Gucci Jumps on the Crypto Bandwagon with US Project

A Gucci sign is seen outside a shop in Paris, France. Reuters file photo
A Gucci sign is seen outside a shop in Paris, France. Reuters file photo
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Gucci Jumps on the Crypto Bandwagon with US Project

A Gucci sign is seen outside a shop in Paris, France. Reuters file photo
A Gucci sign is seen outside a shop in Paris, France. Reuters file photo

Gucci's high-end handbags and other luxury products can now be bought using cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, in some US stores, the Italian company said, as digital currencies move to broader acceptance.

Starting later this month, customers can pay with crypto at some of Gucci's flagship stores, including Rodeo Drive in Los Angeles and Wooster Street in New York, Reuters quoted the company as saying.

Gucci, owned by France's Kering SA, plans to expand the service to its directly operated North America stores in the near future.

A growing number of companies have started to accept virtual currencies, bringing an asset class shunned by major financial institutions until a few years ago closer to the mainstream.

Fashion label Off-White, in which French luxury group LVMH took a majority stake last year, has started accepting crypto in its London, Paris and Milan flagship stores, Vogue Business reported in March.

Gucci said on Wednesday it would accept multiple digital assets, including ethereum, dogecoin, shiba inu, litecoin, and a few US dollar-pegged stablecoins.



France Fines Shein 40 Million Euros for Misleading Discounts

FILE PHOTO: A view of a Shein pop-up store at a mall in Singapore April 4, 2024. REUTERS/Edgar Su/File Photo/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A view of a Shein pop-up store at a mall in Singapore April 4, 2024. REUTERS/Edgar Su/File Photo/File Photo
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France Fines Shein 40 Million Euros for Misleading Discounts

FILE PHOTO: A view of a Shein pop-up store at a mall in Singapore April 4, 2024. REUTERS/Edgar Su/File Photo/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A view of a Shein pop-up store at a mall in Singapore April 4, 2024. REUTERS/Edgar Su/File Photo/File Photo

France's antitrust agency said on Thursday it had fined China-founded fast-fashion retailer Shein 40 million euros ($47.17 million) for alleged deceptive business practices including misleading discounts, following a nearly year-long probe.

The agency, in charge of consumer protection as well as competition, said Infinite Style E-Commerce Co Ltd, which handles sales for the Shein brand, had misled customers about discounts, and that the company had accepted the fine, Reuters reported.

Under French regulations, the reference price for any discount is the lowest one given by a retailer during the 30 days preceding the offer. Shein infringed that rule by not taking into account previous offers, and sometimes increasing the price before applying a discount, the agency said.

It said its investigation showed the company "deceived consumers about the authenticity of discounts they could benefit from."

The probe, conducted across thousands of products on Shein's French site between October 1, 2022 and August 31, 2023, found 57% of advertised deals were not, in fact, offering a lower price; 19% had less of a discount than advertised; and 11% were in fact price increases.

In a statement, Shein said the antitrust agency had informed Infinite Style Ecommerce Co Ltd (ISEL) of breaches related to reference price and environmental regulations in March last year, and ISEL had taken corrective action within the following two months.

"This means that all identified issues were addressed more than a year ago," Shein said, adding that ISEL was committed to complying with French regulations.