Consumers demand more sustainable fashion – this is the crucial outcome of a consumer survey conducted by Zalando. To gain detailed insights in the needs and demands of their consumers with regard to sustainability, Europe’s leading fashion platform conducted an online survey with roughly 3000 of their customers. Included were customers who have purchased at least one item of textile or shoes in the last six months. The results of the survey stress the importance of sustainability in the purchase decision-making process and provide cause for optimism: 39% of Zalando’s customers say they will very likely buy sustainable fashion in the coming 12 months. The company strives to generate 20% of their Gross Merchandise Value with more sustainable products by 2023.

The study inquired what sustainable fashion constitutes for Zalando’s customers. Eco-friendliness was rated most important by 73 %, followed by fair working-/production conditions (63%), high quality (35%), animal protection (6%) and organic materials (2%). The main factors preventing customers from buying sustainable fashion are (perceived) higher prices (40%), unappealing designs (35%), or difficulties to find out which fashion is sustainable (29%).

In a joint project, sustainabill helped Zalando to uncover supply chains for some of their products. sustainabill’s cloud platform enables companies to control, map and visualize the entire supply chain by collecting data from suppliers and sub-suppliers. These insights facilitate a better risk screening and management and allows for a better control over social, political and environmental risks.