What is Zalando?
Zalando is a leading online fashion platform in Europe. Founded in Berlin in 2008, it initially began as a shoe retailer but has since expanded to offer a wide range of fashion and lifestyle products. Zalando operates online shops in over 20 European markets and serves over 50 million customers.
The company's product range covers everything from clothing, shoes and accessories to sports items, homeware and beauty products. Zalando partners with over 2000 brands, from global labels like Nike, Levi's and Calvin Klein to smaller European brands. Its online shops stock around half a million products at any one time.
A key part of Zalando's proposition is its fast delivery and free returns policy. Products can be delivered within 1-3 days and returns are free and easy within 100 days of purchase. Zalando also offers a seamless omni-channel experience, allowing customers to move effortlessly between desktop, mobile web and its mobile shopping apps.
As a pure e-commerce company without any bricks-and-mortar stores, Zalando has invested heavily in logistics infrastructure to enable smooth operations. It handles inventory, packing and dispatch at its own logistics centres across Europe using proprietary software and processes.
Zalando uses technology, data and analytics extensively to personalize the shopping experience for customers. This includes product recommendations based on past purchases and browsing behaviour. It also maintains Zalando Lounge, an online outlet for discounted fashion items and limited edition sales.
As of 2022, Zalando has over 50 million active customers and generated €10.4 billion in revenue. It is the leading online fashion platform in Europe by site visits and revenue and continues to expand across categories and countries.