Beyond Greenwashing: Mastering Product Compliance for Ethical Integrity and Legal Responsibility
Author: Josh Woodley
Read Time: 8-10mins
Does the description match the reality? Or The Importance of Being Earnest
In the digital marketplace, mastering product compliance is crucial not only for maintaining ethical integrity but also for upholding legal responsibility. Accurate product descriptions greatly influence consumer trust and satisfaction, significantly impacting a brand's reputation and profitability. In this article, we delve into the essentials of product compliance, focusing on the avoidance of greenwashing and the importance of transparent and responsible marketing.
Misleading information can also have legal consequences – we have all heard about the Higg Index data being banned from use in some countries in 2022, and closer to home the investigation by the CMA (Competition and Markets Authority) into some big name brands over their sustainability claims
“Accurate product descriptions are not just a regulatory requirement but a cornerstone of consumer trust and brand integrity. By prioritising transparency and legal compliance, brands not only foster loyalty but also safeguard their reputation against the costly consequences of misinformation.”
There are 3 key areas a brand needs to think about when writing web copy for either their products or about themselves which we will explore below.
The Product
Ethical and Environmental Considerations
Legal Compliance
The Product
Making a product appealing is about more than just good designs and great photos, the consumer needs to know how it fits and performs and that it will meet their expectations.
For the consumer this means an easy shopping experience and a product they will keep.
For the brand this means less returns!
Communicating fit can always present obstacles – there is no universal standard for sizes, so it is crucial for a brand to have clear and easy to understand size charts for their products. Clothes, like people, come in all shapes and sizes so adding information about the fit (slim or oversized as examples) as well as stating the height and size of the model wearing the product in the pictures goes a long way to ensuring the consumer has as much information as possible to ensure they are buying the right size.
One of the biggest reasons for returning clothes is around fit and sizing – sometimes it is because people don’t check the size guides of a brand and so buy the ‘wrong’ size, sometimes because they don’t like it as much when they try it on but a key factor is also because they don’t look like the model wearing it in the picture.
Humans have a lot in common with magpies – I know I do – it looks pretty, I want it… The visual aspect of an online product is obviously still important, even with the most perfectly worded description, we want to see what it looks like on, and a big factor in this visual aspect is making sure the model and the size of the garment matches so that when it arrives with us, we too can look like the perfectly styled model in the ecommerce shots.
It’s also important to ensure that the description of the product styling is accurate – things can change during the fitting and sealing process and often the web copy is written from an earlier sample – so make sure what’s written about a style matches the product the customer is going to buy. I am sure I am not the only one who has returned something because the pictures and description don’t match what I have received.
It’s also important to ensure that the description of the product styling is accurate – things can change during the fitting and sealing process and often the web copy is written from an earlier sample – so make sure what’s written about a style matches the product the customer is going to buy. I am sure I am not the only one who has returned something because the pictures and description don’t match what I have received.
Ethical & Environmental Considerations
Greenwashing has become a massive topic in the fashion industry – brands will sometimes talk extensively about their commitment to fair labour practices in the supply chain without knowing the details of all the factories, or talk about using eco-friendly materials even if the reality isn’t quite as sound as it should be.
The 3 big brands investigated by the CMA were this year directed to be much less ‘fluffy’ over how they make their claims – using plain language, being clear and specific and not using terms such as ‘eco’ or ‘sustainable’ without further explanation.
This is something all brands should be doing – and it shouldn’t take highly publicized investigations by the CMA to make it happen!
For many years, the fashion industry has been seen as one of the BBEG (Big Bad Evil Guy) in the fight against over production, over consumption and excessive waste, with countless tonnes of poor quality garments ending up in landfill or in the waterways of the third world countries they are sent to https://deadwhitemansclothes.org/intro is a US based research project that explores the 2nd hand clothes trade specifically in Accra, Ghana, it is worth a read!
The scary thing is that it is not just happening in Ghana, but most brands, especially the ones that make products in their many 1000s to meet the ever-changing style ‘must-haves’ that often only last a few wears before they either fall apart or are no longer on trend and put aside for the next ‘big thing’ pay little attention to the end of life of the garments themselves.
France is one of the first countries thinking about the end of life of products (I am talking specifically about clothes, accessories, shoes and home textiles here) – with planned, mandatory basic minimums of performance testing due, and incentives announced last year to compensate people for mending/ repairing clothes and shoes instead of throwing them away.
It’s all very well talking about how ‘sustainable’ or ‘responsible’ a brand is when making the products but very little attention is really paid to what happens when it is finished with…
Brands are now doing more to try and make their products better and more long lasting, offering refunds if the garments don’t last a prescribed number of years, or offering mending services to make a product usable for longer.
