Zalando and RTL+ pilot innovative in-stream shopping on TV series "Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten"

March 18, 2024
Technology
Customer with tablet: on screen GZSZ ist playing, underneath fashion items to chose from

Berlin/Cologne, March 13, 2024 - Zalando, the leading online destination for fashion and lifestyle, is piloting a completely new offer together with RTL+, Germany’s leading streaming service, - and viewers of the popular German series "Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten" (“Good times, bad times”) can try it out first!

Thanks to a tech innovation, it is now possible to shop for fashion products directly related to the content in the episodes on Zalando via the RTL+ app without leaving the stream. In addition, scene-specific information on the cast and music is also accessible. The interactive offer is available via the RTL+ iOS apps. The pilot project is being implemented in collaboration with RTL Germany, production company UFA Serial Drama, Zalando and a technical partner, Jay.

Matthias Haase

"User behaviour in fashion e-commerce is constantly changing. That's why we’re continuously testing how we can meet our customers' needs even better with inspiring and entertaining fashion and lifestyle content,” says Matthias Haase, Director of Zalando Content Solutions. “Our customers are inspired in many different ways. Series and films are definitely one of them. With the joint pilot project with RTL+, we can offer such inspiration paired with a direct multimedia shopping experience for the first time. We look forward to learning how customers accept this experience."

Henning Nieslony, Chief Streaming Officer of RTL Germany: "We are constantly developing our all-inclusive entertainment offering on RTL+. In doing so, we always keep a close eye on our customers' feedback. The pilot project for 'Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten' is particularly exciting for us because it covers many of the wishes frequently expressed by our users. We are very pleased to be implementing it together with our partners at UFA, Zalando and Jay and to gain new insights into the use of such offers."

The new technology is implemented by the Jay technology platform, a service provided by the company transfermedia from Potsdam-Babelsberg. For this purpose, information from the production of the series is summarized, combined with the Zalando offer and transferred in real time to the RTL+ streaming app. When users pause the stream, they can buy fashion items directly from Zalando within the RTL+ experience.
 
"All information and the entire shopping process are displayed directly in the streaming app. And it's as simple and intuitive as possible. We never take viewers out of the viewing experience," says Peter Effenberg, founder of Jay.

The new in-stream shopping offer has been available for all RTL+ users with iOS, iPadOS and macOS devices since March 11th.

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About Zalando

Founded in Berlin in 2008, Zalando is Europe’s leading online multi-brand fashion destination. We are building a pan-European ecosystem for fashion and lifestyle e-commerce, along two growth vectors: Business-to-Consumer (B2C) and Business-to-Business (B2B). In B2C, we provide an inspiring, high-quality multi-brand shopping experience for fashion and lifestyle products to more than 50 million active customers across 25 markets. In B2B, we leverage our logistics infrastructure, software, and service capabilities to support brands and retailers in managing and scaling their entire e-commerce business, both on and off the Zalando platform. Through our ecosystem vision, Zalando aims to enable positive change in the fashion and lifestyle industry.