Zalando Marketing Services (ZMS): Zalando's retail media network and how to buy Zalando ads

Zalando tells investors how big its ad business is relative to sales. In Q3 2026 it said retail media revenue grew nearly 18% and reached 2% of B2C GMV (Zalando, 3 November 2026). Few retailers publish that ratio. It gives buyers and peers a rare benchmark, which our analysis of retail media network revenue benchmarks puts in context. Growth has slowed from 42% for full-year 2025, but the base is larger.

The second point is that ZMS sells brand building, not only search ads. Over a decade it added creative services, consumer insights and influencer marketing. The 2018 rename to Zalando Marketing Services marked that shift (Zalando, 31 October 2018). Joanna Rogers, who then ran ZMS, described a Vans campaign that combined influencer content, onsite placements and editorial storytelling (Zalando, July 2025). For a fashion brand, that is closer to a media partner than to a keyword auction.

Third, Zalando's shift to a platform widens who can advertise. Brands selling directly through the Partner Program made up 33.6% of B2C GMV in Q3 2026. Zalando Extended will add products from outside shops, which will be able to advertise through its retail media business. In May 2026 Zalando hired Ray Cao, an ad tech executive, as senior vice president for ZMS from 15 July 2026 (Zalando, 13 May 2026). The marketplace retail media guide explains why seller-funded ads scale this way.

Onsite. Sponsored products raise products in the catalogue, on product pages and in listings. Dynamic Sponsored Products promote a whole assortment; Selected Sponsored Products promote chosen items. Sponsored Collections take homepage teasers and carousels for the consideration stage, and Sponsored Brands serve awareness. ZMS also sells livestreams, co-created content and brand-focused homepage features.

Offsite. ZMS runs campaigns "on Zalando and beyond", including social, connected TV and digital display (Zalando, July 2025). Ad Manager reports cover offsite channels too.

Scale of delivery. In 2024 ZMS ran more than 26,000 campaigns and served over 31 billion viewable impressions, with 2,400 active brand partners that year (company claims, Zalando, July 2025).

Targeting draws on how Zalando customers browse, save and buy fashion and lifestyle items. The group counted 63.2 million active customers across Zalando, ABOUT YOU and Lounge by Zalando in Q3 2026 (Zalando, 3 November 2026). Zalando Plus, its loyalty programme, had more than 22 million members. Which apps ZMS inventory covers today, beyond the Zalando app, is not stated.

Brands receive campaign results and insights, not customer files. ZMS describes a "Customer Journey Compass" that maps where a brand stands in the funnel. We found no public description of a clean room or of how offsite audiences are matched.

Ad Manager reports attributed item sales, product page views, wishlist adds and basket adds, with daily updates. ZMS says its campaigns drove 76.5 million attributed item sales in 2024 and claims more than 4 billion euros in attributed revenue in 2025 (company claims, Zalando Partner, accessed 9 November 2026). The attribution window and method are not published.

ZMS says it is investing in measurement of brand impact and long-term sales. We found no third-party accreditation or audit. Ask whether results are measured against a control group, which turns attribution into incrementality.

1. Be a Zalando partner. ZMS sells to brands whose products are on Zalando, through wholesale or the Partner Program.
2. Register interest. The partner portal links to a ZMS interest form for new advertisers.
3. Start in Ad Manager. Run Sponsored Products for conversion and Sponsored Collections for consideration in self-serve mode.
4. Add managed campaigns for launches, livestreams, creative production or offsite social and video.
5. Set the measurement plan. Agree attribution windows and any brand-lift study before launch.

It suits:

• fashion, sports, beauty and lifestyle brands already selling on Zalando;
• brands that want brand storytelling and sales on one platform;
• teams that prefer a self-serve tool with optional managed support.

It suits less:

• brands not sold on Zalando;
• advertisers who need third-party audited metrics;
• buyers focused on grocery or consumer electronics shoppers.

• ZMS revenue in euros for any period. Zalando gives growth rates and a share of GMV only.
• Whether ZMS sells ads on ABOUT YOU and Lounge by Zalando.
• Campaign counts conflict: "over 80,000 campaigns" in ten years (July 2025) versus "66k+ campaigns delivered" on the partner page.
• Attribution windows, minimum budgets and CPM ranges.
• Any external ad tech vendor behind Ad Manager.

1. Zalando, "Zalando grows profitably in Q3, driven by very strong B2B expansion, and continues innovating through AI with Zalando Extended" (3 November 2026). https://corporate.zalando.com/en/financials/zalando-q3-2026-results
2. Zalando, "Zalando delivers strong 2025 results, expects further acceleration in 2026 through scaling AI innovations and announces a share buy-back of up to 300 million euros" (12 March 2026). https://corporate.zalando.com/en/investor-relations/zalando-full-year-2025-results
3. Zalando, "ZMS turns 10: How Zalando's retail media unit helps fashion and lifestyle brands grow across Europe" (July 2025). https://corporate.zalando.com/en/brands-retailers/zms-turns-10-how-zalandos-retail-media-unit-helps-fashion-and-lifestyle-brands
4. Zalando, "Verstärkung für Retail Media: Zalando holt Ad-Tech-Experten Ray Cao als Senior Vice President" (13 May 2026). https://corporate.zalando.com/de/unternehmen/verstaerkung-fuer-retail-media-zalando-holt-ad-tech-experten-ray-cao-als-senior-vice
5. Zalando, "Rebranding: Zalando Media Solutions Evolves into Zalando Marketing Services" (31 October 2018). https://corporate.zalando.com/en/company/rebranding-zalando-media-solutions-evolves-zalando-marketing-services
6. Zalando Partner, "Marketing Services (ZMS)" (accessed 9 November 2026). https://partner.zalando.com/services/marketing
7. Zalando Partner, "Ad Manager" (accessed 9 November 2026). https://partner.zalando.com/services/marketing/ad-manager