Marketplace vs E-commerce: Why selling on Zalando accelerates your brand

Marketplace vs E-commerce: Why selling on Zalando accelerates your brand

One of the questions I am most often asked by brands is: ‘If I sell on Zalando or another marketplace, will people still buy from my website?’

The answer is yes, but with a different perspective. In a mature digital ecosystem, marketplaces are not the enemies of your e-commerce, but your most powerful allies. As a Marketplace Specialist, my job is to explain how to use the power of these giants to grow your independent business.

The ‘Authority’ effect: Leveraging a brand stronger than your ow

When a user browses Zalando, they already trust it. The platform has invested billions in marketing, logistics and customer service.

• New customer acquisition: Many users would never find your site directly through Google. On Zalando, however, they find you because they are searching for a category (e.g. ‘Summer dresses’) or because your brand appears alongside industry giants.

• Halo effect: Seeing your products on Zalando gives your brand an aura of immediate credibility. If Zalando has selected you, it means you are a reliable brand.

Price checking: The maths behind success

We cannot ignore the economic aspect. Selling on a marketplace has a cost: commissions. For this reason, before activating any channel, we carry out a thorough check together:

• Commissions and Logistics: Every sale on Zalando or other marketplaces retains a percentage.

• Profit margin: The selling price must be calculated to absorb the commission without eroding your profit.

• Pricing strategy: It is essential to maintain consistency between your website and the marketplace to avoid price wars that would damage your brand image.

The virtuous circle: Use marketplaces to scale your website

This is a secret that few people reveal. Marketplaces generate rapid and constant cash flow.

Here's how to leverage marketplace earnings to boost your direct website:

• Sales volume: Marketplaces handle volumes that would take your website years to achieve.

• Reinvestment in ADS: Use the profits generated by Zalando to fund Meta (Facebook/Instagram) or Google Ads campaigns that drive traffic directly to your e-commerce site.

• Economies of scale: Selling more on marketplaces allows you to produce at lower costs, improving margins across all channels, including your own website.

Conclusions: A dual-engine strategy

Seeing marketplaces as an alternative to your own website is a mistake. The winning strategy is multi-channel:

• Your direct website is your home, where you cultivate loyalty and your customer database.

• The marketplace is your global sales office, where you go to get volume and visibility.

Knowing how to balance these two engines is what transforms a small brand into a market leader.

Want to understand if your margins are suitable for Zalando?

I can help you analyse your costs and define a pricing strategy that protects your e-commerce and maximises profits on marketplaces.

Publishing tips:

• Focus: Use an image that represents growth or a graph that shows channel integration.

• SEO: Be sure to use keywords such as “multi-channel strategy”, “marketplace commissions”, “selling online” and, of course, “marketplace specialist”.