zDirect explained: how Zalando's partner portal works, from account setup to reporting.

What zDirect is

zDirect is the portal of the Partner Program, Zalando's marketplace model where you sell at your own prices. Zalando describes it like this: "With zDirect you can monitor your performance, manage your sales, and get up-to-date reporting."

It is not every partner's portal. Wholesale partners (Zalando buys the stock) work in the Zalando Retail Center. Connected Retail had its own tools, which are being retired: see the guide on how to move from Connected Retail to the Partner Program. And you don't sign up for zDirect yourself: access comes by invitation, after the agreement with Zalando.

How the zDirect account is set up

Once you accept the invitation, setup follows a fixed order. According to Zalando Partner University (article updated 20 April 2026):

Country profiles are where accounts stall the longest: an incomplete country blocks go-live in that market. It's better to start with a few complete markets than all of them half done.

How articles get in

There are three routes, and zDirect is involved in all of them:

• Integrator. Stock is integrated through an integrator of your choice, and you then onboard new articles from zDirect. This is the normal route for catalogues with hundreds or thousands of SKUs.
• Direct API. A custom-built connection, with Zalando's prior approval and a technical team.
• zDirect UI. You create articles by hand in the interface, with no API. It's only for partners using ZFS (Zalando's fulfilment) and is recommended up to about 200 articles per season: Zalando estimates around five minutes for a standard article with three colour variants.

With the zDirect UI the flow is: create the articles and their attributes, set prices with a CSV template while the articles are in review, fix prices and rejected articles, and finish with the shipping notice to ZFS. For articles that already exist, price validation takes at most one hour.

Rejected articles come back with a status code. The problem is almost always in the source data, not in zDirect: I collected the most common cases in selling on Zalando: uploading products and common errors.

Orders in zDirect

If you ship yourself, the Orders overview page shows incoming and past orders in near real time, split into four tabs:

• Initial: orders awaiting Zalando's financial approval. Most are approved within minutes.
• Approved: approved orders, ready to fulfil.
• Fulfilled: closed orders, shipped or cancelled.
• All: every order on the account.

Two details that matter. If an approved order stays unfulfilled for more than 20 days, zDirect shows a dashboard alert. And Zalando advises against changing order line statuses directly in zDirect: do it in your own OMS or ERP or through your integrator, because manual changes can cause financial balance errors.

Reporting and benchmarks

This is the part of zDirect partners use least, and the one that matters most for growth. According to Zalando, zDirect gives you:

• Aggregated sales with drill-downs by market, category or article.
• Customer behaviour across the sales funnel of your products.
• Peer benchmarks, for example on return rates, to see where to improve.
• Growth insights, including net merchandise value (NMV) potential in new markets.

The returns benchmark is the first number I look at: in fashion, returns decide the margin more than the commission does. A return rate above your peers usually means size charts or photos that don't tell the truth about the product.

The Marketing module: Ad Manager

zDirect is also where you switch on Ad Manager, the self-service tool for Sponsored Products and Sponsored Collections campaigns on Zalando: you activate it in the Marketing module and get a confirmation email within 24 hours. How it works, what it costs and how much to invest is in the guide on Zalando Ads and Sponsored Products.

The most common mistakes

• Fixing data in zDirect instead of at the source. With an integrator running, a manual fix lasts until the next sync.
• Using zDirect as the order system. Statuses should be updated from the ERP or the integrator, not by hand.
• Opening every market at once. Every incomplete Country profile slows go-live.
• Ignoring the benchmarks. Returns and cancellations above your peers cost margin and visibility.
• Switching on Ad Manager without margin maths. Ad Manager's ROAS measures revenue, not what you keep.

Frequently asked questions

How do I get access to zDirect?

By invitation: once you agree the Partner Program with Zalando you receive the invitation, accept it and complete the Company profile, Compliance details and Country profiles. There is no public sign-up.

Can I upload products to zDirect manually?

Yes, but only if you use ZFS. Manual creation is meant for assortments of up to about 200 articles per season. Larger catalogues need an integrator or the API.

Is zDirect also for Wholesale or Connected Retail partners?

No. Wholesale uses the Zalando Retail Center. Connected Retail had its own tools, which Zalando retires by 30 June 2027, moving partners to the Partner Program and therefore to zDirect.

Where do I see sales by country?

In zDirect's reporting: aggregated sales with drill-downs by market, category or article. Ad Manager campaigns have their own reporting, also broken down by country.

Sources

• Zalando Partner: tools for partners (zDirect, Retail Center, Connected Retail)
• Zalando Partner University: Set up your zDirect account (updated 20/04/2026)
• Zalando Partner University: Onboarding via zDirect User Interface
• Zalando Partner University: Orders overview on zDirect (updated 15/06/2026)
• Zalando Partner University: Ad Manager FAQs (updated 21/05/2026)