The last step in your customer journey

At Avelero, we believe the Digital Product Passport regulation isn't just another box to check, it's infrastructure for a post-purchase channel between brands and customers. If implemented correctly, the DPP becomes the last step in the customer journey.

The European Union's ESPR (Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation) requires that fashion products carry a Digital Product Passport containing information about materials, manufacturing, environmental impact, care instructions, and end-of-life handling. The regulation is intended to enable circular economy practices and give consumers transparency into what they're buying. Most brands are approaching this as a supply chain documentation problem. They're building systems to collect factory certifications, material breakdowns, and carbon footprint data, then dumping it into a basic webpage. The customer scans the code, sees a wall of compliance text, and never interacts with it again. This approach misses the point entirely.

Post-purchase engagement only works when it solves a real problem for the customer, not when it's just an excuse to market to them. Brands try to stay in touch through email newsletters or loyalty programs, but customers can tell when they're being sold to. The DPP is different because it's anchored to something they already own and are actively using. When someone scans it, they're usually looking for something specific: how to wash the item, how to fix it, whether it's authentic, what it's worth for resale. If you give them that information in a way that's actually useful, they'll keep coming back. And customers, particularly younger ones, increasingly think about longevity and resale value when they buy clothing. According to ThredUp's 2024 Resale Report, the secondhand fashion market is expected to hit $350 billion by 2028, growing 3X faster than the overall global fashion market. Younger consumers view clothing as an investment rather than something disposable. They want to know an item will last, that they can repair it if something breaks, and that they can resell it later without taking a massive loss. The DPP is the infrastructure that makes all of this possible.

The current state of post-purchase engagement

To understand why the DPP matters, you have to see how fragmented the post-purchase experience is right now. Every touchpoint a customer needs after buying something exists in a different place, and none of them talk to each other.

Care instructions? Maybe on a label they've already cut off, maybe buried somewhere on your website under "Product Care," maybe they have to email customer support. Washing instructions? Same problem, different format. If something breaks and they want to know about warranty coverage, that's another hunt. Customer support for repairs? That's a separate phone number or email form. Want to resell the item? They're on their own trying to prove authenticity on Poshmark or Depop, with no documentation from the brand.

The DPP solves all of this. If the customer can scan a code on the jacket and immediately access care instructions, repair guides, warranty information, and a resale or buyback program, the friction just disappears. The brand stays in the customer's life without being intrusive. The customer gets value from the engagement. And you capture data on how the product is being used, which informs future product development and marketing. Everyone wins.

The DPP as infrastructure for engagement

The key shift here is thinking of the DPP not as a compliance document but as infrastructure. It's a permanent channel that sits with the product for its entire life. Unlike email or social media, the customer only accesses it when they actually need something, which means every interaction has context and intent. They're not being marketed to, they're looking for help. That changes the dynamic entirely.

The most obvious use case is care and maintenance. Instead of a care label with cryptic laundry symbols, the DPP can link to a simple explanation, or video tutorial showing exactly how to wash, dry, and store the item. This isn't just helpful for the customer, it also extends the life of the product, which reduces the environmental footprint and increases customer satisfaction. A study by WRAP found that extending the life of clothing by just nine months reduces its carbon, water, and waste footprints by 20%. Customers care about this, and they're more likely to repurchase from a brand that helps them take care of their products.

The second use case is repair and warranty. If a button falls off or a zipper breaks, the customer should be able to scan the passport and either find a repair guide or be connected to a repair service. Some brands are already experimenting with repair programs, but they're often unclear to access or poorly communicated. The DPP makes it frictionless. You can even integrate it with local tailors or repair shops, so the customer doesn't have to ship the item back to you. This is better for the customer and cheaper for the brand. The third use case is resale and authenticity. The secondhand market is growing, and customers increasingly want to resell items they no longer wear. The problem is that resale platforms like Poshmark, Depop, and Vestiaire Collective struggle with authentication, especially for newer or less established brands. The DPP solves this. If a customer can scan the passport and verify that the item is authentic, it removes friction from the resale process and increases the item's value. Some brands are going further and building their own resale or buyback programs into the passport. Patagonia, for example, has a buyback program where customers can trade in used items for store credit. The DPP makes this easier to implement because it provides a record of the item's history and condition. This isn't just good for sustainability, it's good for customer retention. If a customer knows they can resell an item or trade it in later, they're more likely to make the initial purchase.

