France Fines Shein $47.17 Million for Misleading Discounts on Fashion Deals
France’s antitrust agency has fined fast-fashion retailer Shein EUR 40 million ($47.17 million) for deceptive discount practices on its French website.
The penalty follows a nearly year-long investigation into Infinite Style E-Commerce Co. Ltd., the company responsible for Shein’s sales in France.
The agency found that Shein misled consumers by inflating prices before applying discounts and failing to use the correct reference prices, violating French consumer protection laws.
Under French regulations, any advertised discount must be based on the lowest price offered in the previous 30 days.
The investigation, which reviewed thousands of products between Oct. 1, 2022, and Aug. 31, 2023, revealed that 57% of Shein’s advertised deals did not offer a lower price.
Additionally, 19% of the discounts were smaller than advertised, while 11% were actually price increases.
The agency concluded that Shein had “deceived consumers about the authenticity of discounts they could benefit from.”
Shein said it was notified of the breaches in March 2024 and that Infinite Style E-Commerce Co. Ltd. took corrective action within two months.
The company stated that all identified issues were resolved more than a year ago and reaffirmed its commitment to complying with French regulations.
France fined Shein EUR 40 million for misleading discount practices
Investigation found 57% of deals did not offer lower prices
19% of discounts were smaller than advertised, 11% were price hikes
Source: REUTERS
