Zalando’s Post

✨ 3 years ago I joined Zalando Here are my 7 reasons to keep promoting this amazing company. Starting in 2019, I applied 8 times to Zalando😅. In 2021, I was FINALLY invited to the Hiring Sprint 🚀. I had 0 confidence that I would pass these interviews. My main concern was the lack of English fluency 🗣️. It was an amazing 3 hours of interviews with Franziska Konnopka, Brian Kim, and Jessika Lichtenecker. Their answer was YES, and I started my journey at Zalando in September 2021 🎉. I truly believe that Zalando is the dream company for me. Here are my 7 reasons: 1️⃣ Smartest and open people from all around the world 🌍 It’s a fantastic mix of openness, maturity, and diverse experiences. Zalando hires people from all over the world, creating an incredible mix of experience and culture. 2️⃣ Innovative and customer-centric 📊🛍️ Fashion e-commerce is one of the most exciting areas to work in. It’s always about REAL customers, trends, and technology. It’s not just Nike, Boss, or Tommy Hilfiger — it’s AI, data, and industry tech trends. 3️⃣ Diversity 🤝 Genders, colors, passports, ages — we are all equals. I understood how important this is, especially being Russian in 2022 (you know what I mean). 4️⃣ Be your own boss 🔑💪 Learn basic processes and act like an owner. Incredible flexibility in the way I work allows me to manage programs and projects with autonomy and ownership. 5️⃣ Environment 🏢💻 I can work from home 3 times a week and even work abroad each year. If I prefer the office, I can choose from multiple locations, enjoy the benefits, join open spaces for active discussions, or select a quiet area for focused work. 6️⃣ Mature PMO practices 📈🔍 One of my goals in joining Zalando was to learn how PMOs work in Europe after successfully launching 3 PMOs in the largest Russian e-commerce companies. At Zalando, I continue to learn the best practices, not just in program management but also in portfolio and strategic planning. 7️⃣ Employee value 🌟🎁 I feel that the company values me, engages with me, supports me with perks, invites me to activities, and helps me develop my career. I see this pattern not just on the team level, but across the company as a whole. Today, my work is my hobby, and I get paid for it! It feels like a dream life ✨😇. I’ve learned so much about program management, fashion e-commerce, and I continue to grow in communications, leadership, and stakeholder management 🧠📚. I hope this story motivates you to keep searching for your dream company and never give up! 💪🌟

Yesterday marked my 8-year anniversary at Zalando! 🎉🎈 Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine staying with a company for this long (my previous record was 1.7 years), but here I am, thrilled about it and excited for what the next year holds! This time has been a journey of high growth and learning, filled with extraordinary people (some of whom I now call friends) and unforgettable moments hashtag #bestteamevents. For me, Zalando has been an exceptional product school. Over these years, I've had the opportunity to: ⇥ Work with products in all stages (0-1 remains the most exciting for me – there's nothing like launching a new product direction!; growth the most surprising and maturity the most fruitful) ⇥ Launch impactful and innovative solutions ⇥ Dive deep into various business verticals ⇥ Collaborate with almost all types of tech products ⇥ Learn how different customers are across the European markets ⇥ Build and grow cross-functional teams ⇥ Organize fun product events and trainings ⇥ And most importantly, grow as an individual As I reflect back, here are 8 important product learnings I’ve gained along the way: ① Don’t A/B test everything – it easily gets costly. Instead, make time for more user research. The more you talk to the customers, the more you will understand them and nail the right solutions quickly. Then, use A/B testing at the end for quantitative confidence; ② Figure out how to ship the great ideas faster – focus on 'wow' ideas for your customers, not on the ones easy to do. Get creative with your team to execute them within the desired timeframe. Solutions always exist; don’t compromise on the product outcome; ③ Focus on solving the underlying customer needs, not only on the customer problems – this helps drive innovation rather than patch solutions; ④ Understand what to optimize for – for 0-1 products, impact = speed; for growing products, impact = volume; for mature products, impact = high quality; ⑤ Teamwork over solo work – no matter how experienced you are, the ideas and solutions always better with a cross-functional team. I've learned so much from amazing peers in other functions; ⑥ Great product work can be done anywhere – even in less exciting problem spaces. However, exciting visions and problem spaces can motivate teams to move mountains; ⑦ Say "no" thoughtfully – instead of the classic “no” or "later", ask the right questions to understand stakeholders' problems, have data and research at hand and see how you can find solutions to the core problem. Bonus points if you find a quick fix; ⑧ Effective communication is THE skill to master - it will solve the majority of your problems. It’s also one of the hardest ones, where you always keep on learning. Bonus tip: Have fun while doing it! The PM’s work isn’t always glamorous, so it’s crucial to laugh and enjoy the ride🎢 What has been your most valuable learning experience in your career? #WorkAnniversary #ProductManagement #Innovation

