Zalando
Replacing broad sustainability labels with specific product information
Climate and nature-related brand risk: Misleading environmental labels, regulatory action, customer confusion and loss of trust in sustainability communications
Solution pathway: Removal of vague labels, specific product-level disclosures, revised sustainability information and regulatory oversight
Business type: Large online fashion retailer and marketplace
Sector: Fashion e-commerce and digital retail
Geography: Germany / European markets
In practice
Zalando previously displayed sustainability flags and environmental icons alongside products on its platform. European consumer-protection authorities raised concerns that these signals could give customers an overly broad or misleading impression of the products’ environmental characteristics.
Following a coordinated dialogue led by the European Commission, Zalando committed to remove the sustainability flags and related icons. It also agreed to stop using broad terms implying an environmental benefit where those terms were not sufficiently specific.
The revised approach focused on concrete information, such as the proportion of recycled material in a product, alongside separate information on product standards and Zalando’s wider sustainability strategy. The company was required to report on implementation to the Consumer Protection Cooperation Network.
Why this example was selected
This case study was curated because the European Commission publicly documented both the concerns and the changes Zalando agreed to make. It therefore provides unusually strong external evidence of why the original communications were considered inadequate and what corrective action was required.
Reuters also covered the agreement as an important development in sustainability marketing and consumer protection. The case is featured not as a model of perfect prior practice, but as a practical regulatory lesson for other retailers.
