According to Shanghai's market watchdog, over 30 percent of online items--clothing, children's furniture, shoes, and even products from Marks and Spencer and Jack & Jones--have failed the quality control tests it has conducted.
The tests were held ahead of the Singles' Day sale this year, a period where the watchdog receives the most number of complaints from online consumers.
The Shanghai Industrial and Commercial Administrative Bureau revealed that a batch of Marks and Spencer suits sold via the brand's website failed the test because of misleading fiber content.
Meanwhile, two batches of Jack & Jones jackets sold via JD.com were confirmed to be substandard because of excessive formaldehyde and unmatched fiber content, the bureau further said.
The watchdog remarked that the jackets' formaldehyde content reached a 65 percent higher mark than the allowed threshold under national standards. The inhalation of such can lead to respiratory diseases, the group pointed out.
Moreover, a batch of Forever 21 trousers sold on the clothing line's online store also came up short over their instructions for use.
The bureau added that men's shoes from Satchi, which are available for purchase through the Shanghai-based platform yhd.com, as well as a batch of children's furniture made by Shanghai Hengtong Wood Co. Ltd. sold on Tmall.com, were also found to have problems.
Liu Guangqin, an official with the Shanghai market watchdog, said that based on their inspections, they found that the "substandard rate of online products is nearly 10 percent higher than the same model of products sold in normal stores."