Contents: 

  1. General guidelines for using Good On You brand ratings
  2. Disclaimer
  3. Specific use cases for retailers and e-commerce platforms
  4. Data usage terms

 

General guidelines for using Good On You brand ratings

The landscape of sustainability claims is changing rapidly. New regulations are emerging in the EU and around the world, making it more important than ever for brands and retailers to communicate sustainability information accurately and compliantly—and that includes Good On You’s ratings.

Each use of a Good On You rating as a specific sustainability claim needs to be clearly explained to the consumer. For consumers to find products from highly rated brands, they first need to understand what the Good On You rating means in ways that do not mislead and are compliant with sustainability claims regulation. You achieve that by communicating precisely and specifically.

The good news is that Good On You can make it easy for you to comply with emerging legislation and provide the information that growing numbers of consumers are looking for. 

But to do this, there are some rules you’ll need to follow. In particular, retailers and platforms should ensure they do the following:

  • Use a precise categorisation or filter that allows the consumer to discover products from brands rated by Good On You.
  • Give clear definitions of what the categorisation and the Good On You rating means.
  • Make clear that it refers to the overall performance of the brand, not the product.
  • Make it easy for consumers to find more detailed information where required, within one click.
  • Not deviate from any textual or visual communications made by Good On You.

The following sections show you how to do this in practice, with examples relevant to the work of sustainability teams, product designers, and marketers. The advice directly addresses online communications, but similar issues may arise in physical retail settings and on-product claims, as well.

 

Disclaimer

The suggestions in the following sections are based on legal advice provided to Good On You. We offer these as suggestions as to how you may consider using Good On You ratings to empower customers/users of your platform to confidently choose products from more sustainable brands. You should obtain your own legal advice based on decisions you make about how you choose to use the data and communicate with consumers on your platform and in your marketing.

 

Specific use cases for retailers and e-commerce platforms

If you plan to launch new features like a shopping category or filter to help consumers find products from brands that are rated highly by Good On You, then you’ll want to review the following examples to see what best practice looks like. And if you already use Good On You brand ratings in these ways, we’ve provided further guidance highlighting where you might need to tweak your terminology or update visual assets—the examples illustrate how a hypothetical e-commerce platform might approach this in a compliant way.

 

1. You can use ratings for shopping filters and categories

Figure 1: Good On You brand ratings are a consumer-friendly way to create shopping filters and categories, though you need to ensure your wording is not misleading.

Having a shopping filter or category helps consumers find brands and products that better match their values in order to make more informed choices. The filter itself is considered a sustainability claim and so it is important that it does not mislead. Regulators will likely scrutinise absolute sustainability claims, such as labelling a brand or product as "sustainable" or "conscious", especially if these claims cannot be adequately supported—so they are best avoided. Finding alternatives can be challenging as filter labels often need to be concise for technical reasons. 

Here are some key points on navigating this challenge:

  1. Be precise with the filter terminology
  2. Be clear about the kinds of products/brands included within the filter so customers can understand exactly what each filter means
  3. Ensure the claim can be substantiated. 

A filter featuring brands rated highly by Good On You offers the precision, clarity and substantiation required to make sustainability claims. If you consider further evidence, certifications, and indicators in your criteria for what brands and products appear in your filter in addition to Good On You’s ratings, that will likely require you to consider different terminology that would stand up to regulatory scrutiny. 

The following examples are based on filters that solely lead to products from brands highly rated by Good On You. The following is a list of terms that could be considered for a filter using Good On You ratings, based on our understanding of the regulatory landscape.

Specific filter terms using Good On You

These terms clearly show the characteristics of the products included in this filter, and their relation to Good On You ratings. Ideally, they also indicate that products have been selected because of a brand rating.

  • [Brand] Rated 5/5 by Good On You
  • Rated 4/5 by Good On You
  • Rated 3/5 by Good On You
  • Rated by Good On You
  • Rated high by Good On You
  • Rated Good On You
  • Good On You preferred 

Less specific terms

The following terms are less precise but more succinct. The reference to “ratings” is also considered helpful.

  • Ethical ratings
  • Brand ethical ratings
  • Impact ratings
  • Rated Good 
  • High rated
  • High rated Brand
  • Sustainability ratings

Other general terms 

The below terms may be considered. However, using them may risk scrutiny from regulators as they are rather broad to be readily substantiated. 

  • Positive action 
  • More ethical
  • More sustainable
  • More conscious
  • [bespoke retailer label] brand 

 

2. You can use Good On You’s assets as visual aids

Figure 2: Good On You’s smiley icons can help you communicate ratings in an accessible way to consumers, and our enterprise customers are free to use them consistent with our guidance.

Good On You ratings visual assets can be used to support the filter terms outlined above. But you must not misrepresent the Good On You ratings. Check out the dos and don’ts, illustrated in figure 2, and follow these quick tips:

  • You must use the five-point ratings, labels and symbols strictly with the same words and meaning as we do. 
  • You can use people, planet and animal rating categories to support the overall brand ratings. However, selecting just one or two of the three categories, in other words, omitting part of the explanation, could be considered misleading.
  • Be careful not to position the rating symbol next to the product without clarity that it relates to the brand (find some advice below on explaining that to consumers).
  • Avoid recolouring assets, especially using the colour green.

 

3. You’ll need to explain what Good On You ratings mean

Whichever approach is used to create a shopping filter or category using Good On You ratings, retailers should include clear explanations of what the categorisation means for the consumer. For this not to be considered misleading, the consumer needs to access up-to-date information, so links must be maintained and functioning at all times. We provide solutions to make that easier in the sections below.

 

4. You should explain it on search results pages 

Figure 3: Consumers need to be able to clearly understand what Good On You ratings mean when they’re used for a search filter or category—for example, on a hypothetical search results page.

