October 21, 2025

Zalando is Banning Shoppers: Are Returns Killing YOUR Profits?

25 minutes

This controversial episode is tackling the messy side of shopping! Hosts Mike Ryan and Christian Scharmueller dive straight into the news that Zalando is tightening its return policy, issuing warnings and even year-long bans for shoppers with "disproportionately high return volumes".

With fashion return rates soaring (sometimes 30-70%!), they break down why retailers are finally getting serious about profitability and why relying solely on order value is a massive, costly mistake for your advertising campaigns.

But don't panic! We offer the smart, proactive solution: leveraging off-channel first-party data.

Mike and Chris explain how you can integrate return rate data into your campaigns using tools like Conversions with Cart Data and even Google’s Product Return Rate Predictor. Plus: Mike and Chris take a look at how Google is leading the pack with virtual try-on technology to stop returns before they even happen.

Finally, the boys tackle the all-important Black Friday strategy, discussing the dilution of the sales event and Google's new "triple peak week" thesis: Surging Sunday, Black Friday, and Cyber Sunday.

Links mentioned in this episode:

https://smarter-ecommerce.com/en/smec-market-observer/
https://cloud.google.com/vertex-ai/generative-ai/docs/model-reference/virtual-try-on-api
https://github.com/google-marketing-solutions/product-return-predictor

About smec (Smarter Ecommerce):

At smec - Smarter Ecommerce, we specialize in transforming business goals into optimized ad campaigns. With over 16 years of experience in Google & Microsoft Ads, our intelligent software and expert services help retailers achieve superior results.

We're committed to giving you the tools and insights needed to stay ahead in the ever-evolving world of digital advertising.

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