A4u Programme of the Week: Zalando

Name: Zalando

Contact: Jemma Tadd

Email: jemma.tadd@zalando.co.uk

It's coming up to a year since you launched your Zalando affiliate programme. What does Zalando specialise in?

Zalando is Europe’s leading online retailer for shoes and fashion. In Zalando’s German home market, the company has held a leading position for more than a year. With a brand awareness level of 95%, Zalando is the second best-known brand in the country after Volkswagen.

Following its large success in the German market, Zalando now caters to neighbouring European countries, starting with Austria in 2009 and the Netherlands and France in 2010. In 2011, expansion to Italy, Great Britain and Switzerland followed.

Besides shoes and fashion, exclusive accessories, beauty essentials and sportswear all make up Zalando’s wide range of products.

The success of your European growth was what seemingly spurned a UK launch into action. How have the UK's online shoppers taken to the Zalando offering?

A key element of Zalando’s success in the UK is the combination of unique services: free delivery and returns, a free service hotline and a 30 day return policy, which makes online shopping at Zalando an easy and secure shopping experience. We have over 1000 international brands including 7 for all mankind, Adidas Originals, Aquascutum, Ash, Clarks, Converse, Diesel, Dune, French Connection, H by Hudson, Joules, Jeffrey Campbell, L'Occitane, Michael Kors, Puma by Alexander McQueen, The North Face and UGG to name but a few. It’s this extensive selection of brands for men,women and children which are often hard to find in the shops that give our customers reasons to come back.

What is available for Affiliates to utilise via your programme?

Zalando believes that being innovative is key to staying one step ahead of the competition and as such, we have an Ad-Builder Tool which enables affiliates to create customised adverts for their websites. The Zalando Adbuilder offers a simple and effective way to create dynamically updated banners featuring the total range of Zalando’s products. A number of criteria can be personalised to make sure that the banners fit affiliate websites, target groups and requirements. If you would like access to this tool then please contact: Jemma.tadd@zalando.co.uk.

We can also create bespoke datafeeds for key affiliates which allows us to work with the bigger content and price comparison websites and cater to their needs.

Each month we send out an Affiliate Newsletter which focuses on new promotions, incentives and our best sellers as well as a Bloggers Newsletter which focuses on current trends, new brands and interviews with bloggers.

What initial tips do you have for affiliates who join up to your programme?

Affiliates should check out our Fashion blog which has daily buyer picks, information on new brands and current trends. We try to be as flexible as possible for the affiliates so whether you need an exclusive voucher code, bespoke banner, unique content or a list of new brands, we will always try to accommodate the affiliate’s needs.

What commission rates do you offer affiliates?

We offer a commission rate of 8% which increases to 10% once you drive 25 or more sales a month

Anything else our readers should know?

For any affiliate that generates their first sale for Zalando in February they will automatically receive an increased commission of 10% for the duration of March. In addition every sale for Zalando during February gets 1 entry into a draw to win a £100 cash bonus. Winners will be announced on 1st March.