Consumer group accuses Shein of manipulating shoppers with 'dark patterns'

Thomson Reuters

· Posted: Jun 05, 2025 11:05 AM EDT | Last Updated: June 5

A user enactment filed a ailment with the European Commission connected Thursday against online fast-fashion retailer Shein implicit its usage of "dark patterns," which are tactics designed to marque radical bargain much connected its app and website.

Pop-ups urging customers not to permission the app oregon hazard losing promotions, countdown timers that make clip unit to implicit a purchase and the infinite scroll connected its app are among the methods Shein uses that could beryllium considered "aggressive commercialized practices," wrote BEUC, a pan-European user group, successful a report.

The BEUC besides elaborate Shein's usage of predominant notifications, with 1 telephone receiving 12 notifications from the app successful a azygous day.

"For accelerated manner you request to person volume, you request to person wide consumption, and these acheronian patterns are designed to stimulate wide consumption," said Agustin Reyna, manager wide of BEUC, successful an interview.

"For us, to beryllium satisfactory they request to get escaped of these acheronian patterns, but the question is whether they volition person capable inducement to bash so, knowing the imaginable interaction it tin person connected the measurement of purchases."

WATCH | How acheronian patterns are regulated by Canadian law: 

A Shein spokesperson said successful a connection that the institution is "already moving constructively with nationalist consumers authorities and the EU Commission to show our committedness to complying with EU laws and regulations." It added that the BEUC had not accepted its petition for a meeting.

Gameification used to thrust shoppers to app

The BEUC also targeted the online discount platform Temu, a Shein rival, successful a erstwhile complaint.

Both platforms person surged successful popularity successful Europe, partially helped by apps that promote shoppers to prosecute with games and basal to triumph discounts and escaped products.

Shein's usage of gameification, drafting shoppers to usage the app regularly, has helped thrust its success.

In the "Puppy Keep" crippled connected the app, users provender a virtual canine and cod points to triumph escaped items. They tin summation much points by scrolling done the app, and by ordering items, but indispensable log into the crippled each time oregon hazard losing cumulative rewards.

The BEUC noted that acheronian patterns are wide utilized by mass-market covering retailers and called connected the user extortion web to see different retailers successful its investigation.

It said 25 of its subordinate organizations successful 21 countries, including France, Germany and Spain, joined successful the grievance filed with the committee and with the European user extortion network.

Late past month, the European Commission notified Shein of practices breaching EU user instrumentality and warned it would look fines if it failed to code the concerns.

The institution is besides nether scrutiny from EU tech regulators connected however it complies with EU online contented rules.