The French Agency for Protection of Market Competition and Consumers announced that Chinese brand Fast Mode Shin was penalized with 40m euros due to alleged deceptive business practices, including false discounts.
The punishment was sentenced after almost a year long investigation.
The Agency stated that the Infinite Style E-Commerce Co., Ltd, which manages the sale of Shein brand, led customers in terms of discounts and that the company accepted the sentence.
According to French regulations, the reference price for any discount must be the lowest price offered by the trader in the last 30 days before a discount.
Shein broke that rule by taking the previous offers into account, and sometimes he even increased the price before applying the discount, the agency said.
The investigation showed that the company “was deceived by consumers in terms of actual discounts that could achieve.”
Analysis, which included thousands of products on Shein’s French website in the period from 1. October 2022. to 31. Augusta 2023, she found that:
57% of alleged bids did not actually offer a reduced price,
19% had a smaller discount than advertised,
11% actually represented the price increase.
In the statement, Shein stated that the French Agency informed the Infinite Style E-Commerce Co LTD (ISEL) on offenses related to reference prices and environmental regulations, and that the company has taken corrective measures within two months.
“This means that all the perceived problems were solved more than a year,” says Shein, adding that Isel is dedicated to compliance with French laws and regulations, writes Reuters.
(Vijesti.ba)
