Building the ecosystem for fashion and lifestyle e-commerce

We started our journey as a retailer in 2008, seizing the era’s online and mobile shift. Our success stemmed from offering a vast selection and unmatched convenience to a digital audience. Over time, we transformed from a pure retailer into a platform for thousands of brands. We set out to create the starting point for fashion, unconstrained by inventory ownership, enabling customers to find and purchase any fashion item with ease.

Today, Zalando is a leading meeting point for people and lifestyle brands in Europe. It is a place where 50 million people come to shop fashion and lifestyle each year; a place where thousands of brands are connected to customers across Europe, from global fashion players to local heroes and beauty specialists. By connecting these diverse brands on a single platform, supported by Europe’s largest logistics network for fashion and lifestyle, we’ve built something truly unique and impactful.

Now it is time for the next phase. Zalando is evolving from a platform to an ecosystem for fashion and lifestyle, expanding the scope and impact of our business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) growth vectors. The ecosystem model enables us to serve a larger share of the growing fashion and lifestyle e-commerce market while fostering deeper relationships with customers and partners by addressing many more of their challenges and needs. Furthermore, we remain committed to driving sustainability and equity at scale, shaping a better future for the fashion industry.

Business-to-Consumer

In B2C, we are positioning Zalando as the premier destination for quality fashion, lifestyle shopping, and inspiration. This marks a shift from a transaction-driven platform to a leading multi-brand destination offering personalised content and engaging experiences. We achieve this by enhancing the quality and relevance of our fashion and lifestyle offerings and investing in a personalised, inspirational, and entertaining e-commerce experience. We will always lead with quality, offering our customers the best-loved brands, a shopping environment characterised by trust, and innovative digital experiences. Additionally, we empower customers to make more sustainable and inclusive choices.

Business-to-Business

In B2B, we are building an operating system to power the entire e-commerce operations of fashion and lifestyle brands and retailers across Europe’s complex market—both on and off the Zalando platform. Europe’s vast untapped e-commerce potential makes this a significant opportunity, enhancing Zalando’s long-term value by leveraging the unique capabilities we have been developing for over 16 years. 

For partners, this means access to our integrated logistics infrastructure, software, and services. With Zalando’s e-commerce operating system, ZEOS, brands and retailers can manage their entire online business, from integration to customer fulfillment. With ZEOS, we spearhead a new way of operating multi-channel fashion and lifestyle e-commerce.

Our business areas – from a customer perspective

We offer customers multiple touchpoints to engage with the fashion world – from online retail, private labels and a shopping club to personalised style and size advice through AI. In doing so, Zalando plays its strengths in the digital arena.

Zalando’s fashion app and online store

Zalando tailors its online shops to local customers’ needs in 25 European markets. Zalando offers customers an extensive range of fashion and lifestyle items, featuring renowned global brands and local heroes alike. In addition, customers can discover Zalando's six private labels, designed in-house.

We combine fashion and technology to deliver a high-quality, inspirational shopping experience for our customers. This includes personalised fashion and style recommendations tailored to their preferences and past purchases, advanced size guidance solutions to help them find the perfect fit on the first try, and our AI-powered Zalando Assistant, which enables conversational navigation of our assortment to help customers discover what they love.

Zalando Outlets and the shopping club Lounge by Zalando

The offprice business of Zalando offers a sales channel for assortments of previous seasons. The shopping club Lounge by Zalando offers registered members exclusive sales campaigns at discounted prices. Furthermore, customers can benefit from special deals at our outlet shops in several German cities. 

Zalando's private labels – completing the assortment

As a multi-brand fashion company, we have been developing in-house fashion brands in the heart of Berlin since 2010. Zalando’s private label assortment comprises 6 brands - Anna Field, Even & Odd, Friboo, Pier One, Yourturn and Zign - and includes footwear, clothing and accessories for women, men and children – all of which address diverse Zalando audiences and fill the gaps in our range. Our private labels also serve as our innovative lab where we can test new approaches, such as adaptive fashion or material innovations, that contribute to driving positive change in the fashion industry.

Our business areas – from a partner perspective

Our partnerships are fundamental to our business strategy. We aim to overcome existing industry inefficiencies and create win-win-win opportunities for partners, their customers, and us on and off Zalando’s premises.

Zalando Partner Services

Next to Wholesale, we offer brand and retail partners a direct-to-consumer sales channel through our Partner Program and Connected Retail partnership models. Thereby Zalando helps industry players such as brands and retailers to be successful in the digital world by connecting their warehouse stocks and physical retail with our fashion app and online store digitising processes involved in e-commerce operations. Furthermore, with Zalando Partner Marketing Services we assist partners with full-funnel marketing strategies and campaigns, ensuring comprehensive support throughout their digital journey.

ZEOS: Europe, unlocked

Established as a brand in 2023, ZEOS is developing tools that allow brands and retailers to manage their multi-channel business in one place. ZEOS helps fashion and lifestyle industry players unlock Europe’s full potential by enabling seamless e-commerce across the continent: from new market entry and expansion to optimisation and business steering. ZEOS also offers fulfillment, shipping, and return services for partners selling through Zalando.