Glossary

This Glossary presents a list of common acronyms and then a complete list of terminology with definitions.

Acronyms

Terminology

Announced Item Set

ZFS only. A declaration of all the items that you plan to ship to Zalando, specified as EANs and quantities. Part of the Shipping Notices API.

Announcement Confirmation

ZFS only. Final notification that an announced item set is complete and locked, and you are ready for a ship date. Created using the Shipping Notices API.

APIs

A grouping of endpoints for a specific purpose.

This is the primary media type used in calls to the Orders API. The syntax is somewhat unusual: the vnd indicates a vendor-specific MIME type and in this case it is the JSON API, which is denoted as api+json.

Article

Is a synonym for Product

Attribute

Characteristics of a Product as defined in an Outline.

Access Token

OAuth 2.0 bearer tokens used as client credential in all zDirect API calls. For more information, see Authentication in the Developer Guide.

Authentication API

This API is used to request access tokens for zDirect API calls.

Business Partner Identifier (BPID)

Another term for Merchant Identifier.

CLIENT_ID

A unique client identifier used to request an access token, which is required for all zDirect calls. CLIENT_ID is the public parameter. The private parameter is the CLIENT_SECRET.

CLIENT_SECRET

The client secret used to request an access token, which is required for all zDirect calls. CLIENT_SECRET is the private parameter. The public parameter is the CLIENT_ID.

Colli

A packaging unit involved in a shipment. ZFS partners specify the colli_count for each shipment using the Shipping Notices API.

zDirect Portal

See zDirect Portal.

Direct Integration (Deprecated)

Deprecated term for zDirect.

Dispatch Item Set

ZFS only. Similar to an announced item set, a dispatch item set is used as the final declaration of all items in a shipment with the Shipping Notices API.

Dispatch Confirmation

ZFS only. A dispatch confirmation tells ZFS Operations that you are satisfied with your item set and are ready to request an inbound tour. For use with the Shipping Notices API.

EAN Match

The process of product onboarding when partners check to see if an EAN for a product is already defined in the Zalando Catalog.

Endpoint

Programmatic entry point of an API. That is, the URL to which you direct your requests. Each API that makes up the zDirect Platform consists of various endpoints.

Environment

zDirect offers two environments, accessible by two base URLs used in your calls: the sandbox environment and the production environment. The scope defines the environment that you use.

European Article Number (EAN)

A widely-used taxonomy of unique identifiers for specific products for sale in Europe. Also referred to as the International Article Number.

Fashion Partner

Brands or businesses who sell products through Zalando Fashion Stores. Fashion partners invite Technical Partners to develop on their behalf. For more information, see Fashion Partners, Technical Partners, and Merchants in the Getting Started Guide.

Go Live

The stage of partner integration at which you are fully onboarded and you are ready to begin fulfilling orders.

Hanging Goods

ZFS only. Shippable items that require hanging. ZFS partners specify the hanging_goods_count for each shipment using the Shipping Notices API. Also referred to as "hanging garments".

httpie

Command-line tool used for executing HTTP calls. Many sample httpie calls are provided in this documentation. See Testing with httpie for more information.

Integration Manager

Zalando personnel in the Merchant Operations division who are responsible for onboarding new merchants.

International Article Number (IAN)

See European Article Number.

Item Quantities API

ZFS only. Partners use this API to track their inventory at Zalando Warehouses.

JSON API

A set of conventions and standards for building APIs that use JSON, which is followed by the zDirect Platform. See jsonapi.org for more information.

Key Account Manager

Zalando personnel in the Merchant Operations division who manage the relationship with merchants after the Integration Manager has completely onboarded the merchant and the merchant's products are live on the Sales Channels.

Merchant

See Partner.

Merchant Identifier (ID)

A unique identifier used in several zDirect API calls to specify a merchant. Also referred to as the "Business Partner Identifier". For more information, see Merchant Identifier in the Developer Guide.

Market

Refers to the country where a product is sold and corresponds to the country-specific Zalando Fashion Stores, such as zalando.de (Germany), zalando.uk (United Kingdom) and zalando.fr (France). As part of the integration process, you decide which markets you want to have your products sold in.

Merchant Operations

Division within Zalando that is responsible for Merchants.

zDirect Platform

Zalando's online development infrastructure system for merchants that enables them to sell products directly via Zalando Sales Channels.

Merchant Profile

Detailed information related to an individual merchant. As part of the merchant onboarding process, a Merchant Profile is defined by the Integration Manager.

