Illustrative case · EU Right to Repair

EU Right to Repair changes the economics of selling appliances.

Keeping washing machines in use longer means planning for parts, service and the profit left after the sale.

The commercial opportunity: turn a sustainability requirement into repair support customers choose, at a cost the business can sustain.

A real regulatory challenge. An illustrative business response, not a client result.

Explore the example

The challenge

Repair costs can eat into profit.
How should the business respond?

Consider an established manufacturer selling washing machines through retailers. EU Right to Repair, alongside existing product rules, makes repair support a business issue. Parts stock, fault diagnosis and engineers all cost money, sometimes years after the sale.

There is a real trade-off: keeping machines working longer can mean fewer replacement sales. Can better support help win customers and reduce avoidable repair costs enough to justify the investment? Raising repair prices alone may push households towards replacing the machine instead.

The sale is only the beginning.

01
Parts and availabilityCash tied up in stock. The cost of missing a part.
02
Repair and serviceDiagnosis, labour, travel and repeat visits.
03
Customer confidenceClear prices and less time without a working machine.

The approach

Meet the requirement.
Choose how to compete.

We would compare three responses for one range in one market: adapt current operations, use a service partner, or make repair support a reason to choose the product. Every route must meet the applicable requirements. A partner could also deliver the stronger customer offer.

With the commercial team, we would test what households value, what retailers can sell and what service partners can deliver. A stronger offer might include clear repair prices for common faults and dependable booking. We would develop its pricing, business case and route to market; engineering and legal specialists would confirm feasibility and obligations.

Three commercial responses.

Adapt the existing model

Meet requirements through current operations. Focus investment on parts, diagnosis and avoidable costs.

Use a service partner

Buy in repair capacity rather than build it. Compare partner fees with investment, control and service quality.

Compete on repair support

Give a selected range a stronger reason to buy: clear repair prices, easy booking and dependable service.

The potential outcome

A costed commercial response.
Tested before a wider launch.

The client would leave with a preferred route, a defined offer and pricing, a retailer sales brief and a costed pilot. Its repair history could identify where costs can fall; its retailer and service relationships could help bring the offer to market.

The pilot would measure customer response and actual delivery costs. Longer-term profit would remain an estimate, using historical fault rates and scenarios for future repairs and replacement sales. A short trial cannot prove lifetime returns. We would agree what evidence would justify expanding, changing or stopping the offer.

Evidence now. Estimates over time.

Measure in the pilot

Customer response. Delivery costs.

Track sales conversion, repair take-up, completed jobs, repeat visits and cost per repair against an agreed comparison.

Estimate over time

Profit across the machine’s life.

Use repair history and scenarios to estimate future service costs, income and fewer replacement sales. Update as evidence arrives.

Behind the example

The regulatory starting point

The EU Right to Repair Directive establishes repair obligations for specified products, subject to scope and conditions. Member States were required to transpose and apply it from 31 July 2026. Washing machines are included through the relevant product-specific repairability requirements; existing ecodesign rules also matter. This is not a universal obligation to repair every appliance indefinitely.

Before client work, legal specialists would confirm national implementation, applicable product rules, the responsible entity and existing consumer rights. Regulatory context checked on 4 October 2026; not legal advice.

The economics to compare

Compare adapting current operations, partner-led delivery and a differentiated repair offer for a selected range. The third route could use internal or partner delivery. Include product contribution, warranty costs, parts inventory and obsolescence, labour, logistics, partner fees, investment and any paid service income.

Allow for fewer replacement sales if products stay in use longer. Do not double-count warranty savings and service income. Mandatory remedies must not be repackaged as a paid extra; optional services must add value beyond existing entitlements.

What would make the offer credible?

Households need affordable, timely repairs. Retailers need a promise they can explain and trust. Service partners need parts access and viable job economics. The manufacturer needs an adequate return after all delivery costs.

Test willingness to choose and pay against competitor offers and independent repair alternatives. Choose a bounded pilot before promising national service levels. A proposed budget owner is the product or business-unit leader, with commercial and aftersales teams accountable for delivery.

Where sustainability must be proven

Repair can extend useful life, but repair activity alone does not establish lower environmental impact. Examine actual life extension, parts and transport impacts, and energy and water performance against replacement. No blanket environmental benefit, price premium or financial uplift is assumed.

The thinking behind the case

The Access Advantage, particularly Chapter 12, connects product architecture and service obligations with the ability to compete over time. Competing on New Ground adds the distinction between customer value, company returns and competitive advantage. This case applies that thinking to a proposed engagement; it is not a completed client project.

Primary sources: Directive (EU) 2024/1799, washing-machine ecodesign Regulation (EU) 2019/2023, and the Council’s right-to-repair overview. Company circumstances, offer and pilot are illustrative. Hero image is AI-generated.

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