how do I inform my shop staff about the digital product passport for mattresses

Sellers do not need a passport, but they do need three answers ready

Shop staff do not need to be able to prepare or technically explain the digital product passport — that is the work of the manufacturer or importer, and the QR code on the mattress points to data they have provided. What sellers do need is a short, repeatable answer to three questions a customer might ask in the shop: what is that box with the QR code, where is the information, and why is it there. This is not product knowledge in the classical sense, it is more an explanation that belongs to the mattress just as much as the springs or the sleep climate.

For the sales floor, not for compliance questions

This explanation is intended for the conversation at the counter: a customer who sees the QR code and asks what it does, or someone who wonders whether the passport says anything about the quality of the mattress. A few lines of training is enough for that. What does not fall under this is the question of whether a specific mattress already has to have a passport by law — that is a legal question about whether the digital product passport applies to the mattresses in the shop, and the seller does not answer that off the top of their head but with what the supplier has provided. The question of whether a returned mattress or showroom model may still be sold without a passport is also not a question for the sales floor but for procurement or management; see the separate explanation on mattresses that are returned after trial sleep. The training of sellers is therefore about the message, not about the legal reasoning behind it.

No fixed date yet, but a fixed story to be trained

There is no published delegated act that specifies from when mattresses must have a digital product passport; that obligation works through a product-specific act under Article 18 of the ESPR (Regulation (EU) 2024/1781), and that does not yet exist for mattresses. Until that date is determined, practically nothing changes in the shop itself with regard to sales. What can already be done, and makes sense, is to get the staff used to the idea and terminology in advance, so that the introduction is no surprise on the floor. What concretely needs to be done while the rules are not yet final is explained on the page about what can already be done while the rules are not yet final.

What to do: from explanation to script to practice

The most practical starting point is one A4 with the core message: the digital product passport is a set of data about the mattress — materials, origin, maintenance, what to do with it when disposing of it — that can be consulted via a QR code on the mattress or the label. This explanation does not need to be more detailed than that, because the background is already accessibly described on the page about what a digital product passport for mattresses is exactly, and staff can consult that themselves if a question goes beyond the script.

Then it is useful to formulate a short answer to the question that comes up most often: "what is in there, and why do I need to scan it?" That answer is already written out on the page that specifically addresses what to answer when a customer in the shop asks about the passport — that text is essentially the script that sellers can adopt word for word or paraphrase.

It is then sensible to identify a few frequently asked follow-up questions that should not be answered by the seller themselves: questions about warranty, about what happens to a returned mattress (for which the explanation on the collection and recycling of old mattresses is relevant), or questions that are actually a complaint or inspection question. That last group belongs to the question what a supervisory authority asks when inspecting mattresses, and that is expressly a conversation for the owner or compliance officer, not for the shop floor.

Finally, it helps not to treat this as a one-time communication but as a permanent part of onboarding new staff, just like price labels and material knowledge. Anyone who wants to embed this in a broader process will find a complete overview in the steps on the page how to approach the product passport for mattresses step by step.

The foundation: who makes the passport, who shows it to the customer

The obligation to maintain and make available a digital product passport lies with the party that places the product on the market, as described in article 9 of the ESPR (Regulation (EU) 2024/1781); the substantive requirements for that passport — which data must be included and how it must be accessible — are set out in article 10 of the same regulation. Article 38 governs the requirements for actors in the supply chain, including distributors such as the bed specialist shop, and it is this provision from which it follows that a seller must keep the passport accessible to the customer without being the originator of that data themselves. When this obligation becomes concrete for mattresses depends on the product-specific delegated act under article 18, which does not yet exist at this time.

What to do now

Draw up the short script based on the pages above, have the staff practise that script once aloud on the most common customer question, and record who in the shop answers questions that go beyond the basic explanation — so that the sales assistant on the floor never has to guess.

Where this is based on

The regulation itself is on EUR-Lex. We provide references per statement; you do not have to take our word for it.

What you concretely must do

What is expected of you

Shop staff will soon stand between the customer and the QR code. That requires something different from a product course: sales staff need to know what the passport is and is not, where they can show it, and what to say when a customer asks about it critically.

