What is Zalando

Zalando is a German e-commerce platform founded by Rocket Internet in Berlin in 2008, mainly selling shoes, fashion clothing, etc. Since the company was founded, Zalando's online retail business has gradually expanded to fifteen European countries such as Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, etc.

About Zalando

Zalando currently has more than 14.7 million active customers, more than 100 million visits per month, offers more than 150,000 products, and has a 10% share of the German fashion e-commerce market.

Zalando has 15 websites including Zalando.de and zalando.fr, but in order to compete with France's Ventre Privee (a luxury goods limited-time discount website), it has also launched its own discount platform - Zalando lounge. In addition, in order to digest inventory pressure, it opened a Zalando outlet in the Kreuzberg district of Berlin.

Store opening requirements

Zalndo hopes to provide customers with a unique shopping experience, so it hopes that the sellers can meet the following requirements and standards:

1. Product categories are as follows: clothing, shoes, accessories and sports (other categories of products are not accepted). Third-party brands entering the platform should preferably be supplementary brands needed by the platform;

2. Zalando offers free shipping and a 100-day free return policy, and expects sellers to offer the same service.

3. Third-party sellers on the Zalando platform do not have stores like Amazon and eBay. The seller’s brand name is only marked under the seller’s own listing. Zalando’s own products have priority;

4. In addition to strict requirements on product categories, Zalando also requires that product descriptions and pictures uploaded by third-party sellers must be consistent with the overall website style.

5. Regardless of the order amount, free shipping is provided;

6. The brand must have opened an online store;

7. Taking Zalando.de as an example, sellers or brands must have a registered office in Germany;

8. Sellers must have a valid business license and brand or obtain brand authorization.

Settlement and store opening fees

If Chinese sellers are interested in joining Zalando, the following is the email address of Zalando's investment promotion department. Sellers can send emails to the following address: [email protected].

Zalando charges a commission of 8% for every transaction completed by third-party brands on the platform. It also implements a tiered commission structure, which is suitable for rewarding high-quality sellers.

Development History

- Zalando was founded in 2008 by Rocket Internet, Robert Gentz ​​and David Schneider, initially as Ifansho.

- In 2009, Zalando began operating outside of Germany when it started delivering goods to Austria.

-After the huge success in 2009, Zalando slowly expanded its presence in Germany and neighboring European countries, starting with Austria (2009), followed by the Netherlands and France (2010). In 2011, Italy, the United Kingdom and Switzerland were added. Since 2012, online stores have been opened in Sweden, Belgium, Spain, Denmark, Finland, Poland and Norway.

-In 2013, Zalando's sales revenue exceeded 1 billion euros and the platform's customer base has accumulated to 13 million customers.

-At the end of 2014, Zalando had 14.7 million active customers, an increase of 600,000 in the fourth quarter, and annual revenue exceeded 2.2 billion euros.

- In 2015, Zalando achieved its expected revenue of 3 billion euros.

-Revenue in fiscal year 2016 was EUR 3.639 billion.

- In October 2017, Zalando launched a beauty concept store in Berlin that hosts product launches and events.