What: Digital product passports are set to transform retail by mandating transparency, compliance, and sustainability across the industry.

Why it is important: Mandating digital product passports accelerates digital transformation in retail, reinforcing trends seen in recent sustainability and compliance initiatives.

The introduction of digital product passports (DPPs) is poised to fundamentally reshape the retail landscape by enforcing new standards of transparency, compliance, and sustainability. With the EU’s revised sustainability directives, including CSRD, CSDDD, and ESPR, retailers face a mandate to implement DPPs by 2028, requiring significant changes to compliance processes and data management systems. This regulatory evolution is driving retailers to address complex reporting requirements and adapt to a fragmented landscape of sustainability standards. As sustainability becomes a core expectation, retailers are integrating environmental responsibility throughout their value chains to meet both regulatory and consumer demands for transparency and lifecycle accountability. The adoption of circular economy strategies is moving from theory to practice, with business models increasingly focused on repair, resale, and waste reduction. Leading retailers are embedding ESG principles into their operations, signaling a broader industry shift toward measurable environmental and social impact. These changes collectively accelerate the digital transformation of retail, positioning the industry for a future defined by accountability and innovation.

IADS Notes: In March 2025, Drapers reported that the EU’s updated sustainability directives, including CSRD, CSDDD, and ESPR, are set to make digital product passports mandatory by 2028, requiring retailers to transform compliance and data management. Vogue Business in February 2025 highlighted the industry’s struggle with complex supply chain reporting rules and the push for standardized transparency. Euromonitor, also in February 2025, observed that sustainability is now a baseline for innovation, with retailers integrating environmental responsibility throughout their value chains. The Retail Bulletin in March 2025 discussed the practical adoption of circular economy strategies, emphasizing regulatory and consumer-driven shifts toward repair, resale, and waste reduction. By July 2025, Maeil Business Newspaper documented how leading retailers, such as Hyundai Department Store, were embedding ESG management and transparency into their core operations, reflecting the industry’s broader move toward measurable sustainability and governance.

The Digital Product Passport: regulation or revolution?