This should include a summary of what a Good On You rating means on any page where the claim appears, such as the search results page and/or product page (see example text below). Where needed, the definitions on these pages (or popups) should include links to more detailed information, at most only one click away. 

Example text that could appear on relevant search results or category pages:

“Rated by Good On You” [or “Preferred”] items come from brands rated 4 or 5 out of 5 by Good On You, an independent sustainability ratings system evaluating brands based on their public disclosures. This means brands adopt many good policies and practices on issues relating to people, planet and animals in their supply chains. Learn more about Good On You ratings [Link]." 

 

5. You should explain it on product pages, too

Figure 4: When they click through to a product page, consumers should be able to quickly identify an explainer section.

Product pages should also provide the consumers with a detailed explanation of what the Good On You rating and filter/category means, with links to more information close to the definition itself. It should be clear that the rating applies to the brand, not the product. If there is a difference in selection between smaller and larger brands, this should be made clear. 

Example text that could appear on a product page:

"This product comes from a brand that is rated highly [rated 4 out of 5 (“Good”)] by Good On You, an independent sustainability ratings system evaluating brands based on their public disclosures. This means brands adopt many good policies and practices on issues relating to people, planet and animals in their supply chains. Learn more about Good On You ratings [Link]. 

To qualify as [filter name], large brands need to score a minimum of 4 out of 5 (“Good”), while small brands must score 3 out of 5 (“It’s a Start”)—reflecting the fact that larger brands have more influence, resources, and control over their supply chains. These rating thresholds mean brands have a higher level of good practice across a wide range of sustainability issues."

 

6. You can dive deeper into our ratings on a helpful page with more details

While information should always be clearly visible and accessible on search result pages and product pages, it’s also a good idea to give consumers an opportunity to dive deeper. This is not only best practice in terms of transparency, it can also help retailers and platforms build trust by demonstrating how you’ve partnered with an independent, trusted source consumers can rely on for up-to-date information on how the brands they’re considering rate by Good On You.

Example text that could appear on a page with more details:

[Retailer] is committed to giving consumers accurate sustainability information they can trust, backed by Good On You brand ratings.

About our [“Rated by Good On You” or “Preferred”] filter

“Rated by Good On You” [or “Preferred”] items come from brands rated 4 or 5 out of 5 by Good On You, an independent sustainability ratings platform based on public disclosures. This means brands adopt many good policies and practices to manage people, planet and animal issues across their supply chain. Good On You provides an overall rating on a five-point scale—from 1 (‘We Avoid’) to 5 (‘Great’)—so consumers can have the full picture on the impact of their choices. Learn more about Good On You ratings [Link]. 

To qualify as [filter name], large brands need to score a minimum of 4 out of 5 (“Good”), while small brands must score 3 out of 5 (“It’s a Start”)—reflecting the fact that larger brands have more influence, resources, and control over their supply chains. These rating thresholds mean brands have a higher level of good practice across a wide range of sustainability issues.

[Add detailed description of each brand rating label, using the up-to-date descriptions from Good On You’s rating guides.]

 

7. You can use Good On You’s existing resources to inform consumers 

When it comes to talking about and using Good On You ratings, your best bet is to link out to our hub page for rating explainer content, which is already written and formatted to make it easy and accessible for consumers to read. You can link to this URL: https://goodonyou.eco/how-we-rate

This page is updated regularly to reflect changes in our methodology (such as the issues we cover or the sources of information considered in brand ratings). Our team of editors and content experts also creates explainer and thought leadership content using our ratings data, which often addresses specific issues considered in our methodology. You can link out to this content at any point throughout your consumer journey to help educate and inform consumers. 

Good On You’s enterprise customers have the opportunity to use information from our ratings explainer content—such as copy found on the page URL provided above—on your own webpages, but in these cases, it’s important that someone on your team is responsible for ensuring that information is up to date and accurate. 

 

8. You can plug into Good On You’s API to keep everything up to date

As explained above, it’s crucial that consumers are able to access relevant and up-to-date information about what the sustainability criteria displayed on your website really mean. For this information to not be considered misleading, the consumer needs to be able to access up to date information at all times, so links must be maintained and functioning at all times. 

That’s where Good On You’s API can do a lot of the work for you. Once you’ve set it up and running, Good On You’s enterprise customers can ensure all of their information is up to date at all times—including essential tasks like keeping brand ratings updated but also supporting you with consumer engagement content. 

For example, through the API, you can surface URLs for every brand rating page on the Good On You directory (e.g. https://directory.goodonyou.eco/[brand name]). This makes it a cinch to quickly give consumers a way to identify the exact brand rating on the Good On You dashboard and go deeper into how Good On You rated the brand. You could, for example, provide a prominent call-to-action button on product pages that would link users to each brand rating on Good On You’s directory. This, as regulations require, would give timely and up-to-date information about the brand rating, and it would also instil confidence in consumers that you’ve partnered with a trusted, independent source for this information.

For more information on our API, refer to the Good On You Developer Guide. 

 

Data usage terms 

As outlined in our standard agreement terms, partners may use Good On You ratings and data to:

  • Provide information about the ethical and sustainability performance of brands included in the Data to users of your website, app and/or other digital communication channels. 
  • Inform its choices in respect of partnering with and/or marketing certain brands or merchants; and
  • Identify brands to invite to use Good Measures.

In doing so, please ensure you:

  • Do not modify, alter or adapt the ratings data in any way.
  • Do not disclose the data to any third party without our prior written consent.
  • Maintain the security of all usernames and passwords supplied by Good On You.

Please refer to the terms and your Data Services Agreement for more detailed conditions of use.