Order Quality Assurance (QA) requirements explained

Zalando performs random quality checks by means of test orders in order to review the ongoing compliance by partners with the established order quality requirements. 

This article will provide answers to frequently asked questions concerning each of the Order Quality Assurance requirements.

The following information should enable partners to get support more quickly and independently to any question about these requirements. They are listed according to which of the order quality assurance requirements they relate to.

Customers need to provide the Zalando order number for payment by invoice and when reaching out to the Zalando customer care service. Having the Zalando order number on the delivery documents increases our customers’ convenience. Customers have all information at hand without needing to login to Zalando or their emails.

Yes, you can print your own (internal) order number on the documents. But the Zalando order number still needs to be printed on the documentation as well. In addition, both numbers should be clearly named and customers must be made aware to use only the Zalando order number for payments or when contacting Customer Care.

(your company name) order number:   11111111111111

Zalando order number: 11010101011110

In the bank details section of the delivery documentation, please refer to the Zalando order number. This way, the customer can easily identify the order number to be used for payments.

• The use of letters in front or at the end of the order number (ZTN101034857687, 101034857687AZF)

• An incomplete order number. The Zalando order number should be not shorter/longer than 14 digits. 

• An incorrect order number (a different number, e. g. customer number / an internal partner order number is named as the Zalando order number)

• the Zalando order number is not printed on the delivery documentation at all. 

In all of these cases, there is a risk that customers will not make the correct payment or their payment will not be allocated properly. Customers will receive payment reminders leading to a poor customer experience. This would also cause a higher Customer Care Contact Rate, which will negatively affect your CXM KPIs.

No, this is not necessary if the correct Zalando order number is printed on the delivery note and the invoice.

• Unlike the Zalando FAQ page, contact details such as hotlines, email addresses and availability hours are subject to constant changes and will require continued effort on your part to keep the documentation updated. 

• Zalando wants to channel all customer contacts via the Zalando FAQ page to better serve the customer with the information provided there, and thus reduce customer care contacts and thereby improve your CXM KPIs.

• Printing Zalando’s Customer Care details (phone numbers, hotlines, availability hours, e-mail address, etc.)

• Printing your own Customer Care details (phone numbers, hotlines, availability hours, e-mail address, etc.)

• Using a wrong template (e. g. NL template for BE-NL market, DE template for AT market)

If the delivery documentation contains the wrong Customer Care information, customers will have more difficulty getting support, which will lead to a negative customer experience. Customers will need to do their own investigation to get the correct contact details, if the Customer Care contact is outdated, incorrect or missing.

You will find country specific Zalando FAQ links on the country specific delivery documentation templates (e. g. delivery note templates).

The reference number is the Zalando order number. It is mandatory to include the Zalando order number in the bank details to ensure customers can use it in their payment by invoice. The correct reference number is important so we can allocate the customer payment to the right order number. 

You can choose to either enter the 14 digit Zalando order number in the reference field of the bank details or simply enter the words “Zalando order number”. Below you’ll find both options as examples.

We believe that it is more customer-centric to provide bank details on the delivery documentation. This way our customers have all information at hand with little search effort, without the need to log into Zalando or to have access to their emails.

You’ll notice that not all of our delivery documentation and invoice templates contain bank details. This is because in certain countries payment by invoice is not enabled.

If you don't see bank details included on a country’s delivery documentation template, you can be sure that you do not need to enter any bank details. 

The following are examples of wrong or missing bank details:

• Payment by invoice is available for the German (DE) sales channel but the Zalando DE bank details are not printed on the delivery documents. 

• A partner is printing their own bank details on the Zalando delivery documents. 

• Printed bank details are not correct for the country of delivery,  e. g. on the documentation for the Swiss German (CH-de) sales channel, German bank details are printed. 

• Some bank details missing, e. g. no IBAN, no reference number

• Bank information not readable due to poor printing quality

The return instructions are printed on the return note and return flyer templates. If you prefer not to use our return note or return flyer templates, your return instructions must include the following:

The information: “This parcel was sent to you by one of our partners.”The instruction: “If you want to return this parcel, please return it directly to the partner, not to Zalando.

1. The information: “This parcel was sent to you by one of our partners.”

2. The instruction: “If you want to return this parcel, please return it directly to the partner, not to Zalando.”

3. The instruction: “Please use the return label included in your parcel.”

4. The information that: “You can return your item(s) within “30 / 100” days (depending on the return policy for the respective country) at "name of return carrier" (depending on the return carrier used in the respective country).”

5. The note that: “For returns, please use the return label that was included in the original delivery box. Using an incorrect return label may lead to misdirected returns and consequently result in delays in processing your refund.”

6. The information: “A confirmation email will be sent to you once the partner has received your item(s).”

7. The information that: “Zalando will process your payment and refund.”

8. The note that: “In case of lost / not available return label, or for any further questions, please visit "insert link to Zalando FAQ page of the respective country".

9. The following disclaimer for the return of cosmetic articles must be displayed if you distribute cosmetic articles on Zalando: 

Our return note and return flyer templates serve different purposes.

The return note serves you. It is a document that is returned to you by the customer. It indicates which articles are returned to you and allows you to evaluate the return reason(s) to continuously improve your customer experience.

The return flyer serves our customers. It provides the customer with detailed information on the specific return and reimbursement process for orders fulfilled by you, the partner.

We highly recommend printing these documents on separate pages so that the customer is able to keep the return flyer. Alternatively, you can print them on one page and separate the content by adding a dotted line and a scissors symbol.

Printing the content of the return note and the return flyer on a single page has no negative impact on your compliance and visibility.

Yes, you can use your own wording as long as all mandatory return instructions are included and correct (see 4.1).

