Lhe CEO of La Poste spoke during a hearing on Wednesday October 30 before the Senate Economic Affairs Committee about the “rise of Chinese platforms”, Temu and Shein, which “represent 22% of our parcels”. “It was less than 5% five years ago”, specified Philippe Wahl, “and 1% more than Amazon which is the first customer, but also the first competitor of La Poste”.
The company’s management subsequently clarified that the share of parcels managed on behalf of the two platforms was much more significant in France than in Europe. Online commerce is currently experiencing a “very slow recovery” with “very strong pressure on margins”, Philippe Wahl had previously clarified, still affirming that he believed that it was a “sector of the future”. The parcel delivery activity accounts for more than half of La Poste’s turnover, while its historic activity, letters, will only account for 15% of its sales at the end of this year, according to M . Wahl, relayed by our colleagues at The Voice of the North.
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“Are you beginning to understand the problem? »
“This share of Shein and Temu packages is greater in France than in the rest of Europe. Are you starting to understand the problem? », Reacted Thomas Wagner, the founder of the Bon Pote site, on social networks, directly calling out the French government. “Shein is 7,500 new clothes per day online. A horror that drives overconsumption, destroys the environment, and leads to exploited and underpaid employees. All this happens because it is allowed by the current government. Bruno Le Maire did nothing to stop the phenomenon. Antoine Armand, you are the new Minister of the Economy, will you take the problem to heart? For the French and for our climate commitments? », questions the founder of the independent media committed to the environment.
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And in fact: Shein, an application founded in China in 2012, is considered an emblem of the social and environmental excesses of low-cost fashion. Temu, which is experiencing meteoric growth in Europe thanks to a strategy of low prices, is the international version of the Chinese e-commerce juggernaut Pinduoduo, born in 2015. It offers a plethora of products: clothing, toys, decoration, tools, high-tech…
“We lived very well without it”
At the end of September, six countries of the European Union, Germany, France, Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands and Poland, asked the European Union to tighten the screws against these online commerce sites. online, suspected of selling products that are sometimes dangerous for consumers. In June, the Commission requested information from Temu and Shein in order to verify their compliance with European rules on consumer protection, questioning them in particular on the measures they implement to allow the reporting of illegal products.
Other requests concern deceptive interfaces (“dark patterns”) which make it possible to manipulate user behavior, the protection of minors, the transparency of product recommendation systems, or even the traceability of sellers on these platforms.
“The solutions exist, we gave them on Bon Pote in an article on Shein. Ban advertising for fast fashion. Regulate supply, tax producers, better inform consumers. Don’t act like it’s impossible, we lived very well without Temu, Shein and Amazon, we will live very well without them,” insists Thomas Wagner.
