Zalando asks for shipping costs for the first time

When you’re talking about Zalando, you can’t ignore their free shipping and return policy. But this unique selling point is about to be less special now. In Italy, Zalando will demand from customers to pay shipping costs if their order value is less than 25 euros.

This would mark the first time Zalando is asking for shipping costs. From the very beginning in 2008, Zalando chose to use a free delivery and return service to drive their sales. This worked splendidly, as the company soon became one of the biggest online fashion retailers of Europe.

Weak third quarter for Zalando in Europe

But recently, the German online retailer Zalando recorded heavy losses and weaker than expected revenue growth in the third quarter of this year. The fashion retailer reported a net loss of 41.7 million euros in this period, compared to a loss of 11.1 million euros one year before.

Shipping fee of 3.50 euros

What may be the writing on the wall, Zalando has now decided it will ask for shipping costs in Italy in the near future. If consumers order products with a total value that’s below 25 euros, they will need to pay a shipping fee of 3.50 euros.

Ecommerce News Europe checked the order process on Zalando.it, by putting a shirt that’s worth 4 euros in the basket. When we decided to check out, we weren’t faced with any shipping fees yet. It’s unknown when Zalando Italy will start asking for shipping fees.

‘Only in Italy’

The new strategy of Zalando is in all probability a reaction to the buying behavior of Italian customers, who often order only one item per order. “However, this shopping behavior is a special case and a shipping fee in any of the other 15 countries in Europe where Zalando is active, is therefore not planned”, Neuhandeln.de writes.