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Merchant Ultimatums and Unlikely Partnerships: Zalando, Allbirds, and Adidas Go to Sustainability Extremes

Desperate times, drastic measures.
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Francis Scialabba

less than 3 min read

Retail news that keeps industry pros in the know

Retail Brew delivers the latest retail industry news and insights surrounding marketing, DTC, and e-commerce to keep leaders and decision-makers up to date.

Brands are joining forces and cutting ties in the name of sustainable production, and it’s messier than a Shondaland love quadrangle. Let’s dive in.

On the rocks: Zalando, Europe’s largest e-comm fashion retailer, and its ~2,500 merchants. Zalando said yesterday it will require brands to complete a 250-question supply chain assessment by 2023. If they don’t comply or aren’t willing to improve poor scores, they’ll be kicked off Zalando’s platform.

Zalando says it’s the first retailer to require that brands use a sustainability measurement tool to remain partners. "We see a crucial link between sustainability and the continued commercial success of our business,” Kate Heiny, Zalando’s sustainability director, told WWD. Merchants can’t afford the boot: Zalando sells to 32+ million active users in 17 countries.

Pairing off: Adidas and Allbirds. The brands paused the Stan Smiths vs. Wool Runners battle to announce they’re co-developing a sneaker with the world’s lowest carbon footprint.

  • There’s no release date for the sneaker—it hasn’t even been prototyped yet.
  • The reason? The brands will have to reconfigure every step of the supply chain to achieve their Guinness goal, from manufacturing to transportation.

Alter your expectations

The pandemic has exposed some hard truths: Too many brands think they’re interesting enough for daily IG Lives, and not enough have baked sustainability into their business models. Fashion brands averaged a 23% transparency score on the 2020 Fashion Revolution Transparency Index, which measures emissions, supply chain waste, and worker safety, among other metrics.

But shoppers want to see brands up their sustainability game, cringey reveals and all.

  • In an ING survey of 15,000 shoppers, 61% said they’re less willing to purchase from a brand with poor environmental policies.
  • Nielsen expects U.S. sales of sustainable products will approach $150 billion by 2021.

My takeaway: Brands have a compelling case for making bold sustainability declarations. We may not see another sneaker outdo the Allbirds x Adidas collab, or Amazon issue a transparency ultimatum, but more retailers could commit to reducing emissions or upcycling materials in the near future.

Retail news that keeps industry pros in the know

Retail Brew delivers the latest retail industry news and insights surrounding marketing, DTC, and e-commerce to keep leaders and decision-makers up to date.