With Europe becoming an increasingly interconnected market, it can still be challenging to scale across the different sales channels. ZEOS emerges as a new tool to meet these challenges with local fulfilment centres and logistics to help brands grow their digital footprint on their owned & operated platform and marketplaces.

ZEOS, short for Zalando eCommerce Operating System, is a multichannel solution launched by Zalando in 2023 designed to leverage the company's existing infrastructure, technology, and logistics capabilities. ZEOS aims to support brands and digital retailers entering this boom in the fashion and lifestyle industry in Europe.

“ZEOS is simplifying eCommerce fulfilment for brands, increasing the profitability, it’s lowering the cost of (reversed) logistics, and having the same stock available for every channel has provided a strong decrease in missed sales opportunities.” - Sanne Krom, Partner at Metyis 

Within the ZEOS suite, ZEOS Fulfillment enables brands and retailers to better reach their European customers by managing inventory across various sales channels using a single stock pool, a single integration, and one user interface. Metyis has begun leveraging this platform for our partners and with our experience in lifestyle and fashion, we’re positioned to create a great impact for brands and digital retailers looking to scale in Europe.

Europe, unlocked  

Europe is becoming an increasingly unified landscape, and now with the seamless integration of ZEOS, brands and retailers now have an end-to-end solution that fulfills digital multi-channel sales.   

Graph 1: ZEOS Fulfillment reach across Europe

Mastering digital commerce across Europe requires the right strategic guidance and many retailers still lack fulfilment reach and agility. Finding the right distribution channels and customers is imperative for the right focus and success in the digital commerce journey.  

Despite potential economic downturn and ongoing geopolitical instabilities, the EU eCommerce market is projected to grow +70% until 2029. The share of purchases flowing through marketplaces compared to brands’ own .com sales has grown steadily every year, approaching an equal share. The majority of customers in 21 of 24 EU countries surveyed said they started shopping online.  

Fulfilling ambitions using ZEOS Fulfilment solution  

To unlock the full potential of digital commerce, companies must overcome today’s fulfilment challenges. 

Delivery difficulties:  

Return rates:  

  • High return rates pose another threat to companies' revenues.  

  • Collecting these items and not being able to resell them quickly is costly.    

Metyis experts guiding this kind of integration have seen profitability and customer satisfaction dramatically increase by fulfilling using ZEOS. They clearly determined that as a go-to platform for these key markets, brands have access to a wider network of customers, insights and revenue.  

Integrating ZEOS through multiple sales channels has opened a way to provide fulfilment capabilities where some brands lack reach. Metyis teams have been confident in this profitable transition also thanks to Tradebyte being a part of Zalando Group, as a SaaS solution that can streamline and centralise integration processes across multiple platforms, improving catalogue management and optimise data flow from product mapping to order fulfilment.  

Graph 2: Fulfillment network

This has ensured scalability and growth for brands and retailers across diverse marketplaces. Not only that, but through ZEOS, brands have a single point of stock to reach their customers quickly. Metyis has streamlined logistics operations and improved their customer experience for partners by offering faster delivery times and more efficient handling of returns.  

Sanne Krom has seen this firsthand and stated that “ZEOS is simplifying eCommerce fulfilment for brands, increasing the profitability, it’s lowering the cost of (reversed) logistics, and having the same stock available for every channel has provided a strong decrease in missed sales opportunities.” 

A unified platform 

ZEOS enables brands to expand their customer reach by providing multi-channel fulfilment through a one stock pool, all while reducing costs and fulfilment time. They provide a fluid warehouse where brands can have one single point of stock in one place while using the network that they have.

“The eCommerce supply chain becomes more effortless, similar to a wholesale business. So, ZEOS takes over the entire management of it, once you have shipped the stock to their warehouse" - Francesca Padula, Director of Marketplaces 

Establishing proximity to customers, particularly in key markets is a clear strategic imperative because as Sanne states, “the closer the product is to customers, the better the efficiency and therefore costs, with shipping but almost more importantly with returns". 

Sanne highlighted that "the efficiency of having one stock", is a great benefit because through ZEOS' inventory management "there are less missed sales opportunities across our channels now while less depth in SKUs is needed."

Access more customers

  • Achieve greater market penetration by leveraging both D2C channels and multiple marketplaces

  • Effortlessly scale your business across 23+ European countries while exceeding customer delivery expectation

Simplify operations

  • Consolidated product inventory into a single stock pool distributed strategically across the warehouse network

  • Lower upfront inventory costs by eliminating the need for multiple minimum long-tail SKU buffers, reducing overproduction

  • Significant decrease in missed sales opportunities by leveraging stock across platforms.

Reduce costs

  • Offering more than 160 localised delivery and return options, which significantly minimise stock’s offline time

  • One contract allows access to a pool of trusted last-mile providers, reducing rates and contract costs

Graph 3: ZEOS Return Process

Using this digital sales model, according to Francesca Padula, means that “the eCommerce supply chain becomes more effortless, similar to a wholesale business. So, ZEOS takes over the entire management of it, once you have shipped the stock to their warehouse". This perspective highlighted the shift from managing individual warehouses to leveraging Zalando's network as a seamless and effortless solution to all growing eCommerce needs. 

Metyis as a strategic partner for scaling eCommerce operations in Europe 

The cost and complexity of eCommerce logistics can be a barrier to expansion, so instead of requiring a complete operational overhaul, ZEOS provides brands and digital retailers with an established logistics network that brings them closer to their customers. This new flexibility allows brands and retailers to not only fulfil the current market needs in Europe but also test their reach in locations where they could eventually implement new warehouses.  

Metyis' understanding of the challenges and strategic objectives in the fashion and lifestyle industry, coupled with the know-how of integrating ZEOS Fulfillment solutions, is empowering partners to navigate the complexities of scaling operations in Europe with more confidence and agility. The ability to impact scalability goals and increase the digital footprint has been evident, as Sanne confirms, “ZEOS is really increasing the profitability of eCommerce, it’s lowering the cost of fulfilment, and making the same stock available for every channel provided a huge increase in sales opportunities.”  

As a trusted partner, Metyis facilitates the seamless integration of ZEOS Fulfillment into a brand’s multichannel operations, reducing delivery times, boosting customer satisfaction, streamlining digital operations, and accelerating the return of stock to online availability. This success results from a collaborative approach that aligns eCommerce platforms, digital solutions, and the dedication of all teams involved. Together with Metyis, retailers and brands can rapidly expand their digital footprint across Europe and explore potential in new markets.

Authors behind this article

Sanne Krom is a Partner based in the Amsterdam office. Francesca Padula is Director of Marketplaces in Madrid.