Zalando's third international technology hub to open in Lisbon

Online fashion platform Zalando has announced opening of a tech hub in Lisbon, the third of its kind internationally at the beginning of 2018. Zalando said in a statement that it aims to boost its platform operations and increase digital offers to connect people and fashion in multiple ways and that the new hub in Lisbon will play a key role in this strategy by focusing on the development of an enhanced digital experience for the customers of the Zalando Fashion Store, currently available in 15 European markets.

"The opening of a dedicated technology hub with a strong focus on the digital experience of our fashion store is a strategic step to ensure we stay ahead of customer expectations in terms of personalization, inspiration and frictionless shopping”, said Marc Lamik, Head of Innovation and Partnerships at Zalando in a media statement.

Zalando’s new hub is expected to create over 50 jobs in Lisbon over the first year of operations. The online fashion platform has begun recruiting frontend and backend software engineers, product managers and UX designers from across the industry and academic institutions, to work on products and features that will further enhance the digital experience of the fashion store.

“Besides allowing us to concentrate resources on the development of our fashion store – a cornerstone in the success of Zalando – the new hub in Lisbon will also contribute to the diversification of our technological footprint, which keeps expanding at a fast pace,” added Philipp Erler, SVP Digital Experience at Zalando.

The company’s earlier technology hubs outside of Germany include the fashion insights centre in Dublin and the technology hub in Helsinki opened in 2015. The focus of operations in Ireland is deep data science and engineering research, involving R&D around how to build a real-time insight platform around fashion. In Finland, the tech team works on many of the cornerstones of the Zalando fashion store, including personalization and social fashion influencing components.

Photo: Zalando