Zalando’s Post

✨ It’s the people that make my work at Zalando truly rewarding! ✨ Last week marked a special milestone as we celebrated our 4th anniversary of the Zalando Zurich office. What a journey it’s been! 🎉 It all started with the acquisition of a startup, which is now our Size & Fit Zurich team. From day one, I had the privilege of guiding the team through a smooth integration into the wider Zalando world. What's truly remarkable is that nearly all our colleagues are still with us—growing, evolving, and today tackling one of fashion's biggest challenges: helping people find the right size advice as one team spread across Zurich and Berlin. 👗👚 We’re continuing to expand and we all have been excited to welcome one of the Zalando eCommerce Plattform Service Teams to Zurich last year, working on exciting initiatives like the Zalando Fashion Assistant and other inspiring projects. 🚀 A big thanks goes to the Site Operations Team that I have the honor of leading for the past three and a half years. Pamela Herrera, Petros Papagiannis, Roxana and Marko Kauzlaric - we are a small team and we make the magic happen together, thanks a lot for your commitment and trust 🙌 Reflecting on my own adventure - moving to a new country during the pandemic, building up our site in Zurich and leading across functions far beyond my original profession - I couldn’t have done it without the incredible support from my team, central experts and leadership who believed in us every step of the way. 💪 For anyone dreaming big, here are two pieces of advice I’d love to share: 1️⃣ Build a strong foundation from the start so you’re ready to grow when the time is right - this equally counts for personal as well as business growth 2️⃣ When a great opportunity comes your way, be brave. (Personal) Growth often comes from stepping outside your comfort zone and surrounding yourself with people who challenge you in the best ways as well as those believing and supporting you 💡 Here’s to many more years of growth, collaboration, and exciting opportunities ahead! 🚀💼 #Teamwork #InsideZalando #ZalandoZurich #Leadership #GrowthMindset #CareerJourney

Being bold is more than just taking risks; it's about daring to step forward when others hesitate. The story of Zalando is a powerful example of how courage and vision can transform an idea into a global phenomenon. When Zalando started, the founders faced uncertainty, competition, and a rapidly changing market. But they didn’t back down. Instead, they pushed forward with boldness, embracing innovation and challenging the status quo. ✨ Their journey teaches us that being bold is crucial for success. It’s about believing in your vision, even when the path isn't clear. It’s about making decisions that others might shy away from, and having the courage to shape the future instead of just following trends. 🚀🔥 Zalando’s success wasn’t a stroke of luck; it was the result of bold moves, a commitment to excellence, and a willingness to lead rather than follow. So, whether you’re starting a new project, pursuing a dream, or simply trying to make an impact in your daily life, remember: boldness is your ally. It’s the key to unlocking opportunities, overcoming challenges, and creating something truly extraordinary. 🌟 Like Zalando, you have the power to turn bold decisions into a legacy. Be bold. Your future depends on it. 💥🌍 https://lnkd.in/gGeQmeyJ #zalando

We’re constantly experimenting to find better ways to connect our customers, brands, and partners. When those experiments work, we celebrate. When they fail, we learn the lessons. It’s part of the Zalando culture. But we know that for lots of people, failure feels like a big deal. So how do you become a pro at 'failing forward'? Here are our top tips. 1. Break it down Being good at failing doesn’t mean taking unnecessary risks. If you’ve got a bold idea, break it down into smaller chunks, so that if you fail, you fail early and move on. 2. Remember the re-do At school, lots of us learn that instant success is the only acceptable result. But the joy of being an adult is that there’s always the re-do. If a project goes wrong, try it from a different angle. If this week’s presentation is a disaster, there’s always next week. Take the long view. 3. Give yourself points for being brave If your only measure of career success is perfection, you’ll probably take a pretty safe (and boring!) path. Give yourself points for being creative and bold. 4. Understand the consequences What would really happen if a project failed? What would your manager actually do if your big idea turned into a big mess? Where are the boundaries? Talk to your team leader to make sure your fears are based on reality. 5. Give yourself permission Failing doesn’t make you a failure. It makes you somebody who is brave enough to try. And that’s the kind of person we love! Put failure into perspective by allowing it into your career as part of your growth. At Zalando, we think big and act fast – it’s been an essential part of the Zalando story. Read it here: https://zln.do/3X4zU2K #InsideZalando

10.10.2024 Today I am in Arteixo, Spain where we just concluded the signing of an updated 𝐆𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐀𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 (GFA) with the Fast Fashion giant 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗲𝘅 (known mainly through their 𝐙𝐚𝐫𝐚 retail stores). The core of the GFA continues to be workers’ rights to organize trade unions at Inditex stores and warehouses worldwide as well as respecting workers’ rights to collective bargaining. The updated agreement includes four new themes: 𝐅𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: As retailers introduce more digital tools to augment the shopping experience, the agreement has first-of-its-kind language on retail workers’ rights to be consulted regarding their use and implementation with respect to national legislations and the tradition of social dialogue. 𝐅𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫-𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞: The agreement deepens joint work to combat sexual harassment and gender violence in the workplace. 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧: Inditex and UNI are rolling out new measures focused on inclusion and retention of workers with functional diversity. 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐬: Inditex committed to ensuring its franchised operations comply with and respect labor rights. Franchising is now a dedicated special topic during UNI and Inditex’s annual meetings to review the agreement’s implementation. We look forward to working with our affiliates and Inditex to bring this agreement to life in all the countries they are operating in. (Christy Hoffman, General Secretary of UNI Global Union and Óscar García Maceiras, CEO of Inditex, signing the new agreement today)

