France’s consumer-protection watchdog, the DGCCRF, has fined China-founded fast-fashion group Shein €40 million after finding the retailer used deceptive pricing tactics on its French website. The sanction, announced on 3 July, is a record penalty for such infractions in the country. A probe covering thousands of items listed between October 2022 and August 2023 concluded that 57% of advertised promotions did not actually lower prices, 19% overstated the discount, and 11% masked outright price increases. Regulators said the practices misled shoppers by inflating reference prices or ignoring previous offers, contravening rules that require discounts to be based on the lowest price in the preceding 30 days. The action targets Infinite Style E-Commerce, the unit handling Shein’s French sales. Shein said it accepted the findings and had remedied the shortcomings within two months of being notified last year, adding that it remains committed to compliance. The penalty comes amid broader European scrutiny of ultra-fast-fashion operators over pricing transparency, environmental claims and competitive practices.