The European Commission confirmed cumulative fines of €157 million to three European luxury brands for anticompetitive pricing practices that harmed European consumers.
The brands are Italy’s Gucci, France’s Chloé and Spain’s Loewe. The three brands received a lower fine as they collaborated early on with the Commission’s investigation and stopped the harmful practices immediately.
“In Europe, all consumers, whatever they buy, and wherever they buy it, online or offline, deserve the benefits of genuine price competition,” said Teresa Ribera, the Executive Vice-President of the Commission in charge of competition cases.
According to the investigation, the three brands, independently from each other, engaged in so-called resale price maintenance, restricting the ability of independent retailers, both online and with physical shops, to set their own prices for their products. The companies set restrictions on independent retailers, requiring them not to deviate from their imposed retail prices, not to pass specific discount rates, and to conduct sales only during particular periods decided by the companies. The investigation proved that in some cases, the three companies forbade discounts altogether.
The prices forced on independent retailers were the same as those Gucci, Loewe, and Chloé used on their own direct sales channels. The companies monitored retailers to ensure compliance in order to protect sales from their own channels. Gucci went even further and demanded that retailers completely stop selling a specific product line online.
The investigation started in 2023, with formal proceedings opened in 2024. The infringement was reported beginning in 2015 for Gucci and Loewe and from 2019 for Chloé. Gucci received the highest fine, paying €118.7 million, while Chloé will pay €19.7 million and Loewe €18 million.
