Complaints about misleading advertising, price display infringements and misleading promotional terms: 180 reports have been filed with the Federal Public Service Economy (FPS Economy) in Belgium since 2020. The German authorities have also been approached by the Belgian institution, as the Zalando group has its headquarters in the German capital.

More specifically, the online retail giant did not mention the reference price of items and calculated discounts on the basis of their original price rather than the mandatory reference price. It also used terms deemed to be misleading, such as “deal,” on products which, in reality, were not discounted at all. The practice whereby certain promotions only applied to certain sizes or models without this being specified was also noted.

In September 2024, the Court of Justice of the EU in which it held that “the indication of a price reduction in the form of a percentage which does not refer to the ‘prior price,’ within the meaning of Article 6a(2) of Directive 98/6, is unfair and, therefore, is contrary to Directive 2005/29.”

To date, Zalando has taken steps to correct these elements by adapting its website. “Discounts are now correctly calculated in relation to the reference price, and no longer in relation to the starting price. Consumers therefore only see the real reductions,” said FPS Economy spokesperson Étienne Mignolet.

This article in French.