This requirement refers to the table with article information printed on return notes (see screenshot below). It is used to track the return reason of the returned item(s), provided by customers. The return note is included in the parcel and returned to you, the partner.

Pre-printed article information on the return note ensures an easy return process for customers, which is one of Zalando’s customer promises. This way, customers don’t need to fill in the article information manually (i. e. SKU, EAN, Article Name, Size, etc.) when returning the order. They only need to provide the return reason for the returned item(s). 

On delivery notes, customers must find an overview with information about ordered item(s) as shown in the screenshot below:

Although you do not have to use Zalando’s templates, the minimum article information must be provided on delivery notes. This is to avoid that there is insufficient information, for example only the article name and price or only the name being present.

It is not mandatory to print return reasons on the return notes and ask customers to indicate the return reason. 

However, we strongly recommend including return reasons and asking customers to indicate them, as this data can be used by you to analyze return reasons, gain insights about reasons for returned articles, make improvements and reduce your return rate. For example: a major return reason is “wrong size / size too big / size too small / etc.” This data can be used to improve your size recommendations, deliver more accurate size details and reduce the return rate related to size. 

5.4. Will missing information about return reasons on my delivery documentation have an impact on my compliance and visibility? No, missing processing and printing of return reasons will have no impact on your compliance and no impact on the visibility of your articles. However, please do not ask customers to enter return reasons if this is not tracked by you.

Zalando promises its customers an easy return process and handling. For this purpose, a physical return label should be always included in the parcel, as sending return labels via email generates more effort for the customer, i. e. having access to emails, to print a label, to cut it out, etc. Having a return label included in the parcel ensures more convenience for customers. 

No, it is not mandatory to provide self-adhesive labels. However, we highly recommend that you do so in order to avoid additional effort for the customer, i. e. having adhesive tapes and scissors at hand. Self-adhesive labels highly increase customer convenience by making the return process easier.

Customers who have ordered from a partner using Zalando Return Solutions (ZRS) may print out the return label online. However even when using ZRS, it is still mandatory for you to include a physical return label in the parcel.

No, this is not permitted because the tracking number would be the same for delivery and return, which will cause issues in the measurement of CXM KPIs Delivery on Target (DoT) and Return on Target (RoT). 

The following articles which are fragile or can easily be damaged / broken / deformed during transport, must be shipped in an outer cardboard box: 

Hats / caps, glasses, watches, jewelry, hanging garments, beauty articles and multiple shoes in shoeboxes.

These articles are not allowed to be shipped in an outer plastic or paper bag in order to prevent damages during transport and to ensure that articles arrive in a neat condition.

All other items can be shipped in an outer plastic/paper bag.

Inconsistency in pricing information will cause insecurity for the customer, because customers will not be sure which amount needs to be paid. It can generate Customer Care contacts and complaints, especially if the price to be paid is higher than price information displayed, for example on the hang tag. 

It is not mandatory to print prices on article hang tags. However, if you decide to print and display the price on your article hang tags, it must be consistent with the Zalando shop price and your delivery documentation.

No, it is not mandatory to update the hang tag prices in case of reductions during Sales events. 

Generally speaking, all address information provided by customers and transmitted by Zalando must be printed on the carrier labels to ensure successful delivery and must also be printed on the delivery documentation.

The c/o information is particularly important if the name of the recipient of the parcel is not the same as the name of the customer. This can happen when the customer's name is NOT printed on the door bell and the parcel is delivered to someone else.

This is also important when delivering to a corporate address, not a home address, or any other address where the customer just stays temporarily.

The delivery documents must be written in the language of the customer’s country. This language must be applied in a consistent manner on all included delivery documents.

• Example for inconsistently used language: 

Two different languages used on the same document; the delivery note is in English, whereas the return note in German language.

• Example for incorrect language: 

The order fulfilled in a BE-nl sales channel contains documents in French language; the order fulfilled in a CH-fr sales channel contains documents in German language.

Gender specific salutation refers to fixed gender pronoun/salutation such as Mr. / Mrs. used to greet or otherwise communicate with customers.

Please do not use fixed gender salutations on your delivery documentation as well as carrier  labels. Zalando is committed to providing a diverse and inclusive shopping experience for all customers with the objective to build a meaningful relationship with their customers built on trust. As the industry and social awareness around gender inclusion evolves, it's important that our partners are also aware of and adapt to more progressive values. By removing a fixed gender specific salutation, we are demonstrating our willingness to enable customers to live their social and environmental values. By only collecting information we need, we want to provide an experience customers can trust. 

Zalando will only transmit the customer's first and last name in the order, and will never transmit gender specific salutation or information.

In addition, we want to ensure that Zalando customers are not addressed incorrectly and to avoid wrong salutations (e. g. Mr. instead of Mrs.). 

Call-for-action advertisements refer to any advertisement that attracts Zalando customers to shop at a Zalando partner's online shop. This can include, but is not limited to: sales codes or website link flyers to advertise to customers to buy their articles from the partners directly.

Here are some examples of call-for-action content:

  A broken tracking link can be caused by:

• wrong carrier configuration

• wrong tracking link configuration

• mismatch between the tracking link carrier and the actual outbound carrier (e. g. tracking link provider is DHL, actual outbound carrier is UPS) 

• invalid shipping number provided to Zalando

• missing shipping number, i.e. Zalando has not received any shipping number

Yes, please inform us via the ZPU contact form and select topic Customer Experience Model and then request type Change of delivery and/or return carrier, so that we adjust the change in our system appropriately. If the carrier in our system is not updated, this will result in a mismatch between the tracking link provider and the actual shipping carrier and consequently produce a tracking link issue.

Please check our list of country specific, approved last mile outbound and return carriers here and make sure that you are compliant with them.

Please find the explanation and more information on approved carriers here.