Zalando Extends Retour Illico to Villeurbanne and Toulouse

Convenient pickup service makes returns easier than ever

Berlin, 25.04.2018. Zalando, Europe’s leading online platform for fashion, will extend its popular pilot “Retour Illico” within France. In addition to Paris and its suburbs and Lyon, the service is now also available in Villeurbanne and Toulouse. Retour Illico enables customers to have their returns picked up quickly and easily at their desired location, be it at home, at work or from the café around the corner. The pilot which was introduced in Paris in autumn 2016 is run in cooperation with Stuart, a French startup specializing in last-mile delivery.

“We are constantly testing new and innovative services that address our customer’s needs. For Zalando, it’s all about bringing the dressing room home; that’s why we aim to make returns as easy as possible”, says Jonathan Trepo, Country Manager France. “Retour Illico offers a flexible and convenient solution, and we have received positive feedback from our customers in Paris and Lyon. That’s why we’re happy to announce that we will extend the service to Villeurbanne, close to Lyon and introduce it to customers in Toulouse.”

During the pilot, the service will be available free of charge seven days a week between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. Specifying an address, the customer schedules a request for a return, and a courier arrives within approximately 15 minutes to pick up and deliver the parcel to a local post station nearby. “The pilots have been going really well so far. Pickups often may just take around nine minutes. Customers really value the service: they can return goods without lining up at the post office. Overall, we’ve noticed that Retour Illico customers are more loyal to Zalando and they keep coming back to our shop”, says Jonathan Trepo. “Returns should never be a hassle, our customers are encouraged to order a selection of items and to choose the ones they like best. This is part of the Zalando shopping experience. It is our goal to offer a frictionless experience for all our French customers and convenient returns are a natural part of that.”

The service is piloted in several countries across Europe including Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium and the UK, and is available across Germany as part of Zalando Plus.