How Zalando Delivers Real-Time Insights to Its Partners Brands

Zalando transformed its fragmented partner data sharing system by adopting Delta Sharing, an open protocol for secure, zero-copy data access. Previously, partners spent significant resources manually extracting and consolidating data from multiple sources (CSV files, APIs, dashboards). The new architecture uses Databricks Managed Delta Sharing with Unity Catalog to provide real-time access to over 200 datasets supporting €5 billion in GMV. Partners now authenticate securely and query live data directly without duplication, reducing onboarding from days to minutes. The solution balances diverse partner needs—from small retailers to global brands—while maintaining granular security, governance, and cloud-agnostic flexibility. Success led to company-wide adoption as an enterprise data distribution platform.