How to deal with unpredictable challenges in supply chain logistics in times of constant change? Zalando building the leading pan-European ecosystem for fashion and lifestyle explains the strategy: The key are flexible partners like we as KNAPP are.🤝 Zalando values various factors that make our partnership so good and flexible: ✅ Save time up front: Working closely together as partners also during times without an active project and preparing for different scenarios. ✅ Scalability: providing modular solutions that can be scaled up when needed. ✅ Internationality: possibility to handle large projects across Europe. ✅ Resident engineers: short response times for technical challenges. ✅ Collaborative approach: transparent communication about requirements. We are proud to have this partnership with Zalando and we are looking forward to our further collaboration. 🚀

Yesterday, I had the privilege of presenting at the Zalando Grow event. For those unfamiliar, Grow@Zalando is an annual, company-wide event focused on internal growth and development opportunities offered by Zalando. We discussed personal branding, a topic that resonates deeply with me. During the panel discussion, which included colleagues from various departments, we explored the challenges of creating a personal brand, the importance of authenticity, and the balance between professional and personal life while maintaining a strong professional image. Key themes such as courage, feedback, peer support, and leadership were highlighted. If you are interested, here are some tips for building your personal brand: # Treat it as a Project: Collect data and feedback from individuals you trust to provide honest and constructive criticism. Reflect on your value system and identify how your personal values align with the company’s values. # Be Authentic: Show genuine interest in your interactions. Authenticity fosters trust and credibility with your audience. # Set Clear Goals: Define your objectives for your personal brand. Establish both short-term and long-term goals that align with your values, career aspirations, and personal life. I was thrilled to see my team’s support, the audience's engagement, and the insightful questions that arose during the session. Thank you, Robert Schiller, Veronica Schilling, Fuada Daco for the opportunity & Preethi Rao, Miguel Dupret, Charlotte Preut for an amazing discussion & exchange. #insidezalando

The vast majority of product titles on Zalando are not optimized, in fact, most products DON'T EVEN HAVE A TITLE. Between the platform's strict requirements and the difficulties of understanding the search engine behavior, increasing your product's visibility on Zalando can be quite challenging. Zalando rejects any title that doesn't meet their requirements, which represents a significant missed opportunity for brands. This impacts BOTH product visibility AND conversion rates. To tackle this issue, you might want to explore feedelitist.io. One of its key features is helping you match those requirements by creating titles that are both compliant and optimized to boost your visibility and conversions. And the best part? You can start today and use the tool for 20 products without spending a single euro! #marketplace #zalando Zalando

Just saying, be the change you want to see. I’ve seen quite a few fella’s coming over at the store picking up cars bought from Drivalia by dealerships. I’ve come to learn, from these drivers, that not all of their pick-up locations offer friendly atmosphere nor a cup of coffee. The stories I’ve heard from them made me post this in the first place. Treat people as you would want someone to treat you. The golden rule is not overrated, nor is it out of place. Especially these days. Let’s welcome everyone, give them a hello, a smile, maybe a cup of coffee, and a dear welcome. What does that cost you? In the worst case, your reputation. Remember that everything you do in business, even in the slightest detail, you re-present your employer. And in every encounter, big or small, you’ll be able to give an idea of what your Company’s DNA and culture stands for. And that means a lot these days.

