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France’s antitrust agency said on Thursday it had fined China-founded fast-fashion retailer Shein €40 million ($47.17 million) for alleged deceptive business practices including misleading discounts, following a nearly year-long probe.
The agency, in charge of consumer protection as well as competition, said Infinite Style E-Commerce Co Ltd, which handles sales for the Shein brand, had misled customers about discounts, and that the company had accepted the fine.
Under French regulations, the reference price for any discount is the lowest one given by a retailer during the 30 days preceding the offer. Shein infringed that rule by not taking into account previous offers, and sometimes increasing the price before applying a discount, the agency said.
It said its investigation showed the company “deceived consumers about the authenticity of discounts they could benefit from.”
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The probe, conducted across thousands of products on Shein’s French site between October 1, 2022 and August 31, 2023, found 57 percent of advertised deals were not, in fact, offering a lower price; 19 percent had less of a discount than advertised; and 11 percent were in fact price increases.
In a statement, Shein said the antitrust agency had informed Infinite Style E-commerce Co Ltd (ISEL) of breaches related to reference price and environmental regulations in March last year, and ISEL had taken corrective action within the following two months.
“This means that all identified issues were addressed more than a year ago,” Shein said, adding that ISEL was committed to complying with French regulations.
By Makini Brice, Helen Reid; Editors: Charlotte Van Campenhout, Susan Fenton, Bernadette Baum
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