Tomorrow me and Inês Vieira will be present in SET - Semana Empresarial e Tecnológica to share everything with you about La Redoute. Come meet us and let's talk Tech! #technology #techcareer #careersintech

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. 🚀

“Since moving ‘for love’ to the US aged 17 with $20 in his pocket, Donald Tang has been a dish washer, an investment banker and a media mogul, with his rags-to-riches tale winning him fame in his native China. But his latest role as executive chair of Shein, the fast fashion group that was valued at more than $60bn in a recent funding round, has propelled him on to the global stage as he helps lead its rapid expansion overseas and prepares it for a blockbuster London listing. With the company’s co-founder Sky Xu shying away from the limelight Tang is ‘the face and the most visible leader of the company’, according to one person who works with him. As both a Mandarin speaker and Asian-American executive, Tang has deftly navigated the business and policy climate in his native and adoptive countries as his career advanced. But as ties deteriorate between the US, Shein’s main market, and China, where it was founded and most of its clothes are made, his role is becoming more challenging.” “Responsible for public affairs, business strategy, corporate development and finance, he now faces the task of getting an initial public offering over the line in London after ditching earlier plans to list in New York in the face of US political opposition. Born in Shanghai to academic parents, Tang met his future wife Jean at a maths competition when he was 14, and succeeded in skipping an academic year in order to be with her. He moved to California in 1982 to follow Jean when her family emigrated. He studied chemical engineering at California State Polytechnic University Pomona and worked in hospitality to make ends meet. Using his now wife’s salary to start day trading, he eventually landed a job at Merrill Lynch. After joining Bear Stearns in 1992, he quickly climbed the ranks to vice-chair of the firm and subsequently became chair and chief executive of its operations in Asia. He left, however, in 2008 as the investment bank lurched into the global financial crisis.” “He facilitated Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda’s 2012 acquisition of US cinema chain AMC and in 2015 founded Tang Media Partners, a media holding company based in Los Angeles and Shanghai whose backers included Chinese internet group Tencent. He formally joined Shein in November 2022 as executive vice-chair, having advised Xu for more than a year. But it has not been plain sailing. The effectiveness of his lobbying efforts is in doubt after Shein’s plans for a foreign listing met a wall of scepticism in the US and the UK, mainly around Shein’s vast supply chain and allegations of links to forced labour in China’s Xinjiang region, which the company denies. Some executives at the company have begun to question whether Tang is the right person for the job, according to one Shein insider, especially after a faux pas in May at the Milken Institute conference in Los Angeles where he called Shein, now headquartered in Singapore, an ‘American firm’. The remarks received a cold reception in China.”

🤔 Two news articles that reflect 🇵🇱 Poland's economic development: “Levi Strauss & Co. closes factory in Poland after over three decades” and “Poland world’s second most popular service centre location among global firms”. 🛠️ Simple production is no longer profitable in Poland. Levi Strauss closes its factory in Plock and lays off 650 employees. Costs are rising and the factory is no longer competitive. 🧑🏻💼 On the other hand, Poland has become the TOP2 location worldwide for shared service centers. The advantages mentioned are: ✅access to qualified experts, ✅positive customer experiences, ✅being a member of the European Union. However, high-quality manufacturing is still competitive in Poland, especially compared to the high wages in Central and Western Europe. In the service sector, Poland is already ahead of Western Europe. How do you see the development in Poland? Is it a good thing that simple production sites are closing? Does Poland have opportunities to position itself as a knowledge location? #cee #manufacturing #siteselection #poland #fdi

How has OTTO, the largest German online retailer in Germany, managed to thrive for 75 years? While former giants such as Neckermann and Quelle have long disappeared, Otto remains successful by continuously transforming and adapting to consumer needs. Global player Amazon is Otto's biggest competitor today. Chinese ecommerce platforms Temu and Shein, which are aggressively entering the German market with low-price strategies are adding pressure. And despite the ongoing weak consumer climate, OTTO is holding up well. Though sales have slightly decreased compared to three years ago, OTTO remains in a strong position. The Otto Group shows that success in today's world requires more than just competitive pricing. Swift, agile decision-making, the adoption of cutting-edge technologies like AI to better understand and engage consumers and customers, the right selection of brands, products, tools and communication are all crucial elements of an effective strategy. In the ntv Telebörse interview at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, I spoke with stock market reporter Frank Meyer about OTTO's 75th anniversary. Thank you for the engaging conversation! 📺 Watch the full feature on ntv.de: https://lnkd.in/e9RBvb-A 👉 PS: At OTTO’s big birthday celebration, Prof. Dr. Michael Otto put it this way: “The future of OTTO is secure if we continue to be curious and open to following this, our inner compass.” https://lnkd.in/e8Vqxk4Q 👏 #ecommerce #transformation #strategy #management #PlatformBusiness #OnlineRetail #myWHU

Most days I feel decent about our collective progress towards a more sustainable and just world - not for all the goals we have achieved, we're still falling far far behind, but for the many entrepreneurs, investors and corporates I'm meeting that are pushing ahead, shipping new solutions and poring capital to this challenge/opportunity. 😱 But then I'm reminded about #fastfashion and I'm at a loss. How do you handle news like this? ⏭ SHEIN and Temu together send almost 600,000 packages to the United States every day, according to a June 2023 report by the U.S. Congress Boeing is looking to more than treble its Chinese air cargo fleet to 750 aircraft between 2022 and 2042, to keep up with eCommerce demand driven by brands like SHEIN (Reuters below)