Zalando Accelerates Its Platform Transition Based On Exceptional Growth

• H1 2020 GMV growth at 25.1 percent, revenue growth at 19.6 percent
• H1 2020 Adjusted EBIT of 113.3 million euros
• Q2 GMV growth at 33 percent, revenue growth at 27.4 percent
• 180 new brands signed to partner program in Q2

Zalando SE, Europe’s leading online platform for fashion and lifestyle, has significantly expanded its customer base in the first half of 2020. On the way to becoming the Starting Point for Fashion, Zalando now serves more than 34 million active customers across Europe (20.4 percent growth year-over-year). Despite a challenging trading environment in March, the company grew strongly and profitably between January and June. Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) grew by 25.1 percent to 4.72 billion euros (H1 2019: 3.77 billion euros) and revenue grew by 19.6 percent to 3.56 billion euros (H1 2019: 2.98 billion euros). In the same period, Zalando achieved an adjusted EBIT of 113.3 million euros at a margin of 3.2 percent (H1 2019: 108.1 million euros; 3.6 percent).

Following the strong growth in the first six months of 2020, and especially in the second quarter, with a GMV growth of 33 percent, Zalando will continue to take decisive and transformative steps to enable future growth. The company will invest in customer relationships, growing its active customer base and driving its platform transition. In order to be equipped to further invest with conviction throughout the crisis, the company recently raised one billion euro in additional liquidity through the placement of convertible bonds.

Zalando Chief Financial Officer David Schröder says, "In the past months we have proven the strength and agility of Zalando in many ways, no matter how challenging the environment. We have come out of the first wave of this pandemic stronger than we went into it as a result of our strategic clarity, our strong partnerships and an extraordinary team effort. Many of our partners have intensified their business on our platform in the last months, and we have managed to successfully grow together.”

Further investments into services for brands and retailers

Zalando plans to double down on its platform transition in the second half of the year. Key initiatives include the acceleration of the partner program, as well as the Connected Retail program which allows brick-and-mortar retailers to easily scale their digital business, and which has proven highly successful during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

Overall, brand and retail partners have significantly increased their activities on the Zalando platform over the past months. In the second quarter of 2020, around 180 new brand partners signed to the partner program. As a result, partner program GMV grew over 100 percent compared to the same period last year. This is accompanied by a high demand for services, such as Zalando Fulfillment Solutions (ZFS). The volume of items shipped through ZFS grew 180 percent, as partners look for efficient ways to reach consumers across Europe as an answer to the accelerated shift towards online. In order to help partners optimize their business, Zalando has just introduced a new generation of data-driven tooling that aims to provide a self-service environment for partners to manage every step on their journey on the Zalando Platform.

Author: Zalando

Photo Credit: Zalando