More and more companies are offering resale or rental options, with stand-alone resale and rental platforms becoming big business (this is not a new thing, every high street has at least 3 charity shops I am sure – Oxfam first opened its doors in 1947, and the earliest recorded fundraising shop was opened in 1870!) and a way to shop in a more ‘responsible’ way – but realistically, while there is a demand for fashion (not just clothes), and a need to also support the workers employed by the factories making the clothes this argument will never be won.
France is also the first EU country to have brought in regulations for brands selling in their country (covering clothes, shoes and home textiles where an estimated 700,000 tonnes of clothes are thrown away, with up to 2/3 ending up in landfill sites) to contribute towards the end of life disposal of products, with the rest of the EU required to have something in place by the end of 2024.
So if you are going to talk about ethical or environmentally conscious, please don’t just focus on the production of your products – think about what to do with them at the end of their life too! Soon this won’t be just a nice thing to have and talk about, it will become a requirement, so why not get ahead now?
Legal Compliance
It’s also not just about making sure that sustainability claims can be substantiated, it’s also about making sure that ANY claim you make on your website can be backed up.
A product may have specific performance claims, such as sun-safe, wind or water proof or even recycled or organic that will set it above a competitor’s offering to make it stand out in a crowd of other competing brands and products. As a consumer, we will trust the information given is correct – it’s in print after-all – but is it backed up?
Currently there are no laws (as such) stopping a brand from saying anything about their products, true or otherwise, if it’s not correct and backed up you are misleading the customer. If you tell me the coat I am buying is waterproof and it’s actually not (it’s not just about the fabric you use, or the coating applied to it, the construction has a massive impact on if something is actually water-proof or just shower resistant!) I am going to want my money back!
In the UK we do have Trading Standards, who can and do check products to make sure they are what they are claimed to be and they do have the power to start fraud proceedings and to have products withdrawn from sale or even recalled (which is a massive, and costly, headache for a company) – so while saying something about a product to make is sound better or more desirable can help sales, is it worth the risk of high returns or a court case or product recall (obviously a worst case scenario)?
Most product claims are simply proved with testing – so it is actually super easy to ensure that what you are stating about a product is factually correct. And if the testing fails, rework the product so it meets the claims or get rid of them entirely!
Some claims do actually have legal requirements that really do need to be properly followed before a product is sold. Sun-safe is a great example, and covers things like rash vests to sun hats to sun glasses. These in fact, by labelling them sun safe, PPE (a term that covers everything from face masks to fire fighting equipment) and as such have minimum test requirements and must carry certain labels and warnings, as well as the UKCA/ CE marks.
Another point falling under legal compliance in my view are certifications. From chemical compliance schemes such as OEKO-TEX® to fabric and finished product certifications, there is a growing number of product certification schemes out there that can give the consumer confidence in certain aspects of the product:
OEKO-TEX® certified products will contain no harmful chemicals by using only factories and components that have passed rigorous audits and testing;
or GOTS, which ensures the organic cotton content of the certified products is fully traceable back to the farms.
Something my eye has been drawn to over the last few years, is the growing number of companies who will mention a certification with regards to a fabric or a manufacturer, but the product sold by them is not actually certified. The vast majority of these certifications will state in their standards that the certification cannot be talked about if the product as a whole, and in many cases the brand itself does not hold the relevant licences. For example, even if a brand is paying more for fabric that is OEKO-TEX® certified, if the product and the brand are not, their standard does not allow for this claim to be made.
Consumers expect transparency from brands. When a website claims a product is made from organic cotton or recycled polyester or if it’s chemical-free, customers trust that information. However if the information turns out to be incorrect, the trust for that brand or product can be eroded as the power of social media and other digital channels is far reaching.
A brand will build their name and reputation over time through good customer experience in addition to great messaging and marketing as well as by providing great products. Inaccurate or misleading information can endanger that reputation in the same way high returns can jeopardise a company’s profit margin.
Brands that prioritise accuracy demonstrate integrity and a commitment to their customer base which in turn builds trust and loyalty, consumers knowing they can rely on that information and the products will become repeat customers.
Conclusion
In conclusion, accurate website data is not a mere technicality; it shapes consumer perceptions, influences purchasing decisions, and defines a brand’s integrity. As consumers, let’s continue to demand accurate data and hold brands accountable for their claims.
One of the services offered by The Knowledge Nexus is web auditing – we can review your website, looking at products and brand identity statements and claims and offer expert guidance and solutions to ensure what you are saying about yourselves and your product is correct, accurate and unambiguous.
The Author: Josh Woodley
Josh, founder of The Knowledge Nexus, brings over two decades of fashion industry expertise, combining traditional craftsmanship with modern innovation. With a background in Fashion Design and Textile Technology and significant roles in high-profile fashion brands, Josh leads with a passion for ethical compliance and industry innovation.
