Onboarding stage 1 and 2: Access and master data

Welcome to the first and second stages of your onboarding journey!

During these first stages, you’ll set up your account basics and ensure we have the correct data to reflect your articles accurately in our system.

Before you begin, please ensure you have:

• A signed contract with an approved technical integrator.

• An agreement with an approved logistics carrier if you’ve decided on own fulfilment.

• Access to zDirect, our partner portal.

Watch this short video to learn the first steps of your onboarding journey. We’ll cover how to access your account and set up your master data. Then, use the guide below to get your business ready for the Zalando catalogue.

Subtitles

Display and customise subtitles while watching.

Watch at any time and place without missing a beat. We will always provide subtitles to our videos.

Transcript

Review or search for key words within the transcript of this video.

How to reveal and search the video transcript:

1. Click the transcript button in the video options.

2. Type your keyword into the search bar.

3. Click on the part of the transcript that you are most interested in, the video will automatically jump to the section of the transcript.

This stage is where you introduce your business to us. You’ll provide compliance details, fill in your company profile on zDirect, and submit article master data such as silhouettes, seasons and size charts.

Once your onboarding kicks off, your point of contact will share your onboarding timeline with an overview of the stages and requirements.

Requirements vary depending on where you sell. Why? Because each market has its own regulations. Check the article below for country-specific details:

• 
  • Article

  Country-specific onboarding requirements

  Ensure compliance and seamless go-live by reviewing the mandatory and country-specific requirements.

• Provide accurate data to prevent delays during the financial and technical review. 

• Provide correct master data to ensure your articles map correctly to the Zalando catalogue. 

• Submit your KYC, VAT and EPR details to ensure you meet European and local regulations from day one.

Please complete these steps on zDirect to move forward with your onboarding:

Submit the mandatory KYC questionnaire to verify your business identity.

Submit your EPR or Unique Identification Number (UIN) if you sell in Germany, France and Spain.

Submit your VAT identification number. Familiarise yourself with the EU VAT regulation and UK VAT regulation. Learn more about ensuring your VAT details are submitted correctly on zDirect.

Submit GPSR information.

See country-specific requirements for more details:

• 
  • Article

  Country-specific onboarding requirements

  Ensure compliance and seamless go-live by reviewing the mandatory and country-specific requirements.

Enter your business, bank and billing details under Set up your account in zDirect.

Once your company profile is submitted, provide specific details for each country where you plan to sell.

If you use an integrator or an in-house tech team, add them to your account in zDirect. To add a technical partner to your account, please follow these steps:

• • Article
  • Login required

  Understanding technical integration on zDirect

Master data includes the specific article details we need to begin the mapping process. How you map your articles depends on your integration option. 

Here’s what you’ll need to provide:

Specify your article categories, such as textiles or accessories.

• • Article

  Introduction to silhouette guides, related status codes and how to resolve them

Tell us which season your articles belong to. In our Partner Program, we use:

• AW: Autumn Winter

• SS: Spring Sumer

• YRB: Year-Round Basic

• • Article

  Seasonal timeline and season switch

Check the Size charts library in zDirect first to see if we already have a code for your sizing.

• Can't find a match? If you're having trouble or your specific sizes aren't there, please use the Size chart template instead.

• Single-size articles: Use one of our "One size" charts (available for accessories and textiles).

• Existing articles: If you’re a retailer already selling these articles on Zalando, you might not need to do this.

• • Article

  The Size chart management tool and how to use it

• 

  Master data information

  Fill in this form to submit your master data.

If you use a third-party integrator, they must provide:

Your integrator must provide File Transfer Protocol (FTP) credentials for each sales channel to trigger the system configuration. Your integrator can provide the credentials via email.

While you set up your account, we’ll:

We’ll explain the onboarding requirements and different stages in detail. We’ll ensure you’re ready to submit your master data, your shipping method(s), and delivery documents.

• • Article

  Zalando Logistics Solutions - an overview

• • Article

  Delivery documentation

We’ll check your details and grant financial approval. You’ll receive an email once you’re approved or if we need more information.

Your Onboarding Manager will configure your seasons, silhouettes, brand code, and size charts in our system so you can start mapping articles.

• These requirements often take the longest to validate so we suggest prioritising completing them first:

• • Article

  Introduction to Know Your Customer (KYC)

• • Article

  Platform compliance: Ensuring your VAT details are submitted correctly on zDirect

• • Article

  How to submit your EPR details in zDirect

• Submit your company and country profiles at the same time to speed up the financial review.

• Provide your FTP credentials promptly to connect your systems to ours and avoid delays in collecting master data or starting the article mapping stage.

Next up:

• • Article

  Onboarding stage 3: Article mapping