- France has fined Boohoo €2.3 million, around £2 million, for deceptive practices.
- The watchdog found 48 per cent of promotions examined were actually price increases.
- Boohoo says the issues date from 2023-24 under previous management and have been resolved.
Boohoo has been fined €2.3 million, around £2 million, by France's consumer watchdog after an investigation found that some of the discounts advertised on its website did not offer the savings shoppers were led to believe.
The Directorate-General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF) said it examined a sample of Boohoo promotions and found that 40 per cent were not genuine price reductions.
A further 7 per cent offered a smaller reduction than advertised, while 48 per cent were actually price increases.
The regulator also found that Boohoo had used terms such as “leather” and “suede” to describe synthetic products, which it said breached French product-labelling rules.
Boohoo said the issues related to the period between October 2023 and February 2024, when the business was under previous management, and have since been resolved.
The company said it had co-operated fully with the French regulator and continued to review how it prices and labels its products.
Why the latest fine matters
For Boohoo, the French penalty is not happening in isolation.
The online fashion retailer reached a $100 million settlement in the US in 2022 over allegations that its PrettyLittleThing and Nasty Gal brands had used misleading sales and promotions. Boohoo agreed the settlement without admitting liability.
The latest French case therefore brings an old issue back into focus: how online retailers present discounts to shoppers and whether the prices they advertise genuinely represent a saving.
France has been taking a tougher approach towards fast fashion more broadly, particularly as Chinese platforms such as Shein and Temu have expanded rapidly.
Shein was fined €40 million by French authorities last year over misleading discount practices.
French lawmakers have also passed legislation aimed at curbing fast fashion, including measures targeting what they describe as disposable clothing.
For shoppers, the issue is fairly simple. A product marked “50 per cent off” creates an expectation that the original price was genuine and that the buyer is getting a meaningful saving.
The French regulator's findings suggest that, in some of the Boohoo promotions it examined, that assumption did not hold.
Boohoo is under pressure on several fronts
The fine comes at a difficult time for Boohoo's parent company, Debenhams Group, which owns brands including Boohoo, Debenhams, PrettyLittleThing, Karen Millen, Oasis and Warehouse.
The group has been trying to revive its fortunes after the pandemic-era online shopping boom faded, while competition from lower-priced rivals including Shein, Temu and Vinted has intensified.
Higher delivery costs, US tariffs and rising wage and regulatory costs have also added pressure to the business.
Boohoo's reputation was already damaged in 2020 after an independent review found reports about poor working conditions in factories linked to its Leicester supply chain were substantially true.
The group has also faced pressure from major shareholder Frasers Group, founded by Mike Ashley, which owns more than a quarter of the company and has criticised aspects of its strategy.
Debenhams Group raised £35 million from shareholders in February as part of efforts to reduce its debt.
Boohoo's latest fine is relatively small compared with the financial pressures facing the wider group, but it puts the spotlight back on one of the problems that has followed the retailer before: whether shoppers can trust the price they see when a sale banner appears on their screen.
Boohoo says the practices identified by the French regulator belong to its previous management period and have been addressed. The company now faces the task of convincing shoppers and investors that the issue will not return.