OAuth 2

Standard framework for authentication defined by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) in RFC 6749. All zDirect APIs use this authentication framework.

OpenAPI Specification

All zDirect REST APIs use the OpenAPI framework, which is an open-source framework for developing and documenting REST APIs. Now called OpenAPI. For more information, see the OpenAPI Specification Repository on GitHub.

Order

This entity is the overall container for order-related data. Order data is organized into three tiers: the Order Tier, the Order Item Tier, and the Order Line Tier. For more information, see Orders in the Developer Guide.

Orders API

This API enables you to process (Partner Fulfillment) and track (ZFS) customer orders.

Order Item Tier

In the zDirect Order model, this tier includes basic product information for an order, such as the Zalando SKU, quantity, and price. For more information, see Understanding Orders in the Developer Guide.

Order Line Tier

In the zDirect Order model, this tier includes information about each actual physical item that is shipped to a customer, such as the shipping status of each item. For more information, see Understanding Orders in the Developer Guide.

Order Tier

In the zDirect Order model, this tier includes information relevant to an entire order, such as customer billing and shipping address, order status, and shipment tracking info. For more information, see Understanding Orders in the Developer Guide.

Order Line Status

Current state of an Order Line. The Order Line Status enables the tracking of the status of each individual Order Line throughout its lifecycle.

Outline

A product outline (also called a "product silhouette") is an enumeration of all mandatory and optional attributes that are used to define a product of a particular type, such as a scarf, watch, or jacket. Outlines are used when onboarding new products for sale.

Pallet

A horizontal packaging platform used for shipment. ZFS partners specify the pallets_count for each shipment using the Shipping Notices API.

Partner

Seller of products through Zalando Fashion Stores.

Product

General term for an item that is sold on the Zalando Sales Channels. For more information, see Products in the Developer Guide.

Product Status Report (PSR)

Product Status Reports provide up-to-date information about your products, including validation status, current price, available stock, and more. Product Status Reports may be viewed in the zDirect UI, and PSR data is available via the Product Status Report API.

Product Status Report API (PSR API)

The Product Status Report API (or PSR API) is a GraphQL zDirect API that provides read access to Product Status Report data.

Products API

The Products API is used to check if a specified EAN already exists in the Zalando Catalog during product onboarding. If it does, the Products API is used to map your product identifiers to an EAN.

Production

The live environment, as opposed to the sandbox environment, which is used for testing and development.

Sandbox

The test environment, as opposed to the production environment. All zDirect APIs support sandbox calls, which can be made without any risk of affecting production data. The way each API responds to calls in the sandbox environment is described for each API in its "Overview" page in our API Reference. For more information, see Sandbox Testing in our Getting Started Guide.

Sales Channel

Sales Channels are regions where Zalando products are offered for sale through Zalando Fashion Stores, such as zalando.de, zalando.co.uk. Several zDirect API calls require that you specify the Sales Channel. For example, if you wish to update a Product price with the Prices API, you must set it for a specific Sales Channel.

Scope

Many zDirect APIs require clients to have specific permissions or scopes for read or write access. Required client scopes are stated for each API in its "Overview" page in our API Reference. For more information, see Scopes in our Developer Guide.

Shipping Notices API

ZFS only. ZFS partners use this API to communicate with ZFS operations about planned shipments of stock to Zalando Warehouses. For more information, see Shipping Stock to Zalando in our Developer Guide.

Stock Keeping Unit (SKU)

Company-specific identifier for a product, or in the case of Zalando, for a product. The Order Item includes the Zalando SKU.

Stock Location

A Zalando-owned location where product stocks are sold; usually a Zalando Warehouse.

Swagger

See OpenAPI.

Technical Partner

Internal or external developers who integrate on behalf of Fashion Partners. For more information, see Fashion Partners, Technical Partners, and Merchants in the Getting Started Guide.

Transition

Change of state for an Order or an Order Item. For more information, see Transitions in the Orders section of our Developer Guide.

Zalando Catalog

Master repository of products sold by Zalando.

Zalando Direct Integration (ZDI) (Deprecated)

See zDirect.

Zalando Fashion Shop

See Zalando Fashion Store.

Zalando Fashion Store

Zalando's primary websites for selling products to customers. Each European market in which Zalando offers product for sale has a corresponding Fashion Store. They usually correspond to a country, such as zalando.de in Germany, zalando.uk in the UK and zalando.fr in France. The Fashion Store offers products from Zalando and from other merchants.