The Economic Inspectorate of the Belgian Ministry of Economy has received over 180 complaints about Zalando since the end of 2020.
Some complaints were about misleading promotions or advertisements. With Zalando based in Berlin, German authorities intervened following the request of the Economic Inspectorate in Belgium.
During the summer sales of 2022, the Inspectorate identified price indication violations at Zalando. The online clothing giant failed to mention reference prices and calculated discounts from the original price rather than the mandatory reference price. The reference price is the lowest price available during the 30 days prior to the discount period.
Furthermore, Zalando used misleading promotional labels such as Deal on products without actual reductions from the reference price. The discount sometimes applied only to a limited selection of sizes or models, while the label was used for the entire product range. Additionally, the “original price” might have been outdated and not applied for years.
The Ministry of Economy contacted German authorities to take appropriate measures against Zalando. While German authorities did not fully adopt the Belgian position, a European Court of Justice ruling on 26 September 2024 confirmed the Belgian interpretation.
"Zalando has since updated its website. Discounts are now correctly calculated based on the reference price, and consumers see only the genuine reductions," said Étienne Mignolet, spokesperson for the Ministry Economy.
