France’s consumer watchdog has slammed ultra-fast fashion giant Shein with a €40 million fine, one of the heaviest penalties ever imposed in the country for deceptive e-commerce practices.
The Directorate-General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Prevention (DGCCRF) announced the sanction after uncovering discount manipulation and misleading environmental ads on Shein’s French website.
The penalty follows a nearly year-long investigation into Infinite Style E-Commerce Co Ltd (ISEL), the company responsible for Shein’s sales in France.
Inspectors analysed thousands of product listings from October 2022 to August 2023 and found that over half of the advertised “discounts” were not real.
According to the agency, 57% of the deals offered no actual price reduction, 19% were exaggerated, and 11% were, in reality, price hikes disguised as markdowns.
France’s pricing law says any discount must reference the lowest price offered over the previous 30 days. But Shein routinely violated that rule.
In some cases, the company hiked up prices just before applying the so-called discounts. DGCCRF said consumers were “deceived about the authenticity of discounts they could benefit from.”
Beyond pricing tricks, the probe also flagged Shein for vague and potentially misleading environmental claims, part of a growing European crackdown on “greenwashing” in fashion.
The investigation concluded that Shein’s marketing failed to offer credible evidence for its sustainability claims, leading to worries about transparency in a sector already under scrutiny for its environmental footprint.
In a formal response, Shein said: “The antitrust agency had informed Infinite Style Ecommerce 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.”
Despite Shein’s insistence that it resolved the problems swiftly, the French authorities didn’t back down. Officials say the fine was not just about past offences, but about sending a signal to the entire digital retail sector.
France recently passed new legislation targeting ultra-fast fashion platforms such as Shein and Temu, aiming to curb both consumer deception and environmental harm.
The penalty is another blow to Shein, which is already facing global pressure over its business practices, from opaque supply chains to allegations of labour abuse.
In early 2024, a coalition of 25 European consumer protection groups filed a complaint against the company with the European Commission, potentially paving the way for even stricter oversight across the EU.
This fine arrives at a sensitive moment for Shein, which is reportedly preparing for a stock market listing and expanding its physical retail footprint across Europe.
While the company insists it’s playing by the rules, regulators are not convinced. France’s DGCCRF has confirmed that it will continue monitoring Shein’s operations closely to ensure long-term compliance.
