Zalando Odoo Integration: How Fashion Brands Sell Across 25 European Markets

Zalando is Europe's largest online fashion platform with over 50 million active customers across 25 markets. For fashion and lifestyle brands using Odoo ERP, connecting to Zalando through the ECOSIRE Zalando Odoo Integration means managing product feeds, sizing, orders, returns, and multi-country pricing from a single system instead of juggling Zalando's partner portal alongside your ERP.

Why Zalando Is Essential for Fashion Brands

Zalando isn't just a marketplace — it's a fashion destination. Unlike Amazon or eBay where fashion competes with millions of unrelated products, Zalando's entire ecosystem is built around clothing, shoes, and accessories. Shoppers come to Zalando specifically for fashion, which means higher purchase intent and stronger brand visibility.

Zalando by the Numbers

• 50M+ active customers across Europe
• 25 European markets (DE, AT, CH, FR, NL, BE, PL, IT, ES, UK, and more)
• 7,000+ brands on the platform
• Fashion-first — 100% dedicated to fashion and lifestyle
• 60%+ mobile traffic share

The Fashion Integration Challenge

Fashion eCommerce has unique complexity that generic marketplace connectors can't handle:

• Size systems — European, UK, US, and brand-specific sizes all need translation to Zalando's standardized system
• Seasonal collections — Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter drops require bulk listing management with scheduled publishing
• Rich content — Zalando demands high-quality images (minimum 4 per product), detailed material composition, and care instructions
• Return rates — Fashion returns on Zalando average 30-50%, requiring industrial-strength reverse logistics
• Multi-country pricing — VAT-inclusive pricing varies by market, and promotional pricing must comply with each country's regulations

What the ECOSIRE Zalando Integration Does

The Zalando Store Management module is purpose-built for fashion brands selling through Zalando's Partner Program.

Product Feed Management

Zalando's product data model is fashion-specific and far more detailed than typical marketplace listings:

• Material composition — Percentage-based material breakdowns (e.g., "80% cotton, 20% polyester") mapped from Odoo product attributes
• Care instructions — Standardized wash, dry, and iron symbols mapped to Zalando's care code system
• Season and collection codes — Tag products with SS26, FW26, or NOS (Never Out of Stock) designations
• Color standardization — Brand color names map to Zalando's standardized color palette for search and filtering
• Category classification — Odoo categories map to Zalando's fashion taxonomy (Clothing → Women → Dresses → Midi Dresses)

Size System Mapping

This is where most Zalando integrations fail. The module provides:

• Conversion tables — Define brand-to-Zalando size mappings once (e.g., brand "M" = Zalando "EU 38" for women's tops)
• Auto-variant generation — Odoo product variants automatically generate Zalando-compatible size/color combinations
• Multi-system support — Handle EU, UK, US, French, Italian, and brand-specific sizing simultaneously
• Size chart sync — Push brand-specific size charts to Zalando for reduced returns due to fit issues

Multi-Country Pricing

Zalando operates across 25 European markets, each with different VAT rates and pricing expectations:

| Market | VAT Rate | Currency | |--------|----------|----------| | Germany (DE) | 19% | EUR | | France (FR) | 20% | EUR | | Netherlands (NL) | 21% | EUR | | United Kingdom (UK) | 20% | GBP | | Poland (PL) | 23% | PLN | | Sweden (SE) | 25% | SEK | | Switzerland (CH) | 8.1% | CHF | | Denmark (DK) | 25% | DKK |

The module handles:

• Per-market price rules — Set base prices in EUR and apply market-specific adjustments
• VAT-inclusive pricing — Zalando requires consumer-facing prices to include VAT; the module calculates automatically
• Promotional pricing — Schedule markdowns with compliance for German PAngV (price indication regulations)
• Currency conversion — Non-EUR markets get prices calculated from your EUR base with configurable margins

Order Processing

Orders from all Zalando markets flow into Odoo:

• Anonymized buyer data — Zalando anonymizes customer information per GDPR; the module handles Zalando's buyer reference system
• Multi-market routing — Orders from different countries route to appropriate warehouses based on your fulfillment strategy
• Shipment confirmation — Push carrier and tracking information to Zalando within your committed lead time
• Partial shipments — Handle split shipments when not all items are available from the same warehouse

Returns Management

With 30-50% return rates in fashion, returns processing is not optional — it's core business:

• Reason code analytics — Track why items come back: too small, too large, not as expected, quality issue, wrong color
• Quality grading — Returned items go through A/B/C grading: resellable as new, resellable with markdown, or write-off
• Automated restocking — Grade-A returns automatically restock and update Zalando inventory
• Refund workflow — Approved returns trigger refunds through Zalando's settlement system
• Return rate alerts — Products exceeding configurable return rate thresholds are flagged for review (potential sizing or description issues)

Zalando Fulfillment Solutions (ZFS)

For brands using Zalando's own fulfillment:

• Inbound shipments — Create transfer orders in Odoo to send stock to Zalando's fulfillment centers
• ZFS inventory tracking — Monitor stock levels at Zalando warehouses alongside your own warehouses in Odoo
• Hybrid fulfillment — Some products through ZFS, others self-fulfilled, all managed from one Odoo instance
• ZFS fee reconciliation — Track Zalando's fulfillment fees per order for accurate cost analysis

Setting Up Your Zalando Integration

Prerequisites

• Active Zalando Partner Program account
• Odoo 17, 18, or 19 (Community or Enterprise)
• High-quality product photography (minimum 4 images per product, white background)
• German-language product descriptions (for DE market minimum)
• EU VAT registration (or OSS registration for multi-country)

Configuration Steps

1. Install the module from your ECOSIRE Dashboard and enter Zalando Partner API credentials
2. Set up size tables — Define your brand's size-to-Zalando mapping for each product category
3. Configure content rules — Map Odoo product fields to Zalando's material, care, and color attribute system
4. Define pricing rules — Set base prices and per-market adjustments for your target Zalando markets
5. Test with a small collection — Push 10-20 products to validate feeds before bulk sync
6. Enable order sync — Turn on order import, shipment confirmation, and return processing

Performance and Pricing

| Metric | Value | |--------|-------| | Product feed sync | < 5 minutes | | Order import frequency | Every 5 minutes | | Inventory update speed | < 30 seconds | | Returns processing | < 15 minutes | | Markets supported | 25 |

Plans

• Standard ($399/month) — 1 Zalando market, product feeds, order sync, returns processing, email support
• Professional ($799/month) — All 25 markets, ZFS integration, returns analytics, priority support, custom size mapping, dedicated account manager

14-day free trial available. Start your trial →

Next Steps

If you're selling fashion in Europe, Zalando is the platform where your brand belongs. Install the Zalando integration or talk to our team about a fashion-specific setup. Already selling on other German marketplaces? See our guides for Otto and Kaufland to build a complete German eCommerce strategy.