Zalando: shipping and return services (ZSS and ZRS)

About this guide

This article describes how to configure and use Zalando's shipping and return services, ZSS and 

ZRS, on ChannelEngine.

Table of contents

Introduction

Setup

Shipping and return labels

Create the shipment

FAQs

Introduction

In addition to Zalando's standard fulfillment solutions (ZFS), ChannelEngine supports two services that help you manage shipping and returns:

• Zalando shipping solutions (ZSS) - a shipping service for Zalando’s Partner Program partners. You ship parcels to a Zalando facility, and Zalando handles last-mile delivery to customers across Europe.
• Zalando return solutions (ZRS) - a return service for Zalando’s Partner Program partners. Zalando manages customer returns directly, including providing return labels, logistics, and customer reimbursement. ChannelEngine supports both of Zalando's return solutions: ZRS Plus, where returns go to Zalando's fulfillment centers, and ZRS Pure, where returns go to your warehouse.

You can choose to enroll in either service, ZSS or ZRS, or both. These services are independent of each other and can also be combined with Zalando's fulfillment service, ZFS.

Setup

To configure Zalando's shipping and/or return services:

With Zalando

1. Reach out to your contact point on Zalando or submit a support request to Zalando to enroll in ZSS and/or ZRS. 
2. After Zalando approves your request, activate ZSS and/or ZRS in your ZDirect platform.

On ChannelEngine

1. Open the Zalando plugin, and go to Setup.
2. In Advanced settings, configure the authorization settings: ZSS Authorization, ZRS Plus Authorization, ZRS Pure Authorization.
   1. Within each setting, select which sales channels (countries) you want to enable with ZSS and/or ZRS.
3. Click Save.

Shipping and return labels

To take advantage of ZSS and ZRS, you can easily retrieve Zalando's shipping labels through the ChannelEngine platform. First, acknowledge your orders. Then, create your shipments. Your external management systems must have an active API integration with ChannelEngine that allows you to retrieve orders and submit shipments via the Merchant API.

Acknowledge orders

First, acknowledge your orders via the Merchant API.

1. Retrieve new orders from ChannelEngine via the GET /V2/orders or GET /V2/orders/new endpoint.
   • You can filter by country code (ChannelOrderCountryCode) in your system to identify which orders come from countries where the Zalando service is active.
2. Once you retrieve orders, acknowledge the orders by sending a request to the POST /v2/orders/acknowledge endpoint.
3. After you acknowledge the order, ChannelEngine retrieves the shipping and return labels from Zalando:
   1. If using ZSS, ChannelEngine retrieves and stores: 
      • Tracking code (SHIPPING_LABEL)
      • Packing slip (PACKING_SLIP)
      • Return tracking code (RETURN_LABEL)
   2. If using ZRS, ChannelEngine retrieves and stores:
      • Return tracking code (RETURN_LABEL)

Retrieve the labels

Request the label IDs

1. To retrieve the shipping and return labels, first request their IDs. Call the GET /v2/orders/documents endpoint, and include one of the following parameters in the request:
   • Merchant or channel order numbers as a list of order numbers in the identifiers.model field
   • Zalando channel ID in the channelIds field
   • (Optional) Set unacknowledgedByMerchant to true to retrieve only new documents.

2. In the response, verify the following fields:
   • SHIPPING_LABEL - contains the tracking code provided by Zalando. This is required for ZSS.
   • PACKING_SLIP - the packing slip provided by Zalando. This is required for ZSS and must be included in the parcel.
   • RETURN_LABEL - contains the return tracking code provided by Zalando. This is required for ZSS and ZRS and must be included in the parcel.

Download the physical documents

Via the Merchant API

1. To download the physical labels and packing slips, call the GET /v2/orders/documents/file endpoint. 
   • Specify the channel ID and the document IDs retrieved from the previous step as the request parameters. You can then print the documents and add them to parcels.
2. Acknowledge the receipt of the documents. To do so, send a request to the POST /v2/orders/documents/acknowledge endpoint. 
   • Include a list of channel ID and document ID combinations to confirm receipt.

Via the web interface

You can also download Zalando's documents from the ChannelEngine web interface:

1. Go to Orders, Documents.
2. Filter the list by channel in the Select channel(s) dropdown or by Order ID.
3. Click on the download icon. 

Create the shipment

Proceed with the standard shipping process. 

1. To create a shipment, send a request to the POST v2/shipments endpoint. 
2. Because you make use of ZSS and/or ZRS, you do not fill in the corresponding tracking and/or return tracking codes. ChannelEngine submits these for you.

FAQs

How frequently does ChannelEngine retrieve shipping and/or return labels from Zalando?

ChannelEngine retrieves these documents from Zalando each time it requests new orders through Zalando's API. This happens every 15 minutes.