🚀 Zalando's Q2 Highlights: Growth, Expansion, and Exciting Partnerships! 🌟 Zalando's second quarter was filled with remarkable achievements and exciting developments. Here are some key highlights: 📈 Group GMV: Zalando experienced strong growth in Group Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV), reflecting the continued success of our platform and the trust of our customers. 💼 B2B Revenue Growth: Zalando's B2B segment, which includes ZEOS, achieved double-digit revenue growth, showcasing the value and impact of our business solutions for partners. 🌍 Expansion: We expanded our reach by enabling Switzerland as a new market, bringing the total to 12 markets. Additionally, we added a new shopping club as a sales channel, further diversifying our offerings. 🗣️ Robert Gentz, Zalando Co-CEO: "Our ecosystem strategy empowers us to cover a larger share of the fashion and lifestyle e-commerce market, and the positive response from customers and partners in the second quarter validates our vision." 🌐 New Hub in Shenzhen: Zalando is expanding its presence by adding a new office in China's tech-hub Shenzhen. This allows us to leverage local expertise in social commerce and further enhance our offerings. 🤝 Partnership with OpenAI: Zalando will continue deep collaboration with OpenAI to continue building even more generative AI solutions together for the fashion industry. #ZEOS #ZEOSFulfillment #EuropeUnlocked #FashionLogistics #Ecommerce #MultichannelFulfillment

As regular readers will know, I love Vinted. And one of the things that makes it great is fulfilment by InPost. A top I ordered on Saturday afternoon was promptly dispatched by the seller and waiting for me at my local InPost locker at Welwyn North station on Monday morning when I woke up. I picked it up on the way back from the school run. So news about InPost caught my eye this week. It is to acquire the remaining stake in Menzies to scale up distribution in the UK and allow more retailers to offer next-day InPost delivery. What brought it to life was the post from its CEO, Neil Kushel. This is not Neil’s first rodeo on LinkedIn. His tagline reads: “I like lockers” and he’s a regular LinkedIn writer, bringing a very human side to business. He not shy of selfies, can be a little self-deprecating, mentions his family in a business-appropriate way and does indeed seem genuinely enthusiastic about lockers. It means his more sales-led posts don’t feel quite as forced as they would do if that was ALL he wrote about on LinkedIn. His direct involvement shouldn't take away from what appears to be a slick PR operation around him. Rather, it's a lovely add-on that breathes life into the corporate comms. Check out some of the screenshots below to see what I mean. And let me know if you see any other “social CEOs” doing great things on this platform so I can add them to my collection.

11 days left until summer. And finally, it's time to relax. But for me, June is not about relaxation. I received my offer from Zalando in June 2021. It seems like a month that's not great for hiring, but that's not true! I've received in past a several offers between June and August. Summer is perfect for hiring because fewer decision-makers are around, everyone is in a more positive mood, and offers still need to be closed. It's easier and faster to receive offers in the summer. My team and I know a lot about how your LinkedIn profile should look to attract employers' attention. This Tuesday, for the first time in a long time, I am bringing back LinkedIn enhancement. We'll review your profiles, your career goals, and think about what needs to be adjusted. Details here: https://lnkd.in/eqUeCF3y [RU] More about LinkedIn boost and career in Europe here [RU] => https://lnkd.in/e6wb7VjS

A friend sent a picture of an organizer today and proudly said that she had assembled it herself and that it took two hours to do so. I immediately asked, “Ikea?” It wasn’t. It was Amazon. Why did I think of Ikea? Ikea has positioned itself as a do-it-yourself furniture brand. By doing so, they have - 👉Increased distribution efficiency 👉Made furniture more affordable for the masses 👉Changed the way we think about furniture So, why Amazon? Because of shipping. ⏳ Fast Shipping and Amazon are synonymous. That is why Amazon is competition for every eCommerce brand that exists. 🎯Improving your shipping game can change the way people see your brand. And it’s never too late to focus more on shipping. #shipping #amazon #ikea #positioning