French regulators found 95% of the promotional offers examined were non-compliant, highlighting growing enforcement risk around discount pricing and product-material claims in online fashion.
France’s consumer protection authority has imposed a €2.33 million ($2.7 million) fine on Boohoo.com UK Ltd after finding misleading discount practices and incorrect product descriptions on the fast-fashion retailer’s French website. The investigation covered several hundred products and examined sale prices, crossed-out reference prices and advertised discount percentages.
Most promotions failed the test
The findings were unusually extensive. Of the promotions analysed by the Directorate-General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF), 40% involved no genuine price reduction, 7% delivered a smaller reduction than advertised, while 48% were effectively price increases. Taken together, 95% of the offers checked were non-compliant.
Investigators found cases where previous promotional prices were ignored when calculating a new discount, as well as prices being raised before a reduction was advertised.
That clashes with EU price-transparency rules introduced through the Omnibus Directive. When retailers announce a price reduction, the reference price generally must be the lowest price charged during the preceding 30 days—a measure specifically designed to prevent artificial price inflation before promotions.
Material descriptions also breached rules
The investigation extended beyond pricing. Boohoo used terms including “leather” and “suede” for synthetic products, while regulators also identified shortcomings in textile-fibre and footwear composition information.
Boohoo said the issues occurred between October 2023 and February 2024, under previous management, and have since been resolved. The company said it cooperated with the regulator and continues to review pricing and labelling.
Compliance moves into commercial operations
For fashion companies, the case shows that EU compliance increasingly extends beyond sustainability reporting into the mechanics of e-commerce pricing, fibre composition, product descriptions and consumer-facing data.
The operational lesson is significant: brands need auditable systems connecting historical prices, product master data, material composition and online claims. As European regulators increase scrutiny of fashion, inaccurate digital product information can now create financial exposure comparable with more familiar environmental or supply-chain compliance failures.
