France’s repairability index came into force on 1 January 2021 for five product categories, then was extended to four more in November 2022. Since then, a durability index has been gradually taking over for certain product families. For a PrestaShop merchant, these regulations translate into a concrete obligation: displaying a score, in a mandated format, in a specific location.
Non-compliance can be spotted in one second on a product page, which makes it an easy checkpoint for the authorities.
Who is affected
The obligation covers categories defined by decree, not commercial universes. It targets in particular smartphones, laptops, televisions, washing machines, electric lawnmowers, dishwashers, pressure washers and vacuum cleaners.
Three points matter. The obligation applies to every seller, including a reseller who did not manufacture the product. It applies online as well as in physical stores. And the score is not yours to calculate: it is established by the manufacturer according to a regulatory grid, and it must be passed on to you along with the detail of the criteria.
If a supplier does not provide you with this score, that is a problem to resolve with them before putting the product on sale, not grounds for exemption.
The display format
This is where implementations go wrong. The score is not just a number written in the description.
- A score out of 10, with one decimal. “7.8” and not “7.8/10 rounded to 8”.
- A regulatory pictogram, whose colour varies by score band, from red to green.
- A presentation close to the price, in the same visual field, readable without scrolling the page or opening a tab.
- The detail of the sub-criteria accessible to the consumer: documentation, ease of disassembly, spare parts availability, spare parts price, and a category-specific criterion.
The detail can sit behind a link or a tab, but the score and the pictogram must be visible immediately.
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Where to display it in PrestaShop
The product page is the mandatory location. In practice, this means attaching the display close to the price block, which depends on your theme.
On category pages, the display is not required in the same way, but it is recommended: a customer comparing two references in a list appreciates seeing the gap without opening both pages. It is also a sales argument when your products score well.
Two technical points not to miss. The score must follow the combination when it varies from one version to another, which is rare but does happen. And it must appear on the order summary as well as on the invoice for the categories where this is required, which means the data has to be carried by the order line and not only by the product page.
Storing the data properly
The reflex of writing the score into the product description is a false good idea. Three reasons.
You cannot list the products whose score is missing, so you cannot audit your compliance. You cannot change the display format without editing every page. And the data cannot be exported to your feeds, while comparison sites and marketplaces increasingly ask for it.
The score should be a structured product characteristic, just like weight, with one field per sub-criterion.
Penalties and inspections
Failure to display falls under commercial practices, with an administrative fine of up to 3,000 euros for an individual and 15,000 euros for a legal entity. Inspections by the French consumer protection authority (DGCCRF) regularly focus on this point, and they are easy to run: opening a few product pages is enough.
Displaying an incorrect score is treated more severely than not displaying one, since it then qualifies as misleading information. If you have doubts about a score sent by a supplier, verify it before publishing it.
The durability index
A second, broader index is taking over for certain categories. It includes repairability but adds the product’s reliability, robustness and upgradability. Televisions and washing machines are affected first, other families will follow.
For a merchant, the practical consequence is that the same catalog can carry both indices depending on the product, with different pictograms. Your implementation therefore has to handle both formats in parallel rather than assuming a single display.
Setting up the display
The Repairability and Durability Index module for PrestaShop addresses this need on PrestaShop 8 and 9: structured fields per product and per sub-criterion, regulatory pictogram coloured by score, display close to the price on the product page and optionally in listings, and detection of affected products whose score is missing.