Zooplus expands marketplace offer in Spain, with more markets planned for 2027

Online pet retailer zooplus has launched a marketplace in Spain, adding 10,000 products to its local offering. The company now operates marketplaces in three European countries, following launches in Germany and France a few months ago.

In a conversation with GlobalPETS, CEO Lionel Desclée outlined the rationale behind the model, including its potential to expand categories that would otherwise require substantial investment in logistics.

“Marketplace is one way to expand our assortment more quickly in the categories that our customers care most about,” he says. 

Marketplace growth

Desclée added Zooplus was seeing “very nice” growth from the model and was expanding both its seller base and the range of categories available.

Since launching its marketplace in Germany in July 2026, the online pet retailer has tripled the number of products available, bringing the total to more than 30,000. The seller base has more than doubled to over 100 partners.

“Marketplace is one way to expand our assortment more quickly in the categories that our customers care most about,” Desclée said.

The expansion has also enabled zooplus to broaden assortment in categories where demand is growing, but dedicated logistics can require significant investment. “An example is fresh and frozen without having fresh and frozen logistics.”

Fresh and frozen pet food together now account for more than 10% of total sales on the German marketplace, according to the company.

Complementing existing offering 

Zooplus’s marketplace is intended to complement its established relationships with major suppliers rather than replace them. The German company continues to operate predominantly through direct partnerships with brands, which remain central to its commercial strategy.

“We are predominantly a house of brands,” admits Desclée. “For us, long-term partnerships with brands are really at the core of the long-term strategy.”

For smaller businesses, however, building the volume and infrastructure required to operate across several countries can be more difficult. The marketplace provides another route to customers without requiring these brands to establish a centralised presence across Europe.

“For smaller brands, it is easier to reach new customers through the marketplace because they perhaps don’t have the volume or the scale to operate centrally across Europe,” adds the CEO.

Lionel Desclée described the model as a way for smaller businesses to enter new markets while allowing zooplus to assess how customers respond to their products. Local brands can also help the retailer address the needs of individual markets.

Further expansion 

Zooplus plans to expand the marketplace concept into additional European countries in 2027, with the aim of making the service available to customers in more of the largest markets they currently operate. 

“We will keep and actually accelerate the launch of our marketplace into more markets next year,” confirms Desclée to GlobalPETS.

The online pet retailer also plans to continue increasing the number of sellers and broadening the available assortment as the marketplace expands.

Zooplus serves 12 million customers across 30 countries, including major markets such as Germany, France, Spain, Italy and the UK.