Zalando is an ecommerce site which is not very well known to people outside of Europe, however it is the biggest online apparel retailer in Europe. It has sales of around 2.2 billion euros and ships clothes to 15 different countries. Zalando started in 2008 by selling flipflops, the monthly sales went up from €2 million to €70 million in just five months. What makes Zalando different from other online retailers and the reason for its success is that they have understood and implemented into their strategy the different consumer behaviors of each country they are catering to. They don’t believe in the concept of “one-size-fits-all” explains Zalando spokesperson Boris Radke. Locals from seven different regions form a specialized team in Zalando’s Berlin office. They study consumer behavior based on shopping habits and geography and customize the product assortment and payment options on the website according to the nation’s preference. They believe that the prejudices that are attached with each region are actually quite true.
Punctual Swiss : People in Switzerland are early risers and also prefer paying their online bills with other invoices on one day of the month. Thus they are given access to customer service an hour earlier than the Germans.
Emotional Italians : Italians put a lot in their shopping basket and also remove a lot while checking out. They also put some very expensive items in their shopping basket which they sometimes remove while checking out. Spanish and Italians also prefer to opt for the cash on delivery option.
Sale loving French: Seasonal sales are state mandated in France. The French do most of their shopping during the sale periods.
Credit card using British: People in the United Kingdom tend to bend towards the American way of using credit cards for shopping online.
Sophisticated Sweden: The Nordic countries are very aware of online shopping and are very neat and clear about their approach. They tend to shop on mobiles more than their neighbors.