Zalando’s Plans for the Year of Sports

BERLIN, February 16, 2024 // 2024 is the year of sports with major sporting events taking place across Europe. Sports are an important part in the life of our customers, and Sports apparel is part of expressing their identity. We want to enable this through an exciting and inclusive assortment as well as inspirational experiences. There is no better time than now to zoom into the recent developments in our sports category and the plans for the year ahead.

New partnership with On excites customers in 23 markets

Having launched several inspiring sports brands such as lululemon, Rapha and Hoka on Zalando last year, we are happy to welcome the next innovative, popular partner in our fashion store: the Swiss brand On will launch today via the Partner Program with around 100 styles in 22 Zalando markets. The collection includes men's and women's shoes and apparel with a focus on performance and running in 2024. On will rely on Zalando Fulfilment Solutions for the efficient processing of orders and convenient delivery to customers in most markets. Zalando and On will expand their partnership throughout the year, adding more styles and launching in the brand’s home country of Switzerland as the 23rd market.

Cornelius Lay, acting Director of Sports at Zalando, says: “The mission of our Sports offering is to inspire and engage customers to be active every day and empower them to be their personal best. Thus, we are thrilled to be able to add On, the Swiss brand known for its running culture, performance and innovation, to our assortment. We believe that running is for everyone and by launching On we have found an important partner supporting us on our mission.” 

Bianca Pestalozzi, General Manager EMEA at On, says: “At its heart, On is a sports brand deep-rooted in running and an active lifestyle. On's goal is to interact with our customers where they move – on the running tracks, in the gyms, and online. The partnership with Zalando opens up a new, young, and active audience for us in one fell swoop.”

Adaptive Sports collection will launch this year as part of our Private Labels assortment

The year of Sports also holds other exciting developments for our customers. After introducing  Zalando’s first Adaptive Fashion collection in October 2022, we are now preparing to launch our first Adaptive Sports collection later this year via our private label brands Pier One and Even&Odd. The collection was designed for and with feedback from disabled people with active lifestyles, such as runners and skiers who use prosthetics.

Jemma Garner, Principal Business Developer for Product Diversity & Inclusion at Zalando, explains: “Our vision is to be a fashion destination that is welcoming to everyone and that offers access to fashion without limitations, covering all areas of life, including sports. We see a gap in the sportswear market - finding fashionable and affordable adaptive sports clothing still represents a major challenge for disabled people. With this launch, we aim to make fashionable sports styles available for people with disabilities.”

More inspiration for our sports customers

Sports apparel, shoes, accessories and equipment often contribute to how motivated and confident someone feels while exercising or playing their sport. We want to make finding the right sports apparel and products easier and more inspiring for our customers. Customers can already explore and get inspired by brand stories, product details, influencer content and tips and tricks from athletes in our Sports Home and our dedicated spaces for Outdoor Sports, Running and Training. Now customer inspiration goes next level with the recently launched Stories on Zalando, a new experience allowing customers to discover exciting fashion and culture trends through expertly curated content in visual-first formats like short videos, including seamless connections to purchasing inspiring products they truly love. This new experience is now available in the Sports Home, making it easy for customers to get inspired and learn more about exciting brands and products. 

With functionality and durability important factors in sports apparel, shoes, accessories and equipment, we’ve launched elevated product pages that better highlight product information and use video to show products in motion. And so, the year of sports has officially begun on Zalando.