The call centre market in France

A call-center is an organization that combines human and technical resources to remotely manage the relationship between a company and its customers. The call flows managed are generally massive, and can be inbound (after-sales service, for example) or outbound (telephone prospecting). In reality, these call centers handle a wide variety of customer relations tasks , from technical assistance to complaints handling, not forgetting telemarketing.

However, with the impact of digitization and the rise of omnichannel customer relationship management (CRM), the terminology "call-center" is becoming increasingly inappropriate, and the term "contact center" is becoming more popular. Indeed, even if the telephone remains the most widely used medium, accounting for almost 80% of contacts in France, e-mails, SMS and social networks are gaining in importance. Call centers, or contact centers, are therefore no longer seen simply as huge "industrial" call centers, but increasingly as real experts in customer relations.

There are several call center models: either the company itself manages customer service, or it outsources this part to an external service provider. In the latter case, an independent company handles the various customer relations channels on behalf of major clients. In France and worldwide, 25% of call centers are currently outsourced to external service providers, but this proportion could well increase in the years to come. [National Assembly]. As an internal company department, the activities of internal contact centers are more difficult to analyze. An important part of our study will therefore focus on outsourced call-centers - which have, in fact, been enjoying considerable dynamism in recent years.

The major global players include market leader Téléperformance, followed by its American competitor Concentrix and others such as Atento and Alorica. The global market is growing fast, with the development of offshore and nearshore production zones driving down costs.

In France, the call center market - both internal and external - has seen a CAGR of 4.42% since 2015. This growth seems to be slowing down, however, withgrowth plateauing at 2.6% between 2022 and 2023. In the "outsourced customer relations" segment, France is Europe's third-largest market and one of the fastest-growing in Europe. More than half of all production for the French market is carried out in France. Nevertheless, the nearshore and, above all, offshore shares are growing fast and gaining ground. The market is concentrated around a few major players, such as Webhelp France and Majorel, although many smaller players are still present.