Zalando is to open its third technology hub outside Germany. This time the fashion retailer and marketplace will open in Lisbon, where it plans to create 50 jobs in its first year.
The new hub, set to open early next year, will focus on an enhanced digital experience of the Zalando fashion store, which is currently available in 15 European markets.
Zalando’s existing overseas tech hubs are in Dublin and Helskinki. The focus of operations in Ireland is deep data science and engineering research, involving research and development around how to build a real-time insight platform around fashion. In Finland, the tech team works on cornerstone areas including personalisation and components that influence social fashion.
Zalando now aims to improve its platform operations and expand the ways in which people and fashion are connected using digital. The new hub in Lisbon will play a key role in this strategy by focusing on improving the digital experience for customers of Zalando, currently selling in 15 European markets.
“As ecommerce develops, consumer behaviour becomes increasingly sophisticated,” says Marc Lamik, head of innovation and partnerships at Zalando . “It is therefore essential to be on top of digital innovations and to offer the best overall shopping experience. The opening of a dedicated technology hub with a strong focus on the digital experience of our fashion store is a strategic step to ensure we stay ahead of customer expectations in terms of personalisation, inspiration and frictionless shopping.
“Lisbon offers a great environment to develop our new hub. The city’s tech ecosystem will allow us to attract the talent we need, and we are looking forward to engaging in fruitful exchanges with the local startup community.”
Zalando will open the new hub at the beginning of 2018 and plans to create more than 50 jobs in Lisbon during the first year of operations. The online fashion platform is actively recruiting frontend and backend software engineers, but also product managers and UX designers from across the industry and from within academic institutions to work on products and features that will further improve the digital experience of the fashion store.
“Technology has always been the backbone of our company,” says Philipp Erler, SVP digital experience at Zalando. “Thanks to over 200 specialised delivery teams, we keep enhancing the capabilities that allow our platform to operate efficiently and grow, and we constantly improve our offer towards customers and partners.
“Besides allowing us to concentrate resources on the development of our Fashion Store – a cornerstone in the success of Zalando – the new hub in Lisbon will also contribute to the diversification of our technological footprint, which keeps expanding at a fast pace”.
The opening in Lisbon constitutes Zalando’s third technology hub outside of Germany following the opening of the Fashion Insights Centre in Dublin and the technology hub in Helsinki in 2015.
Overall, Zalando’s tech team has grown to more than 1,800 across all locations. Most members of Zalando Technology are located at the company’s headquarters in Berlin with around 120 in German hubs in Dortmund and Hamburg. Dublin and Helsinki boast a staff of around 100 each.
