The share of French TPE-PMEs with a website decreased from 70% in 2024 to 61% in 2025, according to the Afnic study “Succeeding with the Web.” This decline occurs as the adoption of generative AI accelerates within these same organizations. Growing a business in the digital age is no longer just about “going digital”: it requires measuring what is progressing, what is stagnating, and what is declining to make informed investment decisions.
Online Presence of TPE-PMEs: Figures That Contradict the Prevailing Discourse
Digital transformation guides often assume that digitalization progresses linearly. Recent data tells a different story.
| Indicator | 2024 | 2025 | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Share of TPE-PMEs with a website | 70 % | 61 % | Afnic |
| Online presence (all forms) | – | 64.6 % | Baromètre France Num |
The Baromètre France Num 2025 confirms this plateau with 64.6% online presence across all forms. It is no longer a question of acceleration, but of understanding the reasons why some small businesses are falling behind.
Several hypotheses circulate: the cost of maintaining websites, difficulty in generating qualified traffic, competition from social networks as the main channel. The common point is a lack of structured digital strategy. Without measurable objectives, a website becomes a burden rather than a lever.
For leaders looking to structure their approach, discovering the Business Intelligent site provides access to resources focused on business development and digital management.
Generative AI in SMEs: Rapid Adoption, Gains Still Unclear
Generative AI is the most recent disruptive factor in the digital transformation of businesses. Its adoption has exploded since 2023, but operational results remain difficult to quantify for the majority of organizations.
A Still Largely Opportunistic Use
SMEs using generative AI primarily do so for one-off tasks: content writing, document summarization, customer service assistance. Integration into business processes remains marginal.
The Banque de France has observed a rapid spread of AI in French companies, while noting that measurable productivity gains are slow to materialize. This gap between adoption and profitability deserves attention before making massive investments.
What Distinguishes SMEs That Benefit from It
- They identify a specific process to optimize before choosing a tool, rather than testing AI “just to see.”
- They train the employees directly involved in the targeted process, rather than offering generic training to the entire team.
- They measure a concrete indicator before and after deployment (processing time, error rate, volume processed) to validate or abandon the tool.
Without a defined performance indicator in advance, generative AI becomes an additional cost rather than a development accelerator.
Digital Regulation: NIS 2 and DSA Change Business Obligations
The regulatory dimension is largely absent from traditional digital transformation guides. It is becoming a full-fledged management parameter for companies operating online.
NIS 2 Directive and Cybersecurity
The European NIS 2 directive significantly expands the scope of companies subject to cybersecurity obligations. SMEs that were not previously covered by the previous framework are now included, particularly in the logistics, agri-food, or digital services sectors.
NIS 2 imposes technical and organizational measures whose non-compliance exposes companies to financial penalties. For an SME, this means budgeting for cybersecurity as a recurring expense, not as a one-off project.
Digital Services Act and Platform Responsibility
The DSA (Digital Services Act) changes the rules for content moderation and advertising transparency for companies using online platforms. Brands selling through marketplaces or running targeted advertising must adapt their compliance practices.
The DSA also applies to SMEs that use programmatic advertising, not just large platforms. Checking the compliance of advertising partners is now part of routine management.
Digital Strategy: Arbitrating Between Channels Rather Than Activating Everything
The classic reflex is to multiply digital channels: website, social networks, newsletter, marketplace, application. This approach disperses the resources of small structures without guaranteeing a return.
The decline in the web presence of TPE-PMEs illustrates this problem. Maintaining a high-performing website requires a regular budget (hosting, updates, content creation, SEO). A company with limited resources benefits from focusing its efforts on one or two mastered channels rather than maintaining five mediocre presences.
The choice of channel depends on the business model. A local B2B company often derives more value from an optimized Google Business listing and an active LinkedIn profile than from a rarely updated showcase site. In contrast, an e-commerce brand needs a high-performing transactional site as the foundation of its business.
- Define the channel that generates the most qualified contacts and concentrate the budget there.
- Measure the acquisition cost by channel each quarter to reallocate resources.
- Abandon a channel that does not produce results after six months of structured testing.
The most telling data of this period remains the decline in web presence of small businesses, while the dominant discourse pushes for the multiplication of tools. Companies that progress in the digital age are those that measure before investing, abandon what does not work, and concentrate their resources on levers whose real impact they can track.
