Amazon courts the French at farmers' markets as part of Project Ratatouille

The public relations campaign was named after the Pixar movie Ratatouille, about a rat who becomes a French chef. Credit: Film Stills

However, it has had to deal with local disputes, including a series of strikes over wages for French staff.

During the pandemic, the tech giant was ordered to stop non-essential supplies due to an April quarantine in France. 2020. The company was forced to close its warehouses in France and suspend operations for five weeks.

France has introduced laws to try to curb the growth of Amazon's online book sales and protect its home market of independent booksellers.

Regulations passed in 1981 prohibit book sellers from discounting books by more than 5%. In 2010, this rule was extended to e-books, and in 2014, free book shipping offers were banned.

Amazon got around this change by offering one-cent shipping, but in 2021, politicians introduced a minimum €3 shipping fee for online book orders.

“For more than two decades, we worked to earn the trust of our customers in France by contributing to their communities, providing good service and offering a wide selection at low prices, even as the cost of living has risen,” an Amazon spokesman told Bloomberg.

«Like many companies, we've always tried to share how we support the communities in which we operate.»