France’s consumer watchdog said it has fined Manchester-based fast-fashion retailer Boohoo €2.3 million for alleged deceptive practices such as fake discounts on its website, Reuters reported.

France’s DGCCRF (Directorate-General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and ​Fraud Control) said in a statemen that Boohoo exaggerated the discounts it was offering, ​giving shoppers a false impression of the savings they ⁠were making.

The watchdog said that of the promotions it analysed, 40% were not real price reductions, 7% were a lower reduction than advertised, and 48% were in fact a price increase.

Boohoo ​also used terms like “leather” or “suede” to sell synthetic products, ​going against French rules on product labelling, the regulator said.

A spokesperson for Boohoo ‌said ⁠the issues related to a period from October 2023 to February 2024, when the business was under its previous management, and are now resolved.

“We have cooperated fully with the regulator, ​and continue to ​review how ⁠we price and label our products,” the spokesperson said.