France imposes $47.11-mn penalty on Shein

The French competition and anti-fraud office claimed the Singapore-headquartered company misled customers on price deals and on its environmental impact.

The Directorate General for Competition Policy, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF) competition office said the probe found that the firm raised certain prices before lowering them.

Shein, founded in China in October 2008 as ZZKKO by entrepreneur Chris Xu, has accepted the fine, media outlets in France reported.

"These practices of greatly discounted prices and permanent promotions give consumers the impression they're getting a great deal," said the DGCCRF, which found that 11 per cent of advertised discounts it checked "were actually price increases".

In 57 per cent of cases, Shein's advertised promotions actually offered ‘no price reduction’ and in 19 per cent of cases, the price drop was ‘less significant than announced’.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)