Boohoo has broken promises to make its clothes fairly, an undercover BBC Panorama investigation has found, with the fast fashion giant allegedly pressuring suppliers to drive down prices, even after deals had been agreed.
An undercover reporter working at the company’s Manchester headquarters said they saw evidence of staff pressuring suppliers to cut prices, even after deals had been finalised.
On one day, the reporter was told to process a five per cent cut on more than 400 orders that had already been agreed, which would save Boohoo thousands of pounds.
According to the BBC report, sometimes price cuts were “even demanded on orders which had already been made and were ready for delivery”.
There was also a six-week period in the dresses category when Boohoo was experiencing an average delay of over 10 weeks between making an order and receiving it, all during the reporter’s undercover assignment.
Following that, a new policy was implemented across the company with a lead time of six weeks or less. India and China suppliers get an extra week. Boohoo offered a five percent price reduction for each week that a supplier’s order was late, following a week of grace.
Like many other online retailers, Boohoo has had financial difficulties recently as a result of customers cutting back on their clothing purchases due to the crisis in the cost of living.
Just last month, Boohoo’s said its revenues fell by 17 per cent in the six months to August to £ 729 million, and warned of further sales falls in the year ahead.
