Zalando introduces ‘Pre-Owned’ category

Zalando will launch a ‘Pre-Owned’ category in its platform. This fall, Germany will be the first market to offer this will service. It will be available in the women’s, men’s and kids’ segments.

In all press releases, Zalando emphasizes it wants to become the ‘starting point for fashion’. This ambitious goal is more and more in its reach, especially since it will now let customers buy and sell secondhand fashion online.

Zalando gained experience with Wardrobe and Zircle

Offering pre-owned items on its platform isn’t totally new for Zalando. With the Wardrobe app and a six-month pilot of an offline Zircle store in Berlin, the fashion giant gained some experience with pre-owned fashion. “And we discovered that it resonated well with consumers”, Torben Hansen, VP Recommerce at Zalando, says.

We discovered that pre-owned fashion tests resonated well with consumers.

‘Decluttering is now part of the fashion conversation’

Anne Pascual, SVP Product Design at Zalando, says customers are more and more looking for pre-owned items, for reasons of sustainability, but also to enrich their looks with a unique piece. “On the other hand, decluttering is now part of the fashion conversation, and customers are in search of innovative ways to do so.”

Customers want unique pieces, but also to declutter.

When the ‘Pre-Owned’ category goes live on Zalando.de in a couple of months, customers will be to click on the category (just like they now can on categories like ‘Sport’, ‘Shoes’ or ‘Accessories’) and shop items that once previously belonged to other Zalando customers. They can also search for certain products by using a filter option in the shop.

Customers who want to sell their fashion, can submit the items, after which a quality check will take place.

New Zalando warehouse in Spain

While presenting the financial results of last year, Zalando also announced it further extend its logistics network in Europe by opening a local warehouse in Spain.