At NRF 2020: Zalando and Nike talk visionary partnerships

Delighting digitally-savvy consumers across Europe demands constant innovation. Amazon may have muscled in on the European online fashion market in recent years, but German web-only giant Zalando has some aces up its sleeve. Partnerships with global brands is helping it trump the competition, and this session at NRF gives Nike and Zalando an opportunity to talk about joining forces and innovating together.

Partnership power

Zalando has demonstrated how to scale in a diverse market by evolving its digital platform in Europe. It has stepped up its fast-growing brand partnerships programme, building on ties with the likes of Nike, The North Face and Superdry to bolster growth, appeal and reach.

The partnership with Nike combines world-class storytelling and cutting-edge technology to give customers what they need, online and offline.

Spotlight on innovations

At NRF 2020 on the Shyft Stage, Chris Field, CEO of Fieldworks Marketing will be Moderator at this session on Tuesday, January 14. He’ll hear from Stuart Hogue, VP, Marketplace Development at Nike and Carsten Keller, VP, Direct-to-Consumer at Zalando SE.

“I’m fascinated to learn how these two entities work in partnership today – both in practical, commercial terms and culturally,” says Chris. “The session will focus on the how the European online fashion market has evolved, but also how this partnership model has developed as a strategy to win and retain customers.”

New routes to growth

Chris says he’ll be asking: How does a partner brand benefit? Can they keep control of pricing and presentation on the platform? Where does tech innovation fit into the equation? Are consumers responding well to the increased choice? What are the key learnings around marketing, customer experience, logistics, technology and people, now that the partnership is well established?

“I’m hoping the audience will leave feeling inspired about the power of partnerships and the ability to try something truly different,” says Chris. “There is clearly intense pressure in all markets to think creatively about how to achieve growth when the obvious paths to it are becoming blocked.”