The Autorité de la concurrence has imposed a fine of more than 125 million euros on the Italian eyewear manufacturer Luxottica, the world’s leading supplier, for having “imposed” in France, “on opticians, retail selling prices and having prohibited from selling on the internet, ”she announced on Thursday.
Two other groups, LVMH (owner of Parisien-Aujourd’hui en France), and Chanel, were fined 500,000 euros and 130,000 euros respectively, the first for the same two reasons, the second for the sole ban on selling online, says a press release.
These practices have affected “major national brands” of optics such as Alain Afflelou, Krys, GrandVision or Optical Center, details the competition policeman.
A very heavy penalty
The sector leader Luxottica, very heavily sanctioned, “between 2005 and 2014”, “distributed to its distributors so-called recommended prices and encouraged them to maintain a certain level of retail selling prices for its products”.
These practices relate to glasses of famous brands licensed with Luxottica, including Chanel, Ray Ban, Oakley, Prada, Burberry, Bulgari, Dolce & Gabanna, Armani, Michael Kors, Miu Miu, Ralph Lauren.
Luxottica has drawn up lists of “recommended prices” and concluded, with its distributors, selective distribution contracts “interpreted as notably prohibiting discounts and promotions during retail sales”.
In addition, the Italian group “imposed certain restrictions on its distributors as to the advertising they carried out on their prices and organized the monitoring of these prices”, continues the Authority.
Finally, “opticians who persisted in ignoring Luxottica’s messages were subject to retaliatory measures”, she specifies.
A fourth company, Logo (for the TAG Heuer brand), was pinned for having also restricted the price freedom of opticians who sold its products, but having been placed in compulsory liquidation in 2016, it was not sanctioned.
In addition, clauses in the licensing agreements entered into by these groups, as well as authorized retailer charters for Luxottica, “prohibited the online sale of sunglasses and prescription eyeglass frames by opticians”, a violation deemed less.