Explaining what there is to see

The digital product passport contains product information recorded in accordance with article 9 and article 10 of the ESPR (Regulation (EU) 2024/1781): materials, composition, and data relevant to repair, maintenance or recycling. For a shop, this means above all that staff must know that the content of the passport is determined and supplied by the manufacturer or importer, not by the shop itself. Sales staff do not need to be able to relay the technical content, but must know that it exists and where the customer can find it. A good starting point for the team is the explanation on What is a digital product passport for mattresses?.

Being able to show the QR code and make it work

Article 9 of the ESPR prescribes that the passport is accessible via a data carrier, in practice a QR code on the product or packaging. For a shop floor, this means that every employee must know where this code is on the mattress, that it can be scanned with a mobile phone camera, and what happens if the code does not scan — for example due to damage to the label. With a team of 10 to 100 employees, spread across one or more locations, it is practical to treat this as a permanent part of product instruction: not as isolated information, but as part of preparing a showroom model.

Knowing who is responsible for what

Article 38 of the ESPR describes obligations for actors in the supply chain, including distributors. For a bed specialist shop, this means that the shop has a role in keeping the passport available to the customer, but not in compiling its content. Staff who understand this distinction give customers a more honest answer than staff who guess or make promises the shop cannot keep. This distinction is also at the heart of the reflex sales staff need when faced with a direct question on the floor, as described on what should I answer if a customer in the store asks about the product passport.

Knowing for which models it already applies

Article 18 of the ESPR regulates the prioritisation and scheduling of product groups: not all products receive a mandatory passport at the same time. For shop floor staff, this may be the most confusing point, because one mattress in the assortment may already have a passport while another does not yet. Staff prepared for this will not become confused if a customer places two models side by side and asks why there is a difference. For the question of whether a specific model is already subject to the obligation, this is Does the digital product passport apply to my mattresses? a logical next step.

Where things go wrong in practice

A few situations come up repeatedly in practice when shop staff are not well prepared.

A sales representative promises the customer that "all mattresses" have a passport, when this only applies to part of the assortment. This usually arises from lack of knowledge, not from unwillingness, but it does put the shop in a difficult position if the customer brings it up later.

A customer scans the QR code in the shop and receives an error message, because the label has been damaged by moving or trying out the showroom model. Staff then do not know whether this is a problem with the product, with the customer's phone, or with the passport itself, and respond uncertainly.

A sales representative is asked what happens to the environmental data in the passport and improvises an answer that is actually incorrect, because there is no agreed fixed wording within the team.

During an inspection by a supervisor, it turns out that no one on the floor can point out which staff member is responsible for keeping the QR labels on the showroom models up to date, making it unclear whether this was systematically neglected or a one-off occurrence. What a supervisor can ask exactly in such a conversation is described on What does a competent authority ask for during a mattress inspection?.

A customer who returns a mattress after a trial sleep asks whether the passport "goes with" the product or must be created anew, and the shop has not agreed internally on this — while this touches on the return procedure which even aside from the passport raises questions, as can be read on What do I do with mattresses that are returned after trial sleep?.

What you can record

For a shop team, it is especially useful to have a few things in writing beforehand, so that not every sales representative has to come up with an answer themselves:

A brief internal overview of which models in the current assortment already have a passport and which do not, maintained by one point of contact.
A fixed, simple text that sales representatives can use when a customer asks what the passport is and why it exists.
An instruction for checking and, if necessary, having QR labels replaced on showroom models, including who does this and how often.
A short list of "what if" situations: code does not scan, customer doubts the data, customer asks about a model without a passport.
References to your own suppliers or the platform where the passport is hosted, in case a customer or supervisor asks about the origin of the data.

For shops that want to prepare for this now, even though not every date is fixed, it is useful to look at What can I do now while the rules are not yet final? and go through this with the team, so that the explanation on the floor does not only come about at the moment the first customer asks about it.

This is not legal advice. This page provides general information about the legislation this platform concerns. We do not know your situation. If you are in doubt about your own case, consult a lawyer or the competent supervisory authority.

Written with AI based on the sources above, reviewed by a human on 2026-09-05. Is something not correct? Let us know — corrections are given priority.