Zalando uses a made-in-China approach to take on Amazon

Berlin

ROBERT Gentz stepped off an Air Berlin plane in Beijing with the goal of conquering online fashion in China. By the time he boarded his return flight to Berlin, he had a new plan: to copy it.

Mr Gentz, a 34-year-old German who is a co-founder of Zalando - a European clone of Zappos, the online US shoes and fashion retailer owned by Amazon - held meetings in autumn 2013 with Chinese and international fashion labels, online stores and other parts of the local e-commerce industry. He wanted to expand his company into the world's largest digital market.

But after the meetings, Mr Gentz decided China's approach to online fashion was far ahead of anything available elsewhere. He marvelled at how Chinese consumers freely chatted with - and bought from - brands and stylists on WeChat, a local Internet messenger, while online retailers, i…