Lengow is compatible with Zalando’s ZFS program

Fulfillment is a logistics service offered by some marketplaces (Zalando, Amazon,  Cdiscount, ManoMano, Leroy Merlin…). It enables merchants to entrust their stocks to marketplaces that will manage and deliver the products to the end customer.  

In practical terms, the marketplace gets the sellers’ orders fully processed: warehouse storage, product preparation and packaging, order dispatch, customer service, and returns management.  

Zalando Fulfillment Service (ZFS) grants Zalando Partner Program partners access to the logistics network and shipping and storage capabilities of Zalando. The marketplace takes over responsibility for the entire customer-facing logistics chain. It manages shipment and potential returns; shipping costs are shared by several brands with the “One box” Zalando  Fulfillment Solutions.  

What is One Box?
It’s a unique solution for outbound deliveries and returns. A customer who places a multi-brand order receives a single box and can return everything together at the same time.

Who can benefit from it?

Any fashion merchants. Beauty brands cannot currently use the ZFS service.  

How does it work?

Deliveries can be shipped to one of the warehouses in Germany, Poland, Italy, France, and  Sweden. All customers’ orders are consolidated and shipped in the “one box”.  

In order to make this happen, replenishing your stock regularly is strongly recommended.  Further information >> ZFS Replenishment Guide.

“The benefit for partners is that they can focus on their actual business, namely selling and marketing their products”, explains Jan Bartels, VP Customer Fulfillment and Logistics (source: Zalando Annual Report).

With this program, Zalando offers its partner network an international logistics network and well-established expertise. It allows brands to achieve high service standards and internationalize their business quickly.  

It also enables them to save on logistics costs: merchants benefit from saving time and money on inventory and warehouse management.  

Moreover, this program puts an emphasis on the ecological aspect: “No miles are driven  without good cause.” 

Summary of benefits for merchants:

One of the reasons ZFS was developed was to meet the customers’ growing expectations: 

• A large choice of products without longer delivery times
• Easy returns  
• A commitment to increased sustainability (with less transportation)  
• All of this at no additional costs  

• For customers: one order means one box, one shipment, and easy returns using that  same box: more convenient and more environmentally friendly 
• For Partners: lower costs and increased profitability 
• For Zalando: Controlled shipping and return standards, a new market of merchants attracted by ZFS; …

Lengow is compatible with ZFS shipping services. In addition to centralizing the management of your fulfillment programs, our platform enables you to distinguish between your usual orders  (which require you to manage and ship them as a vendor) and fulfillment orders (managed by the marketplace).

Prerequisite to use ZFS with Lengow: To use ZFS via Lengow, you first need to subscribe and activate the ZFS program on Zalando. There are no other changes when it comes to authentication or settings on Lengow. 

Integrating with the Lengow platform will be progressive.

You are already able to access your ZFS-managed orders from the Lengow interface and set them apart from your regular orders. 

The API also enables you to see an overview of your inventory in Zalando warehouses in the form of a daily report, and set up occasional inventory reports with variable parameters (EAN, warehouses, dates, etc.).

Phase 2 of our integration with Zalando Fulfillment Services is currently available on Lengow in beta mode. Through our API, you can now track your products movements within the Zalando network. You are also able to send, via the API, shipping notice requests, to inform the marketplace that you are planning a shipment from your warehouses to Zalando’s.

When it comes to the creation of stock return notices: the mandatory documents requested by Zalando are, for now, still to be retrieved via the marketplace. After the development of phase 3, you will be able to generate them automatically on Lengow in a personalised manner.

Zalando is one of the most demanding marketplaces with its network of merchants. The marketplace places particular emphasis on the consistency of the product range presented on its website. Moreover, specific delivery conditions must be respected in order to ensure customer satisfaction (imposed carrier, facilitated returns, respected delivery times, etc.). However, Zalando offers great international business opportunities for all of its merchants in return for these efforts. 

And now, with ZFS, the marketplace can take over all of the logistic aspects, so why not use it to your advantage?