parts of their ecommerce strategy.

A separate report from CCM Benchmark suggests that nearly half of French retailers have mobile-optimized sites or applications. Forty-five percent of respondents said they had some sort of presence tailored to these devices, compared to the mere 22 percent who answered the same during the first quarter of 2011. An additional 19 percent also plan to launch a mobile app or site sometime this year.

"IPhones are the top smartphones used in mobile commerce, according to the study – accounting for two-thirds of mobile sales for the companies surveyed," Internet Retailer adds, citing the research. "Therefore, most businesses that are launching apps are focusing on the iPhone. However, smartphones using Google's Android operating system are on the rise in France, the study says."