Introduction to Zalando: Making connected retail a reality

Retail
Written By Rick Watson

Imagine a D2C marketplace, but connected to physical stores, that retailers were actually happy about signing up for. This is not a fantasy; Zalando has done it with over 1,500 stores in Germany. They call it Connected Retail.

Zalando’s VP of Direct to Consumer, Dr. Carsten Keller, recently spoke at WeTech Berline 2020 conference talking about the topic, and it might highlight the evolution of the model in other markets as well.

The addressable market for Zalando's marketplace is over 300,000 stores of stock that could be connected to its online demand engine. The question is how to do that efficiently in a way that helps both the consumer and the retailer? It's tricky.

First, Zalando connected it to a delivery service from the retailer. In the future, they plan to build in "click and collect" connected to a marketplace model.

I thought this was super-interesting and unique, and think others in the United States should look at this model to provide value for fashion brands.

Rick Watson

Rick Watson founded RMW Commerce Consulting after spending 20+ years as a technology entrepreneur and operator exclusively in the eCommerce industry with companies like ChannelAdvisor, BarnesandNoble.com, Merchantry, and Pitney Bowes.

Watson’s work today is centered on supporting investors and management teams incubating and growing direct-to-consumer businesses. Most recently, in partnership with WHP Global, Rick was a critical resource in architecting the WHP+ platform, a new turnkey direct to consumer digital e-commerce platform that powers AnneKlein.com and JosephAbboud.com.

Watson also hosts a weekly podcast, Watson Weekly, where he shares an unbiased, unfiltered expert take on the retail sector’s biggest players.

In the past year alone, Rick has spoken at many in-person and virtual events as well as podcasts on topics ranging from retail/ecom to supply chain/logistics and even digital grocery including CommerceNext IRL, ASCM Connect, and Retail Innovation Conference.

https://www.rmwcommerce.com/
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