Expanding your eCommerce sales beyond your brand’s own web site is a big decision. Online marketplaces represent a huge opportunity to reach a much larger addressable market and grow revenues, but it’s important to choose carefully.
For luxury fashion retailers, for instance, the best way to ensure near-term return on investment (ROI) is to identify online marketplaces that:
- Specialize in clothing, footwear and accessories, where consumers are actively browsing for products like yours.
- Has established a proven track record in driving traffic and engagement with consumers
- Offers partnership programs with reasonable terms and enticing seller benefits.
Asos and Zalando: Two specialists in online fashion sales
Asos and Zalando are perfect examples of digital destinations that meet these criteria. Both have attracted a considerable number of sellers and have successfully expanded their portfolios in order to satisfy consumer demand.
While it’s possible to integrate with multiple marketplaces simultaneously, many eCommerce strategies involve starting with one. That way you can test the waters in terms of how you promote products on a third-party marketplace and adapt to any rules that have been put in place.
With that in mind, here’s a rundown Asos vs Zalando and how they compare from an online marketplace perspective:
Why choose Asos marketplace
For nearly 25 years, the name “Asos” has become almost synonymous with fast fashion, particularly among younger online shoppers. The company’s success with its own affordable but stylish apparel and accessories has led to several strategic acquisitions, such as Topshop.
At the same time, the Asos marketplace has allowed the brand to significantly expand the selection of products it offers. This not only includes new products but vintage collections, which can be appealing to those focused on sustainability through reuse.
These are the Asos marketplace numbers you need to know:
- Market share: 45% of Asos’s sales come from its home market in the U.K., followed by 30% of other European countries. It also has significant sales from the U.S.
- Average customer: More than 33% of Asos visitors are between the ages of 25 and 24.
- Brand scope: Asos manages 13 of its own brands and offers more than 900 others through the Asos marketplace.
Why choose Zalando marketplace
Selling shoes online was just the first step for the Zalando marketplace. Today the company is a viable online shopping destination for everything from evening gowns to handbags. It is also broadening the scope of its business model, investing in products and capabilities to support business-to-business (B2B) as well as its traditional consumer audience. Its more recent innovations include a digital tool to predict sizing based on photos submitted by its customers.
Here’s how Zalando stacks up by the numbers:
- Market share: Zalando commands about 12% of Europe’s overall sales for apparel products.
- Average customer: More than 27% of Zalando’s visitors fall between the ages of 25-34.
- Brand scope: More than 7,000 brands are available in the Zalando marketplace
Beyond these basic figures, it’s important to consider the policies online marketplace operators have in place to support sellers. Asos doesn’t charge a commission to list products, for instance, and you’re able to upload your entire catalog. Zalando, meanwhile, offers marketing services to help brands advertise on its marketplace as well as a distribution and fulfillment arm.
Asos vs Zalando: The bottom line
In the end, both the Asos marketplace and the Zalando marketplace create opportunities for growing brands to find new customers and increase their revenues. Getting started with either, however, depends on effectively managing your product feeds.
Once approved in each company’s partner program, you’ll need to be able to seamlessly transfer data from your product catalogs directly to either marketplace. As you make changes to pricing, product content or introduce new promotions, your feeds will need to remain accurate and up to date. That’s why Highstreet.io offers marketplace integrations for Asos, Zalando and dozens of others.