On the screen, a slightly shaky plane appears. The camera is riveted on the blue and white logo of the Action sign, screwed to the entrance of a huge hangar in the Paris region. In the background, Razika greets her subscribers in a warm voice, and even dedicates her video to a certain Linda, whom she met the day before while shopping. “And let’s go for an Action video!”, she says, playfully. Like almost every day, this mother films her wanderings in the corridors of the store, listing the prices of decorations, household appliances, clothing, cleaning products or creative hobbies that pile up on the shelves. “Today, it will be a kitchen and table theme”, she warns on this Thursday morning, filming coffee cans at less than 2 euros each, sets of knives at 2.99 euros or filter jugs at 9.99 euros. In about fifteen short and clear plans, the YouTuber hunts the slightest promotion, without forgetting to advise her fans. “I’ve had it for four years, and it’s very practical for not forgetting the cooking of your fries”, she confides, pointing to a digital cooking timer at 2.99 euros, before explaining how to put the small zero machine.
Just hours after his video was uploaded to YouTube, 5,000 people have already viewed it. Razika’s channel, soberly titled “Mes secrets de Nana”, is a great success: created four years ago, it has more than 310,000 subscribers. “I share the arrivals of Action, my good plans, the products I prefer… And it works”, says this Francilienne, who goes at least once a day to one of the brand’s stores to go there. make their videos. She now has time: following maternity leave, she never resumed her work as a civil servant in the town hall. Because if the YouTuber does not want to reveal her income, she says that the success of her channel is enough to finance her daily life. Although Action does not pay him any salary, some of his posts have been viewed more than 400,000 times, and have contributed to the development of his popularity. “But beyond that, for me, Action… It’s magic,” insists Razika. “We tell ourselves that we are going to arrive in a simple bazaar, but we always discover new things, for only a few euros”.
The success of the Dutch brand, which landed in France in 2013, is striking. On Facebook, dozens of groups stamped “Action Addict” invite their many members – sometimes more than 600,000 people – to share their decoration ideas, their finds or their good plans. In ten years, 650 stores have opened across the country, more than a quarter of the 2,000 European stores owned by the brand. The group, which refuses to communicate on its national figures, nevertheless indicates that 12 million European customers cross the door of its blue and white hangars every week – against 9 million last year -, and that France remains “its first market “. Still unknown a few years ago, Action even became the third favorite brand of the French in 2022, according to the annual EY Parthenon study. Located just behind the behemoths Leroy Merlin and Decathlon, the brand has thus made “remarkable progress”, underline the authors of the document. Action did not appear until 2020 in the top 10 favorite stores of the French (9th place), before climbing to 7th place in the ranking in 2021. According to EY Parthenon, three criteria would “very clearly” distinguish the in the eyes of consumers: its value for money, the experience in the stores and the proximity of the latter. “Action manages, year after year, to increase its number of customers, while increasing the rate of fans” among them, it is underlined.
Multiple savings system
To seduce the French, the brand relies above all on its prices. Action affirms that the average price practiced on its products is lower than 2 euros, while more than 1800 references are offered at less than one euro. Despite almost daily visits to the shops in her region, Razika thus ensures that she only spends between 50 and 80 euros on products each month. “I don’t really know how they do it, but it’s always cheaper than elsewhere,” says the discount specialist. Laura Carbone, director of communication for the group in France, explains. “We are based on a system of multiple savings which, put together, allow us to offer a fairer price”, she summarizes.
Like in hard discount food stores, the shape and very operation of the shops is designed to save as much cost as possible. At Action, there are no stores in the city center, but rather warehouses of 800 to 1,200 square meters located in the heart of commercial areas, where rents are much lower. No parquet floor or music in the background either – and therefore no rights to pay to Sacem -, and no employees dedicated to the cash register or shelving either. “In our stores, everyone is versatile, even the managers,” slides Laura Carbone. Stocks are traded at European level, leaving wide margins for negotiation to the Dutch group. From a logistical point of view, the firm uses double trucks, allowing the transport of 60% of additional goods, stored in four gigantic distribution centers throughout France. “A truck can deliver to three stores every day, which represents a very significant saving,” underlines the communications director. Beyond the price, Action has bet on the loyalty of its consumers, setting up a “treasure hunt” system: each week, 150 to 200 new products are removed and replaced from the shelves, creating both for the customer a certain expectation of renewal and an anguish of arriving “too late”.
“I quickly get tired of my decoration, I like to renew, look for, replace everything for a few euros”, testifies Siham, follower of Razika’s videos and products offered by Action. This 27-year-old nurse admits having abandoned the brand’s direct competitors, such as La Foir’Fouille or Gifi, which have become “too expensive” for her. With a budget of around 100 euros per month for her candles, wooden frames or table accessories, she confides that she counts on this “only pleasure” to take her mind off things between working days and paying bills. “Between their new products and the big brands they offer at bargain prices, I find my account there”. For others, frequenting the brand has even become necessary to make ends meet. “On 50 or 60 cents saved on each shower gel or household product, that’s 10 euros earned at the end of the month. And me, it allows me to buy more food for my boy, or allow me to go out “, confides Peggy in front of the doors of the Lens store, in Hauts-de-France. In a situation of disability, this Northerner can only count on her husband’s salary to support her small family. “Everything has increased, so it’s nice to see that here we can still afford to buy deodorant without feeling guilty”.
“It is no longer considered shameful”
For others, a visit to Action has simply become a good way to spend time with family, while bringing home new “good deals”. “We go there at least once a month, we find everything”, say Françoise, Béatrice and Manola, three sisters in their fifties who came to spend their morning in the Lens store. “I feel that my purchasing power is falling, but that’s not the only reason. Why would I go and buy a plate for six euros, when I find it at 99 cents here?” Says one of them before sinking into the shelves, delighted.
Of course, Action does not exactly celebrate “made in France”, even if for some time now, the brand has been trying to communicate about the origin and quality of its products. “Half come from Europe, the other from Asia, particularly China,” admits Laura Carbone, who makes a point of specifying that each reference offered respects the quality charter put in place by the company. “We have more than nine labels in our assortment, such as the organic label, UTZ for coffee, BCI for textiles, FSC for wood… And by 2025, we are aiming for 100% recycled packaging”.
For Vincent Chabault, sociologist and author ofStore praise (Gallimard, 2020), these consumption standards are not, in any case, those sought by Action’s customers. “Responsible consumption remains partial and very much in the minority. Customers combine more reasonable attitudes, particularly in food, with more polluting behavior in decoration or textiles”. For him, the success of Action illustrates above all the renewed interest of the French for bazaars and bargains, whatever their socio-professional category or their consumption habits. “Prices are of course of interest, but not only. Going to Action is not an activity reserved for customers of the working classes, and it is no longer considered shameful,” he explains. For him, consumption is thus a language, which makes it possible to show his belonging to a certain category of society. “We show that we can do like everyone else and afford to decorate our house. Or we show that, regardless of the salary that falls at the end of the month, we are still able to make good deals”, specifies the sociologist, quoting the American businessman Bernardo Trujillo: “The poor need low prices, and the rich love it”. A model that seems to be working for the brand: since 2017, Action has doubled its turnover in Europe, going from 3.4 billion euros five years ago to 6.8 billion for the year 2021.