A joint complaint has been filed against online store Temu. The Chinese e-commerce platform is being accused of violating new EU rules around digital services, but also for manipulative practices to make consumers buy or pay more.
European consumer organisation BEUC and 17 of its members – including Belgium's consumer protection organisation Test Achats – have filed complaints against online store Temu, which launched in the United States in 2022, and rapidly spread to extended its reach to several EU nations in 2023, including Belgium. By its own admission, the online store has 75 million monthly active users in the European Union.
The organisations have accused Temu of violating the new Digital Services Act (DSA). The European law aims to make the online environment safer, fairer and more transparent by imposing new obligations on online platforms such as measures to limit disinformation, counter illegal goods and services, protect minors, as well as clear information about ads shown and a ban on personalised ads based on sensitive data.
Chinese online marketplace Temu is among the platforms covered by these new obligations, as is the online retailer Shein. But according to the various organisations, is not adhering to them. "Temu often fails to provide consumers with full information about the effective seller of the products and is therefore unable to indicate whether the product meets EU product safety requirements," explained Laura Clays, spokesperson for Test Achats.
Manipulative practices
Clays added that the platform is also guilty of so-called 'dark patterns'. These are manipulative practices to make consumers buy or pay more. If, for example, a consumer clicks on a product, they are not only presented with that one product, but also a number of other more expensive ones.
Consumer groups also criticised the company for not providing enough information about its algorithms that determine which products a consumer is suggested. Finally, deleting a Temu account is reported to be a lot harder than creating an account, while
Also related to the protection of consumers, Test Achats has in the past raised concerns about the safety of certain products consumers can find on the platform. "Products sold on marketplaces, online or offline, European, American or Chinese, must be safe and comply with European legislation if they are sold to European consumers," Clays concluded.
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Temu's business model is similar to that of other shopping platforms such as Shein or Alibaba. Test Achats stated that most products sold on Temu are shipped directly to consumers from Chinese factories or warehouses.
These Chinese brands are increasingly causing the revenue of European online stores to drop. An annual report by Cross-Border Commerce Europe, a platform promoting e-commerce in Europe, showed e-commerce companies based in European countries – unable to match the scale and agility of emerging Chinese giants such as Shein and Temu – are losing ground as Chinese retailers storm the market.
