Online platform Zalando has launched a new browsing feature which enables consumers to pick clothes based on the values they care about.

The move follows the publication of a report by the retailer that investigates the gap between attitudes and behaviours when it comes to sustainability in fashion.

The research found that many consumers struggle to turn their sustainability priorities into fashion purchasing decisions.

The new feature in the fashion store will enable customers to browse the more sustainable fashion assortment.

Zalando also said it is continuing to invest in its pre-owned offering, enabling customers in seven additional markets, including Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Italy, and Sweden, to trade in and buy pre-owned fashion.

Based on consumer research carried out in France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, and the UK, the report finds that for the fashion industry there is a need to make sustainable choices more “attractive, realistic, and accessible.”

“We aim for 25 per cent of our gross merchandise value to come from more sustainable products by 2023,” said David Schneider, Zalando’s co-chief executive. “During the coronavirus crisis, customers told us that shopping sustainably became more important to them than ever before.”

Schneider added: “But when we asked them how they felt about sustainable fashion, the strongest association was ‘guilt’ and the weakest was ‘fun’. If, as an industry, we’re serious about sustainability, we need to fix this dissonance now to build a stronger future for fashion.”

Kate Heiny, director sustainability at Zalando said that while the company’s customers say they care deeply about sustainability, they struggle to translate their values into actions when they go into stores or shop online.

“Our role as a platform is to enable ourselves, our brand partners, and our customers to make more sustainable choices, inspire collaborative action and long-lasting change,” said Heiny. “That’s why we produced this report, which we can all learn from: Zalando, the fashion industry, and consumers. This report brought us to the conclusion that if we really want to close the long-existing attitude-behavior gap in fashion, collaboration is the only way forward. We have to come together; the fashion industry and our consumers.”

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