Court confirms: Zalando is “very large online platform”

The European Court of Justice has rejected Zalando‘s appeal against its qualification as a “Very Large Online Platform” (VLOP). As a result, the company will have to adhere to stricter rules, including on handling user data.

The strictest digital rules

E-commerce companies that have more than 45 million monthly active users fall under the VLOP category under the European Digital Services Act. As a result, they must comply with the strictest digital rules. With more than 83 million monthly visitors in the European Union, Zalando also comes well above that threshold, but the platform had appealed against its designation as a VLOP to the European Court of Justice in June 2023. According to the fashion company, customers who (want to) buy directly from Zalando instead of on the partner platform should not be counted.

The court did not follow that reasoning. In a judgment announced today, the EU’s second highest court confirms the European Commission’s classification of Zalando as a VLOP. According to the judgment, Zalando cannot distinguish within the platform’s visitor base of more than 83 million people who are actually exposed to information from third-party vendors under the “Partner Programme” and who are not. Therefore, it was entitled to assume that they were all exposed to that information.