How to Sell on Zalando: Europe’s Leading Marketplace for Fashion and Lifestyle

By 2024, fashion ecommerce in Europe is projected to reach €130 billion in revenue. Anouck van Rietschoten, the Head of Operations at Incubeta Maze-One shares:

“Zalando offers great opportunities for brands in the fashion, sports and beauty categories. Given the right integration and strategy, a brand in this space can benefit enormously from a growing customer base across no less than 25 markets.” 

Incubeta

Zalando has taken Europe by storm, growing from a pioneering start-up into a household name within the region in just a few years. Founded in Berlin in 2008, what started out as a small online shoe shop quickly became a market leader for online shoe sales by 2010.

Today, Zalando is considered Europe’s leading marketplace for fashion and lifestyle products, representing close to 6,000 brands ranging from world-famous names to small-scale local labels. The company aims to reach €20 billion in revenue by 2030.

Facts and Figures (Zalando, 2022)

  • ~10.4 billion euros in revenue in 2021
  • >250 million orders in 2021
  • >49 million active customers
  • >7 billion website visits per year
  • >17,000 employees

How to Sell on Zalando

Zalando offers three types of partnership models:

  1. Wholesale
  2. Partner Program
  3. Connected Retail

Wholesale. Considered the classic retail model, Zalando buys from suppliers, stores goods in warehouses, and then sells to customers.

Partner Program. As the marketplace models, partners can connect to the Zalando platform and sell directly to customers.

Connected Retail. In other words, this is the omnichannel model whereby physical stores connect to the Zalando platform and sell directly to customers.

Many brands use more than one model, where commission ranges between 5-25% of the sales price (depending on the product category and price). You can integrate your articles and stock directly into the Zalando Fashion Store, retaining full control over assortment, price, and brand representation. This increases choices and convenience for customers, manageable under one Zalando roof.

Brands that meet Zalando’s requirements can join its Partner Program via their website. A Zalando consultant guides you through the administrative set-up. After which, you can build your technical integrations, prepare your product selection and be ready to sell.

On top of the partnership models, Zalando also offers Zalando Fulfillment Solutions (ZFS), Zalando Marketing Services (ZMS), Offprice Services – Zalando Lounge exclusively for lounge members. As marketplace specialists, Incubeta Maze-One can help ensure your brand meets Zalando’s requirements.

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