Laura Toledano, General Manager for Western Europe, Zalando
“We are seeing that the political will to regulate e-commerce is accelerating, particularly with the fast fashion law that has been passed in France and Shein’s recent 40 million euros fine. If all European countries do the same tomorrow, it will hurt them more. As for taxing packages below the 150 dollars threshold, I think we can go further. In 2024, 4.6 billion packages fell below this threshold in Europe. That’s double the number in 2023 and triple the number in 2022. We need to act quickly. Political awareness is there and I believe things will accelerate. Of course, consumers are looking for low prices. But as an e-retailer, we can also choose to address this in a different way, rather than flooding the market with products that are harmful to health. We can choose to do this through private labels, second-hand goods and other brands that comply with the law.”
Enrique Martinez, CEO, Fnac-Darty
“Shoppers who buy on low-cost platforms believe they have the right to do so. They say: why should I be responsible for global warming when I buy a T-shirt for 1 euro, when Jeff Bezos is getting married in Venice? All retailers have benefited from globalisation and lower production costs. But today, we failed to understand that in Europe, which is supposed to be a protected territory, the law does not apply fully.
