How to sell sustainable items on Zalando: the "Sustainability Flag"

The growth in demand for more sustainable fashion products is driving buyers to redefine sustainability standards, tightening the definition of a sustainable product or brand on their platforms.

At the moment it is difficult to establish with certainty the sustainability of a product, since there is no universal definition of sustainable fashion.

However, it is not long before the sustainability criteria are defined at European level. In fact, the European Commission has recently defined the Sustainable Product Initiative (SPI), i.e. an initiative born with the aim of defining the minimum common requirements of sustainability and circularity of products on the market in European markets.

The Sustainable Product Initiative should also provide for the Digital Product Passport (DPP), which will make it possible to provide and make accessible data relating to components and materials of products on the European market, facilitating the verification of legal obligations by the authorities and correct practices of reuse or recycling by the actors operating along the supply chain.

Pending the definition of requisites recognized at European level, many fashion brands still have to meet specific, increasingly stringent requirements in order to be sustainable in the eyes of buyers or even to be able to continue selling on the relevant platforms.

Zalando, in fact, in addition to defining the mandatory criteria to be able to continue selling on the platform, has established optional sustainability criteria to obtain the "Sustainability Flag"a label assigned to particularly sustainable items that allows you to recognize the most virtuous products and companies.

In this article, we will analyze the requirements for obtaining the Zalando Sustainability Flag, reserving the right to delve into the mandatory sustainability criteria for companies that intend to continue selling on the platform in a subsequent article.

Zalando and its vision of sustainability

Through the do.MORE strategy, Zalando has set itself the goal of becoming a sustainable fashion platform with a net positive impact for the planet.

Based on 3 areas of interest: Planet – Products – People, Zalando's strategy was designed to improve its sustainability performance and that of the fashion sector in general.

Some of the sustainability goals set by the company:

• By 2025: Reduce carbon emissions in line with the Paris Agreement, including an 80% reduction in emissions from its operations compared to 2017.
• By 2023: Design packaging to minimize waste and keep materials in use, especially eliminating single-use plastics.
• By 2023: Generate 25% of GMV (Gross Merchandise Volume) with more sustainable products.
• By 2023: apply circularity principles to extend the useful life of at least 50 million fashion products.

The pre-set objectives explain the company's increasingly demanding sustainability demands on its brand partners, who are recognized and "rewarded" by the Sustainability Flag in the event of particular virtuosity.

The sustainability criteria to be met in order to obtain the Zalando "Sustainability Flag"

In order to guarantee the sustainability of a product sold on the platform, a "Sustainability Flag" was created, i.e. a label that can only be assigned to products that meet at least one of the sustainability criteria required by Zalando.

The criteria align with internationally recognized best practices in the fashion industry, including the Sustainable Apparel Coalition's Higg Materials Sustainability Index and the Textile Exchange's Preferred Fiber and Materials List.

The possibility of obtaining the "Sustainability Flag" and, therefore, of meeting the established criteria, depends on the possession of one of the certifications developed by third parties (for example GOTS) or on compliance with internal product attributes based on the composition of the material, such as organic and recycled content, established by Zalando.

In order to adapt to Zalando's requests, it is essential for companies to know the detailed list of sustainability criteria and the related "external" third-party certifications or the internal attributes of the product to be respected, which can be further explored on the Zalando website.

Steps to obtain the "Sustainability Flag" of Zalando

Once the company, after a careful analysis, has verified that it can meet one of the previously analyzed sustainability criteria, it can proceed with the necessary procedure to obtain the Sustainability Flag.

In general, in order to obtain the Zalando Sustainability Flag you must follow the following steps:

• Step 1 - Provide all the information: Transmit all the mandatory information in the article entry process. Assuming to insert an article made of 40% polyester and 60% recycled polyester, it is necessary to select the range of the recycled material content of the product (in this case it will be necessary to select the range of 50-70%) and then the material of which the article is composed (100% polyester). At this point the exact percentage of the recycled material of the article (60%) must be specified. If required, you may need to provide: the name of the certification body and the certificate recognition number;
• Step 2 - Wait for the evaluation: Once all the required information has been submitted, it is compared with the sustainability guidelines by the Zalando team;
• Step 3 - Obtain the Sustainability Flag: Once approved, the Zalando team adds the Sustainability Flag to the previously inserted product.

Conclusion

The sustainability criteria established by Zalando to obtain the sustainability flag highlight the buyer’s desire to guarantee consumers the sustainability of products sold on the platform.

Consequently, if the partner companies wish to obtain the Sustainability Flag for products sold on Zalando, they must establish the most suitable certification to be adopted to meet the sustainability criteria.

Most of the required certifications, however, require a sustainability analysis not only of your company or your product, but also of the entire supply chain.

For this reason, Cikis Studio offers your company the possibility to make an assessment of the level of sustainability of the entire production chain, in order to outline the most effective strategies to be taken also to adapt to the buyers' requests for sustainability, like Zalando.