Zalando has rolled out its premium membership programme in France.
Customers in the country will be able to access the programme’s bundle of premium services, including free express home delivery within one to two days and early access to special offers and discounts.
They can also sign up for notifications when sold-out products in their size are back in stock or when items in their wishlist are discounted, as well as style advice and suggestions.
The French version of the programme will have exclusive features, including the ability to try items at home and only pay for the item they keep, as well as free mailbox returns.
The programme costs €9.95 per year.
The service initially launched in Germany in July 2017, followed by Switzerland. Italy is the next country slated to get access to the programme after France.
Riccardo Vola, director of southern Europe and gift cards at Zalando says, “As one of the biggest fashion markets in Europe, France is important in order for Zalando to achieve the company’s ambition of becoming The Starting Point for Fashion.”
“That is why we have expanded our convenience services for French customers. Whether you shop with us from time to time or do most of your fashion shopping on Zalando, we want to offer an experience that matches your individual needs.
“With Zalando Plus, we are deepening the relationship with our customers by offering a tailor-made experience based on their needs, making shopping at Zalando effortless.”
According to Zalando’s third quarter results for 2019, Zalando Plus customers are responsible for a 10% share of gross merchandise volume (defined as the total value of goods being sold over the platform) in Germany.
During the November Cyber Week, the company cut the subscription price of its Plus loyalty programme by 34% to €9.90.
However, in November the company ended free returns collection for Plus customers, saying it “did not always meet [its] requirements for a premium programme”.
Our view: Zalando says the programme is about deepening its relationship with customers. All fashion retailers want to do this; more data on the customer means more personalisation and hence more sales.
Standard delivery is fast for all customers but express delivery is charged at €9.95. This means a customer wanting free delivery may simply sign up to the membership service for the same price. Those that sign up are likely to buy more over the platform, wishing to take advantage of the free and fast delivery.
Zalando’s platform strategy makes the data doubly valuable. It can tap into these more engaged fashion shoppers and serve this data to the brands that are using Zalando’s marketing services.
