Visiting Zalando: How the company wants to defend itself against China

In the Berlin district of Friedrichshain, almost directly on the banks of the Spree, is the headquarters of one of the largest European eCommerce companies, Zalando. The look of the “campus” is modern, employee amenities such as a video game corner and a fitness center are almost reminiscent of the headquarters of US tech giants like Google.

Zalando is one of the big players in online trading. The German group generated sales of 2.8 billion euros in 2025. In Austria, the company is in third place among online retailers with a market share of 5.5 percent. Has been at the top for years Amazon with almost 30 percent market share. In 2025, Zalando was used for the first time by Ago overtaken (5.6 percent). Competition in eCommerce is getting tougher. The Chinese suppliers in particular, who have been pushing hard into the European markets for years, are now increasingly setting the tone.

The trends in online trading mostly come from China

“We see that many trends emerge in the Asian region and then spread,” says Max Bankewitzhead of Zalando Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the KURIER. For this reason, Zalando has its own in 2024 Tech-Hub opened in Shenzhen/China. People want to closely monitor industry developments in order to learn from them. At the Chinese ultra-fast fashion providers Shein or Temu you explicitly don’t want to orient yourself. These would not only have a significantly lower price level, but would also specifically circumvent European standards and customs regulations.

Since July 1st, there has been a flat rate within the EU for shipments from third countries with a value of up to 150 euros Customs of three euros. “We welcome the decision to create a level playing field,” explains Bankewitz. “Anyone doing business in Europe must adhere to European standards and cost structures.”

It is not surprising that Chinese providers are expanding in Europe. Overall, the growth potential is for eCommerce Even bigger in Europe than in Asia or the USA, says Zalando’s co-CEO David Schröder. In order to stand out from the competition, you have to offer your customers an experience. That’s why Zalando is trying to attract consumers through functions such as personalized outfit inspiration and one KI-Chatbot as a fashion consultant to bind consumers to the platform.

Online platforms still have disadvantages compared to brick-and-mortar retailers

The group also wants to compensate for the disadvantages that online shops have compared to stationary retail. For example, by having the delivery carried out by the Partial automation von Logistics center reduced through the use of robots. Zalando does not disclose how much will be invested in this.

The lack of opportunity to try on clothes also remains an issue: “Our biggest problem is the size of the items of clothing,” says Schröder. Because anything that doesn’t fit will be sent back. That leads to discontent with the customer and causes costs for Zalando. According to the group, 98 percent of returned products are inventoried again.

To prevent returns, Zalando now offers a digital one changing room to. Users can determine their body measurements using AI and design a personalized avatar. They can then try on jeans and T-shirts on the screen. The sizes come from the in-house “Fitting Lab” or are calculated based on previous returns. The offer is well received. Every week, 20,000 users from 26 markets would reveal their body measurements to Zalando. The function has now shown initial success: for products for which the company knows the size measurements, the number of returns fell by a full eight percent in 2025, it is said.