The operating system for fashion and lifestyle: Meeting customers where they are

The traditional approach of stitching together disconnected providers for shop software, marketplace connections and logistics is no longer sustainable. It creates data silos, traps inventory and erodes margins. To solve this, ZEOS, SCAYLE and Tradebyte have joined forces to create a new operating system designed to remove friction and optimise profitability.

To share the thinking behind this holistic solution, Jan Bartels (SVP ZEOS), Matthias Schulte (CEO Tradebyte), and Sebastian Betz (Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Tech & Product at ABOUT YOU) came together to discuss the need to overcome fragmentation. They highlighted that by integrating SCAYLE’s shop system, Tradebyte’s marketplace connector, and ZEOS’s fulfilment network, brands can move away from siloed operations and achieve true end-to-end cohesion.

A compelling brand.com starts with an inspiring, flexible storefront built on headless technology, paired with deep localisation and AI-driven personalisation. But inspiration only works when operations deliver: even reducing a delivery-promise window by a single day can lift conversion by 1.5 percentage points — a reminder of how closely fulfilment, experience and loyalty are connected.

The panel also underlined marketplaces as essential engines of reach and acquisition, but not without complexity. Every platform has its own logistics requirements designed to protect its Customer Lifetime Value. Miss them, and visibility drops — in some cases cutting sales by up to 50%. Success on marketplaces therefore demands smart assortment, pricing and logistics decisions tailored to each channel.

This is why ZEOS, SCAYLE and Tradebyte are building an operating system for fashion and lifestyle that removes this complexity and unifies all touchpoints. SCAYLE supports a brand’s own D2C. Tradebyte powers marketplace connection. And ZEOS handles fulfilment of the goods across all channels.

Next comes deeper, best-in-class integration across the modules: SCAYLE and Tradebyte will share article data so assortments go live on brand.com and marketplaces seamlessly. SCAYLE and ZEOS will connect to ensure 40 carriers, delivery methods and dynamic delivery promises work straight out of the box. Each module can be used standalone, but together they eliminate integration overhead — no long projects, no constant monitoring, simply plug-and-play.

While the panel set the strategy, Volker Bergner (Director Commercial at ZEOS), Jonas Hense (Growth Director at SCAYLE), and Stefan Röttger (VP Sales and Growth at Tradebyte) used the Masterclass to dive into the practical ‘how’. They demonstrated that although new growth opportunities usually bring pricey complexity, each component of the operating system works - both individually and together - to sort out those specific blockers to profitability.

For a brand’s own web shop, the challenge is balancing strong back-end technology with front-end freedom. Jonas Hense introduced SCAYLE’s unified and composable approach.

Unified refers to essential features such as checkout, PIM and OMS being available straight out of the box. This significantly reduces integration and maintenance efforts. Composable ensures flexibility. Because the back-end is provided by a battle-tested engine, the same one that powers ABOUT YOU and Zalando, brands can focus their developers on creating unique and inspiring front-end experiences such as virtual try-ons or 3D content.

Connecting to marketplaces is no longer enough. Success requires active management. Stefan Röttger introduced Tradebyte’s new era which combines integration with steering.

With access to approximately 90 relevant marketplaces in Europe, Tradebyte helps brands reach large audiences. Röttger presented TB360, a tool designed to solve the fragmented data problem. It provides a multi-channel overview that helps brands not only list products but also optimise pricing, manage retail media and benchmark their category performance against peers.

Behind every digital transaction is the physical delivery. ZEOS provides the fulfilment network that ensures customer promises are met without reducing margins.

Volker Bergner explained how ZEOS connects inventory into one stock pool, allowing brands to fulfil orders for both their own shop and marketplaces from one location. By placing stock closer to the customer and using smart carrier logic, ZEOS typically reduces transit times by 25%. Capabilities such as ring-fencing allow brands to prioritise stock for specific channels, increasing the return on investment of inventory.

To make this vision real, we’re working to fully pre-integrate SCAYLE, Tradebyte and ZEOS. This means brands can access the combined logistics, own e-commerce and marketplace capabilities without additional setup or effort.