Selling on Zalando for fashion brands
Europe’s leading fashion platform (Partner Program, ZFS). We take clothing and lifestyle brands onto Zalando’s markets.
Author: Artur Rompca · co-founder of Commercraft, more than 10 years in e-commerce · updated: June 2026
Zalando is one of Europe’s largest fashion and lifestyle platforms. In 2025 the group generated 17.56 billion euros in gross merchandise value (GMV), served 62 million active customers and handled 278.6 million orders (corporate.zalando.com, 12 March 2026). Brands sell through the Partner Program, where you set your own prices, keep control of your assortment, and can hand logistics to Zalando (ZFS). For clothing, footwear and lifestyle brands, this means access to customers across many European countries. We help with onboarding, catalogue mapping, listing, marketing, pricing policy and logistics.
Countries where the platform is active: European markets (including DACH, Scandinavia and Benelux).
- VAT19%
- e-commerce share of retail~27% (2021)
- shopping online85%
- logisticsDHL, DPD, Hermes
- VAT21%
- e-commerce share of retail20-32% (2024)
- shopping online94%
- logisticsPostNL, DHL, DPD
- VAT20%
- e-commerce share of retail~14% (2024)
- shopping online84%
- logisticsColissimo, Chronopost, Mondial Relay
- VAT22%
- e-commerce share of retailno data
- shopping online62%
- logisticsPoste Italiane, BRT, GLS
- VAT21%
- e-commerce share of retail~20% (2024)
- shopping online73%
- logisticsCorreos, SEUR, GLS
- VAT23%
- e-commerce share of retail8.9% (2024)
- shopping online77%
- logisticsInPost, DPD, DHL
Sources: VAT rates - Tax Foundation 2026; share of internet users shopping online - Eurostat 2025; e-commerce share of retail - national and industry data (year in brackets). Return rates aren't measured officially in the EU and methodologies differ; on average around 20% of orders, higher in fashion. The cards cover six of the European markets where the Partner Program operates: Germany, the Netherlands, France, Italy, Spain and Poland. Indicative data as of June 2026.
How Zalando selects its partners
Zalando does not take applications the way an open marketplace does. The platform reviews the brand, its fit with the categories it wants to carry and the state of the catalogue, and invites the brands that match that picture. The decision stays with Zalando, so nobody can promise you a place there and we do not.
What we can do is bring your brand to that review in the best possible shape. We prepare the assortment, the product data and the pricing the way Zalando expects them, so the application shows the brand in full and the first weeks after approval go into selling instead of corrections.
What we do on Zalando
Onboarding
We guide you through the Zalando Partner Program: entry requirements, account configuration and preparing for publication. We help you meet the platform's standards so the launch runs smoothly and by the rules.
Catalog mapping
We map your catalogue to Zalando's structure and attributes: categories, size charts, variants and the required fashion parameters. We make sure the data is complete and correct, which speeds up offer approval.
Listing products
We prepare and publish offers to Zalando's presentation standards: photos, descriptions and attributes. We organise the data so product pages are consistent and ready for many markets.
Marketing
We plan and run marketing on Zalando that increases the visibility and sales of your products. We use the available promotional tools to build brand recognition among the platform's customers.
Pricing policy
We advise on pricing strategy in the Partner Program, where you set your own prices. We monitor competitors and margins and help you respond to changes, keeping your offer competitive and profitable.
Logistics
We design your fulfilment model, including the Zalando Fulfillment Solutions (ZFS) option where Zalando takes over storage and shipping. We help you choose the model that fits the scale and markets of your sales.
How the collaboration works, step by step
Fit and qualification
We check how your brand and assortment map to the categories Zalando wants to carry, and what shape the catalogue is in.
Application and onboarding
Zalando has no open sign-up: the platform reviews the brand and invites it. We prepare the application and configure the account up to publication.
Catalogue and content
Categories, size charts, variants and the required fashion attributes, then photos and descriptions to the platform’s presentation standards.
Fulfilment model
Your own shipping, or Zalando Fulfillment Solutions (ZFS), where Zalando takes over storage and shipping. We help you choose the model that fits your scale and markets.
Running the account
Pricing in the Partner Program, where you set your own prices, marketing on the platform, and watching competitors and margins.
Three ways to partner with Zalando
Connected Retail
A model for bricks-and-mortar stores that sell their stock through Zalando and ship orders straight from the store. Zalando has announced that Connected Retail will be discontinued by June 2027 and partners moved to zDirect, so a brand entering today should look at the Partner Program (FashionUnited, 23 April 2026).
Partner Program
Full integration with Zalando gives higher visibility and access to ZFS, with greater technical requirements, a good fit for brands planning to scale.
The third way is Wholesale: Zalando buys the goods outright and takes over order handling, payments, logistics and customer contact. The brand then gives up control over price and exposure, and in return does not run the channel day to day. ZFS is sometimes mistaken for a separate model, but it is a logistics service within the Partner Program.
Client successes on Zalando
Anonymised projects with numbers, described by what changed and what came of it:
- a large Polish clothing manufacturer: 8,308 orders and 60% growth in thirty days, with the channel run across two markets.
- a Polish streetwear brand: four Western European markets, from listings to returns and the last mile.
The full list is on our case studies page.
About the author
Artur Rompca – co-founder of Commercraft. More than 10 years in e-commerce, including sales leadership at LPP/Reserved (26 markets) and Alpinus Group. He sees marketplaces from both sides: operator and seller. LinkedIn · updated: June 2026
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