Rapid technological change has made the world today more connected and digital than ever. Digital platforms facilitate online connection and collaboration, playing an important role in the digital economy. Do companies need a digital platform to succeed? What are the advantages and disadvantages of this approach? How can businesses create compliant digital platforms in France?

This article addresses the most common questions about digital platforms. You will learn important concepts related to this type of platform and how Stripe can help you create one.

Key takeaways

• Digital platforms are dynamic online interfaces that act as intermediaries between parties to facilitate interactions, business transactions, and content sharing. Platforms do not provide the goods or services themselves.
  
• Digital platforms differ from traditional websites in the way they work and the connections they foster. Traditional websites display products sold by a single entity less interactively.
  
• There are many types of platforms on the French market. These range from marketplaces—such as Amazon and Cdiscount—to social media. Content distribution platforms, cloud services, and specialized businesses such as Doctolib, Airbnb, and BlaBlaCar also exist.
  
• Digital platforms are governed by French and European laws, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Digital Services Act (DSA), Digital Markets Act (DMA), and Security and Regulation of the Digital Space (SREN) law, which contain strict data management, transparency, and moderation requirements.
  
• There are several key steps to creating a platform. These include performing market research, defining the project or business model, choosing the technology, integrating various payment methods, complying with regulations, and developing a robust launch plan.
  

What is a digital platform?

Digital platforms are dynamic online interfaces designed to facilitate interaction, collaboration, and business transactions between parties in specific markets. Platforms act as intermediaries that foster connections and enable the exchange of information, content, goods, and services.

Social media, marketplaces, and cloud services are some of the most commonly used digital platforms in France.

What are the differences between digital platforms and websites?

Digital platforms offer access to content, goods, and services that they do not create. They function as intermediaries by posting products and facilitating interactions. Digital platforms offer businesses many benefits, including wider visibility and access to new markets via the platform’s network effects.

Conversely, traditional websites highlight information, services, goods, or content provided by a single entity. In general, websites are less interactive than digital platforms.

What are the different types of digital platforms in France?

There are many types of digital platforms in France operating in diverse industries, such as media, ecommerce, and cloud services. Each web platform has its own specialized features.

There are also specialized digital platforms, such as Uber and BlaBlaCar for transportation, Deliveroo in catering, Doctolib in health care, and Airbnb and Booking.com for lodging.

Note: Platforms usually earn money through a combination of commissions, subscriptions, sales of additional features, ads, and partnerships.

How are business activities on digital platforms regulated?

Multiple French and European legislative texts strictly regulate business activities on digital platforms. These include the Consumer Code, GDPR, DSA, DMA, and more recently, the SREN law.

If you are planning to launch a digital platform, you must do the following:

• Comply with the GDPR when collecting and processing personal data (e.g., include all legal information, maintain a written record of all processing, facilitate individual rights).
  
• Draft clear and transparent general terms of service for your platform.
  
• Create a listing contract that addresses the relationships between businesses and the platform (as applicable).
  
• Moderate content published on your platform.
  

What are the advantages and disadvantages of digital platforms?

Compared to traditional websites, digital platforms have a number of advantages for all parties concerned, including the following:

• Businesses can access new markets and increase visibility.
  
• The network effect the platform produces can facilitate interaction, connection, collaboration, and commerce among all parties.
  
• Data collected by the platform helps predict changes in demand and customer behavior. This can help the platform improve its algorithms and the relevance of its recommendations.
  
• Platforms are easily accessible using a mobile application or web browser and adapt to changes in internet users’ habits, which are increasingly turning toward m-commerce.
  
• Centralizing offers and processing payments directly on the digital platform helps simplify the sales process, which can increase productivity and customer satisfaction.
  

There are also disadvantages, which can include the following:

• Data security
  
• Technical maintenance
  
• Dependence on constantly changing algorithms
  

Launching a digital platform

Businesses that wish to create a digital platform must follow these steps: perform market research, define the project, choose the technology, integrate payment methods, ensure the platform is secure and compliant, develop a launch plan, and build a customer service plan.

Let’s take a closer look at the steps for creating a digital platform:

• Perform in-depth market research on buyers and sellers to confirm that the parties are having trouble connecting through existing channels.
  
• Define the parameters, such as the project, target market, desired platform type, and profit model.
  
• Choose the hardware and software needed to create an efficient, user-friendly platform.
  
• Offer multiple payment methods, such as Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) and payment in installments.
  
• Ensure that the digital platform is secure and legally compliant, since it will store users’ personal and payment information.
  
• Develop a strategic launch plan (e.g., content, communities, unified commerce) to attract initial visitors and retain sellers.
  
• Build a high-quality customer service plan.
  

How Stripe Connect can help

Stripe Connect orchestrates money movement across multiple parties for software platforms and marketplaces. It offers quick onboarding, embedded components, global payouts, and more.

Connect can help you:

• Launch in weeks: Use Stripe-hosted or embedded functionality to go live faster, and avoid the up-front costs and development time usually required for payment facilitation.
  
• Manage payments at scale: Use tooling and services from Stripe so you don’t have to dedicate extra resources to margin reporting, tax forms, risk, global payment methods, or onboarding compliance.
  
• Grow globally: Help your users reach more customers worldwide with local payment methods and the ability to easily calculate sales tax, VAT, and GST.
  
• Build new lines of revenue: Optimize payment revenue by collecting fees on each transaction. Monetize Stripe’s capabilities by enabling in-person payments, instant payouts, sales tax collection, financing, expense cards, and more on your platform.
  

Learn more about Stripe Connect, or get started today.

FAQs about digital platforms in France