Order Quality Assurance FAQs

The requirements are classified into blockers and downsorting requirements. Below you will find the consequences in case of non-compliance with blocker and downsorting requirement(s) identified during a test order check and the actions needed from you to end the consequences.

The blocker requirements, also called major Quality Assurance requirements, have a strong impact on customer satisfaction and Zalando. Not fulfilling these requirements means that customers need to contact Customer Care far more often. 

Non-compliance with one of blocker requirements will prevent the partner from going live in the affected Zalando sales channel, i. e. Zalando will not approve the go live.

Your articles will remain in normal visibility in the affected Zalando sales channel. If the finding(s) / issue(s) still are not corrected by the due date of 30 days upon receipt of the test order report, your articles will be deactivated on the affected Zalando sales channel.

The downsorting requirements, also called minor Quality Assurance requirements,  can have a high impact on the customer experience and satisfaction. The non-fulfillment of these requirements can result in an increased number of customer care contacts.

Your articles can go live on the affected Zalando sales channel with normal visibility. There will be no visibility consequences implemented for your articles. However, in the test order report, we will ask and enable you to correct the finding(s) / issue(s) in order to ensure a good customer experience.

If your articles are already online, they will remain online in normal visibility in the affected Zalando sales channel. There will be no visibility consequences implemented for your articles. However, we will ask and enable you to correct the finding(s) / issue(s) in order to ensure a good customer experience. 

Although your articles will remain online in normal visibility in the affected Zalando sales channel, we highly recommend you to correct all minor findings identified in the test order report and then request a follow-up test order check via the contact form on ZPU. Then select the topic Customer Experience Model (CXM), and submit your request under the request type Initiate test orders.

A successful correction of all findings helps you, the Partner, to improve your customer experience and reduce the number of customer care contacts.

• If your affected Zalando sales channel has normal visibility but is at risk of deactivation due to non-compliance with a blocker requirement, you need to correct all findings identified within the due date mentioned in the test order report. You will then need to request a follow-up test order check via the contact form on ZPU as soon as possible. Select the topic: Customer Experience Model (CXM), and request type: Initiate test orders. If the evaluation of the test order proves that all issues were resolved, your articles will remain in normal visibility in the affected Zalando sales channel.

• If your affected Zalando sales channel has been deactivated due to non-compliance with a repetitive blocker requirement, you need to resolve the findings listed in your test order report as soon as possible. You will then need to request a follow-up test order check via the contact form on ZPU. Select the topic: Customer Experience Model (CXM), and request type: Initiate test orders.

If the evaluation of the test order proves successful correction of the findings, we will reactivate your articles and they will gain normal visibility in the affected Zalando sales channel.

Zalando checks your compliance with the Zalando order quality requirements and provides you with detailed test order reports. Test order reports are provided only, if 

1. findings / issues were identified and your QA performance needs improvement 

2. a change in the visibility of your articles has occurred (e. g. from Normal Visibility to Deactivation) or

3. a change in the go live approval for a certain sales channel has occurred (e. g.  from “No Go Live” to “Go Live” decision)

You should carefully read the test order reports and make the necessary corrections.

The test order report contains the following information: 

• All order quality requirements checked and the results

• The consequences depending on the results (e. g. normal visibility, reactivation, deactivation, etc.) 

• The description of findings / issues 

• The recommendations for corrective actions

• The photo(s) demonstrating the findings / issues identified in the test order

If blocker requirements are not fulfilled in the relevant sales channel, you will additionally find the due date for corrections in the test order report. 

The reports are automatically generated and sent to you by email. Please note that you will not be able to reply to the automated email. If you have any questions, please go to the ZPU Contact Us page, select the topic Customer Experience Model (CXM) and submit your request under the request type Question about my QA Test Order report.