How to sell on Zalando?

  • Last update: 23.02.2024
  • Published: 04.05.2022
  • Read in: 4 min

Perhaps not everyone is aware, but the Zalando platform also has an partner program — Connected Retail, which allows you to sell products via this platform. How do I start selling there and what should I know before I start selling? We have answered these and other questions in the following article.

how to sell on zalando?

How can you benefit from selling on Zalando?

Zalando’s Partner Program includes retailers and brands having access to more than 46 million active customers across Europe. The network includes more than 4,000 retailers and brands, with the top ones racking up millions of orders per month. Such a wide market guarantees customers a broad selection of products and the possibility to purchase different brands in one place.

A major advantage of Zalando’s partner program is full control over the price, the range and the quantity of products sold. The advanced marketing solutions offered by Zalando, i.e. Zalando Fullfilment Solutions and Zalando Marketing Solutions, thanks to access to the latest technology and an advanced logistics network, provide active support for partners.

How does Connected Retail work on Zalando?

Zalando Connecter Retail is a ready-to-use toolkit for boosting sales. We can describe its operation in 4 simple steps.

1. Importing products and determining their price

2. Uploading new products to the Zalando platform

3. Shop maintenance and order processing

4. Shop management and monitoring the sales results

Zalando prepares the photos and product descriptions for this process. All the partners have to do is provide EAN codes and set the product prices. The only exception is if you wish to sell a brand/product that is not available on the platform, something we will explain later in the article.

What is required and what technical conditions must be met to join the Connected Retail program at Zalando?

The prerequisites for joining the program are as follows:

– you have at least one brick-and-mortar shore,
– you use a digital inventory management / POS system,
– you sell in product categories that can be found and are offered by Zalando (next point),
– you need a logistics agreement, as well as a printer and a computer/tablet with internet access for shipping and returning goods,
– you use GTIN/EAN to identify your items

What happens when a retailer does not have GTIN/EAN codes?

Zalando clearly states that this is necessary in order to sell on the platform. There are two possible solutions to this situation. If a retailer offers products with existing EAN codes however, does not use them, they can obtain the EANs for their product assortment via a connection to the inventory management system. For this purpose, Zalando presents you with a suitable provider’s offer at favourable conditions.

As a second option, when a retailer carries own-brand products for which EANs have not yet been registered, the retailer can request to order them via the website. However, this requires prior clarification as to whether the products offered are generally eligible for sale via Zalando’s platform. In order to do this, fill out the registration form on the Zalando’s website and wait for a staff member to contact you.

Zalando’s only technical requirement for using Connected Retail is to have an inventory management system that is able to send CSV exports to the interface at regular intervals. The huge advantage here is that Zalando’s solution is integrated with most inventory management system providers, so the system provider’s technical support department can probably set up such an export for the retailer.

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