The fourth use case is storytelling and brand engagement. This is where most brands underinvest. The DPP is a chance to remind the customer why they bought the product in the first place. You can include information about the materials, the craftsmanship, the people who made it, or the environmental impact. You can also use it to suggest complementary products or share content related to the item. If someone bought a coat, the passport could link to styling tips, outfit ideas, or accessories that pair well with it. This keeps the brand top of mind without being pushy. It's contextual engagement, which is much more effective than generic email blasts.

Why most brands are getting this wrong

The reason most brands aren't taking advantage of the DPP is that they're building it with the wrong mindset. The DPP is being treated as a supply chain or compliance project, which means the focus is on data collection and regulatory requirements. The result is a system that's functional but unusable. The interface looks like a government form. The data is dense and unformatted. The user experience is terrible. Customers scan the code once, see a wall of text, and never come back.

This is a missed opportunity because the DPP is a customer-facing product, not a back-end system. It should be designed with the same care as your e-commerce site or your product pages. The interface should be clean and branded. The information should be organized in a way that's easy to navigate. The interactions should feel native to your brand, not like you're handing the customer off to a third-party compliance platform. Most software in this space is built for supply chain managers, not for customers. It's slow, clunky, and ugly. Avelero is different because we're building the DPP as a customer experience first and a compliance tool second. We prioritize design, speed, and usability because we know that if the experience isn't intuitive and visually appealing, customers won't engage with it.

Another issue is that most brands are treating the DPP as a static document. They generate the passport when the product is manufactured, fill in the required fields, and then never update it. But the DPP should be a living document that evolves with the product. If a customer gets an item repaired, that should be logged in the passport. If they resell it, the new owner should be able to access the same information. If the brand launches a new complementary product or a care guide, that should appear in the passport. This requires a system that's flexible and easy to update, which most compliance platforms aren't designed for.

What we've built so far

We built Avelero to solve the specific problems brands face when trying to turn the DPP into a customer engagement channel. The first problem is integration. Most brands have product data spread across multiple systems: e-commerce platforms like Shopify, ERP systems, PLM software, and manufacturing databases. Pulling all of this data together and formatting it for the DPP is time-consuming and error-prone. We automate this process so that product data flows into the passport automatically. You don't have to manage spreadsheets or manually enter information. The system pulls from your existing tools and formats everything correctly.

The second problem is design. The DPP needs to look and feel like your brand, not like a generic compliance page. We built a theme editor where you can customize the passport to match your visual identity. You can adjust colors, fonts, layouts, and content blocks to make the passport feel like an extension of your website. This matters because customers associate the passport with your brand, and if it looks cheap or poorly designed, it reflects poorly on you.

The third problem is speed. Most DPP platforms require a six-month integration project with multiple stakeholders, custom development, and endless back-and-forth. We designed Avelero to be fast. You can set up a basic passport in a few hours and start generating codes for your products. As you add more data or build out more features, the system scales with you. This is important because the regulation is coming in 2027, and brands that wait until the last minute are going to be scrambling.

The fourth problem is ongoing management. The DPP isn't a one-time setup, it's an ongoing process. You'll need to update care instructions, add new repair partners, integrate resale programs, and refresh content to keep customers engaged. We built the system to be easy to manage without requiring a dedicated team. You can make updates through a simple interface, and changes propagate to all existing passports immediately. This keeps the experience fresh and relevant for customers.

What's yet to come

The shift from a linear to a circular model in fashion isn't just about sustainability, it's about economics. The brands that figure out how to extend customer relationships beyond the initial sale are going to have a significant advantage over those that don't. The DPP is the infrastructure that makes this possible. It's not the only tool you'll need, but it's a foundational one. In a few years, interacting with a product post-purchase will be as normal as tracking a package is today. Customers will expect it. And brands that built this capability early will have a head start.

These are brands that understand the DPP isn't just about compliance, it's about building a better customer experience.

If that sounds like you, we'd like to talk.