LONDON — With the future of many multi-brand e-commerce platforms in flux, Zalando is stepping forward with a new proposition: a luxury, boutique-style space for designer brands on its website and app.
The German e-commerce giant said the space is aimed at customers hungry for designer fashion, as well as “newcomers who are eager to delve into this world.”
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Additionally, Zalando said the area will give its brand partners the opportunity to “tell their stories” and unveil collections, campaigns and collaborations in an “elevated, curated” space.
“We see that customers are increasingly looking for inspiration, personalization and exciting, new experiences. They are also increasingly interested in designer brands on Zalando, with searches for luxury brands on Zalando steadily increasing,” says Lena-Sophie Roeper, designer and luxury director at Zalando.
“For us, it presents an opportunity to become the inspiring destination for everyone, from loyal customers who regularly shop for modern and luxury items to first-time buyers,” she added.
Zalando Designer offers a variety of European and international brands including Lardini, Aspesi, Bally, Helmut Lang, Proenza Schouler White Label, Victoria Beckham, Missoni, Rabanne, Vivienne Westwood, 032c, GCDS, Peter Do, Ahluwalia, Ralph Lauren and Emporio Armani .
To mark the launch, Zalando has entered into a long-term partnership with British-Japanese musician and actor Rina Sawayama as an ambassador for its designer and luxury fashion offering in 2024.
Zalando has launched a creative campaign with Sawayama and said it will “tap on key moments in the fashion calendar throughout the year.” In the fashion section of the site you will find Sawayama’s top picks of the season, in addition to the fashion video and shoot.
The launch of the area and the appointment of Sawayama both indicate a focus on “superior customer experience and inspiration”, according to Zalando. Last year, the company introduced Stories on Zalando, an immersive shopping experience created in collaboration with Highsnobiety, which it bought in 2022.
The Stories element features fashion and culture trends, personalities and exclusive collaborations, and aims to showcase designer brands such as GmbH, Ludovic de Saint Sernin and exclusive collaborations such as MM6 x Chen Peng.
Some Stories are fashion features similar to what a magazine or weekend newspaper insert would offer, with headlines like “Meet the New Wave of Emerging Talent,” “Raise Your Layers,” and “Facing a Blue Monday? Have no fear, here’s how to go about it.”
Zalando has also deployed its new feature, an AI-powered fashion assistant, to help narrow down the choices – and avoid the endless scrolling trap that e-commerce customers can fall into. The AI assistant also offers styling tips.
The experience, the images and the editorial staff are virtually indistinguishable from the high-end fashion sites.
It’s a bold move to launch such a proposition amid a slowdown in luxury demand and the virtual disappearance of the aspirational customer, but Zalando remains undeterred.
“We are in a unique position to seize the market opportunity because we do not only focus on the limited group of top designer customers. With more than 50 million customers in 25 markets, we serve a much broader audience – from a customer who is exploring designer goods for the first time to a customer who regularly invests in designer products,” said Roeper in an interview with WWD.
“In addition, existing Zalando customers grow organically into designer customers thanks to our cross-category shopping experience. “Thanks to the Stories on Zalando storytelling experience, which is embedded throughout the customer journey on our website and app, we encourage our customers to discover designer fashion when they are looking for inspiration,” she added.
The updated experience features serve both brands and customers, Roeper added.
“Brand ‘houses’ give brands the opportunity to tell their story using a dynamic library of design elements. We know it’s especially important that designer brands have full control over their story and curate the stories they want to tell around their brand, collections and campaigns. The new Designer experience gives them a toolbox for truly high-quality storytelling,” she says.
The launch of the specialty area comes at a pivotal time for the first-mover designer and luxury multi-brand retailers as they change formats and ownership.
As reported, Coupang brought Farfetch out of administration late last year, and it remains unclear what plans it has for the once-gigantic fashion platform and back-office service provider.
As a result of the Coupang deal, Richemont canceled its plans to sell Yoox Net-a-porter to Farfetch and Alabbar. The deal’s collapse ended Richemont chairman Johann Rupert’s dream of creating a “neutral” shared-ownership e-commerce platform that would have been open to all brands.
Richemont still plans to sell a majority stake in YNAP, and plans to do so within the next twelve months. The luxury giant said it has already received unsolicited interest from potential buyers.
The future of luxury retailer Browns, owned by Farfetch, is also unclear. Coupang has yet to confirm its plans for the London boutique, which Farfetch bought in 2015 and used as a laboratory to test its digital technology ‘store of the future’.
Also in December, Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group bought Matches at a low price from Apax Partners in what has become a tough environment for luxury e-commerce retailers.
Zalando’s new space arrives about 18 months after Amazon Luxury Stores landed in Europe. The German giant is sure to compete with its American rival, which carries high-end labels such as Perfect Moment, Giuseppe Zanotti and Mark Cross, as well as second-hand items from Chanel and Louis Vuitton.
Last year, Zalando said during an earnings call that the luxury designer space was part of its plan to “lay a further foundation for future growth, inspire customers with new content and storytelling formats, and improve the experience for designer brands and customers.”
In a research note in November, RBC Capital Markets analyst Wassachon Udomsilpa wrote that despite a decline in third-quarter revenue to 2.27 billion euros, Zalando remains the bank’s preferred player in online clothing retail “given our increased confidence in its ability to leverage growth once consumer demand returns.”
Udomsilpa added: “We are encouraged by Zalando’s ability to navigate a volatile and challenging environment.”
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