The trade association accuses the federal government of doing nothing regarding the controversial shopping portals Shein and Temu. This is a “failure to provide assistance” to medium-sized businesses, retailers and manufacturers, said the president of the trade association, Alexander von Preen, at the trade congress in Berlin. Shein and Temu systematically undermined European consumer protection, tax and environmental standards on a daily basis. “This is sabotage of the internal market.” There is no regulatory deficit, but rather a failure in enforcement.
Federal Economics Minister Katherina Reiche (CDU) did not directly address Shein and Temu in her speech. She said the aim is to strengthen law enforcement in online commerce.
400,000 packages daily
The two Asian shopping portals Shein and Temu are very popular with consumers. According to a current ranking by the retail research institute EHI, Shein was already the seventh largest online shop in Germany in 2024. Temu took 4th place in the marketplaces.
According to the trade association, around 400,000 packages are sent from Shein and Temu to German customers every day. The sales of the two portals in Germany were between 2.7 and 3.3 billion euros in 2024. According to HDE, more than 14 million people in this country shopped at Temu and Shein last year.
Nevertheless, the providers are controversial. Politicians, sales representatives and consumer advocates complain, among other things, about product quality, a lack of controls and unfair competition conditions. They are calling for stricter regulation and better protection when shopping online.
Controls at airports
In France, Shein has recently come under increasing scrutiny from the government. As a result, the government announced that it would check 200,000 Shein packages at Paris airport. However, Shein escaped a side ban for the time being. The government has ensured that Shein has removed all illegal products from its platform, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said. However, the company is still under observation by the state authorities.
The federal government had kept a low profile on possible priority checks of Shein packages at airports, following the example of France. Possible measures would not be announced in advance, said a spokesman for the Ministry of Finance. The customs administration continuously checks consignments of goods in online trading in a risk-oriented manner and on a random basis.