French online Christmas budget seen down 2 percent from a year ago

PARIS (Reuters) - French shoppers plan to spend less online on average this Christmas, the country's e-Commerce Federation (Fevad) said on Tuesday, amid caution in view of a still struggling economy and elections next year. France's gross domestic product (GDP) rebounded less strongly than expected in the third quarter with a 0.2 percent rise, as consumer spending stalled. Shoppers are expected to spend an average 195 euros online for Christmas presents, down 2 percent from a year ago, Fevad said in a statement. However, online Christmas retail sales are expected rise around 10 percent year-on-year to reach over 13.5 billion euros ($14.35 billion), as French shop online more frequently. This would lift total online retail sales in France to over 71 billion euros in full-year 2016 from 64.9 billion in 2015, Fevad Director General Marc Lolivier told Reuters. France is ranked as the fifth biggest e-commerce market worldwide. In Europe, only Britain is bigger. In 2015, e-commerce represented an estimated 7 percent of retail sales in France. ($1 = 0.9411 euros) (Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; Editing by Maya Nikolaeva)