Aggressive marketing has done its job: Chinese online seller Temu is under investigation in Europe
1 November 2024 11:21
The European Commission has announced the launch of an official investigation into possible non-compliance by the Chinese online sales platform Temu with the requirements of the European Digital Services Act. This law regulates the activities of technology companies, ranging from Facebook to X and Google. The Guardian writes about it, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports
The decision to open an investigation was the result of a preliminary analysis, during which the European Commission requested information from the company and took into account information provided by third parties and national authorities, in particular the Irish Digital Services Coordinator.
It is also reported that concerns about the sale of counterfeit products, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and toys have been raised by various authorities across Europe, especially in Germany, Denmark and Ireland, where the company’s EU headquarters are located.
At the briefing, the European Commission spokesperson explained that the issue of “banned products” does not refer to specific products, but to the safeguards used by the platform to prevent problematic products of questionable quality and safety or fakes from being sold.
“We have received a lot of information from other authorities, and there are real suspicions that not enough is being done, not effectively, to really prevent the distribution of illegal products,” the European Commission said.
The European Commission is also concerned about aggressive sales tactics on the platform with “addictive design”, in particular “in-game rewards”.
The European Commission noted that the investigation will focus on the marketplace systems used to recommend purchases to users and the company’s access to customer data.
If the European Commission’s suspicions are confirmed, it will be a case of non-compliance with five articles of the Digital Services Act, which will result in large fines for the company.
It is noted that complaints against Temu were filed by a pan-European consumer group, which stated that the company violates the Digital Services Act by not providing customers with important information about sellers on its platforms.
Since its launch in April last year, Temu has grown rapidly in the EU market, selling everything from cosmetics to clothing, as well as furniture and appliances, directly from China, and has about 100 million users.
