Click and Collect Entry Regulation in the Grocery Retail Sector[Règlementation relative à l'entrée dans les magasins d'alimentation avec service « Click and Collect »]

Click-and-collect (C&C) services have rapidly expanded in the grocery retail sector, with consumers and retailers increasingly preferring them over delivery services. In France, the rise of C&C points prompted concerns among policymakers, leading to the implementation of a new entry regulation in 2014. This article examines the impact of this regulation on the opening of C&C warehouses. Using a difference-in-differences approach, we find that the legislation significantly hindered warehouse openings for the two leading retail chains. While the regulation similarly reduced the openings of both independent and adjacent warehouses, we show that independent warehouses are more likely to reduce local market concentration than adjacent ones. As a result, the law may have inadvertently harmed competition.