Your partner update - January 2024

Welcome to our first Partner Update of 2024! As we step into a new year filled with opportunities, we want to share some important updates curated for you.

The Autumn/Winter 2023 (AW23) season is ending soon. Take full advantage of the season switch by adapting your prices with the official Spring/Summer 2024 (SS24) switch starting on February 15, 2024. From this date, AW23 articles can no longer be onboarded to the platform. Year-round basics (YRB/NOS) will not be affected by the season switch. 

Please note: In August we implemented a new discount threshold depending on the market(s) you sell in. Instead of a 20% discount rate, old (mirror) season articles (SS23 & AW23) need to have a discount of 10% or 15% to remain online. For the current season switch, a minimum discount rate of 15% applies to all markets except for Switzerland with a minimum discount rate of 10%. Old season articles that have not been discounted by the season change date will be off-boarded. Articles from the Autumn/Winter 2022 (AW22) season will be off-boarded automatically.

Access the information on official Switch Dates per market on Zalando Partner University (ZPU). The article will be updated by the end of January to reflect the latest information per country. Other important dates like: article onboarding, retagging and assortment quality measures for 2024 are also available there.

For partners not headquartered in Spain but selling to Spanish customers:

Partners selling products to customers whose delivery address is in Spain are subject to various regulations on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). Spain has changed its packaging law and now also obliges marketplaces, such as Zalando, to ensure the EPR compliance of their non-Spanish partners.

For that reason, it is important that you register within the Spanish Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) system as soon as possible if you haven’t already done so. If you are not headquartered in Spain but selling products via Zalando Spain, you must be able to provide Zalando with your EPR registration number and the necessary information about your company as well as your authorised representative upon request soon. We will launch the feature in zDirect in a few weeks to collect your EPR registration number, so stay tuned for a follow-up message with details on how to submit your EPR number.

 For more information, please visit our FAQ and guideline section on Zalando Partner University explaining the mandatory steps in order to be compliant with the rules and to avoid facing consequences.

How to be EPR compliant

As the platform rules are an integral part of your contract, we would like to remind you of the upcoming adjustments coming into effect on February 15, 2024.

Please make sure to familiarise yourselves with the new processes, guidelines and policies of the updated platform rules.

View updated platform rules here

We are excited to present to you a new and enhanced Zalando Partner University that aims to improve your experience while searching for the information you need to drive your business on Zalando. So, what’s new?

1. Enjoy a simplified navigation with Get Started for the essentials, Onboard for in-depth guidance, and separate Manage and Grow sections to boost your business. 

2. More content is now available exclusively to you after login. This allows us to provide you with even more personalised and useful content for your daily business. 

Learn more about how to use ZPU

In the spirit of unifying the partner experience across all of our partner portals, a new key feature was launched for partners using several portals: a portal switch on zDirect, the Retail Center, CRMT and Brand Homes, allowing navigation between portals in just a couple of clicks, without having to remember and type the right link, as well as to log in in through Zalando Partner login.