Zalando with Outstanding Growth and 1 Billion Site Visits in the Third Quarter

• Zalando surpasses one billion site visits in a single quarter, active customer base grows to 29.5 million (up 17.5%)
• Strong revenue growth of 26.7% to EUR 1.5 billion, and GMV up 24.6% to EUR 1.9 billion
• Offprice business to further internationalize with the start of Zalando Lounge in the Czech Republic
• New sustainability strategy: Zalando goes carbon neutral and adds more sustainable fashion
• Full-year guidance confirmed

BERLIN, OCTOBER 31, 2019 // Zalando, Europe’s leading online platform for fashion and lifestyle, has grown its customer base and deepened customer relationships in the third quarter of 2019. For the first time in its history, the company saw more than one billion site visits in a single quarter (up 37.3% year-over-year), showing that customers gravitate to the platform when they think about fashion. On the way to becoming the starting point for fashion in Europe, the company continued to expand its customer base to 29.5 million (up 17.5% year-over-year).  

Driven by increasing numbers of orders (up 25.4% year-over-year to 34.7 million), Zalando strongly grew its revenues by 26.7% to EUR 1.5 billion and the Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) by 24.6% to EUR 1.9 billion. The company achieved a positive adjusted EBIT of EUR 6.3 million or a margin of 0.4%. 

David Schröder, CFO Zalando SE, said: “2019 has been a very successful year for us so far. We had a strong third quarter with more active customers who more and more frequently look for inspiration on Zalando. We are growing at a high pace across all regions. We want to maintain the momentum for a strong finish to the year and look forward to celebrating together with our customers the upcoming Cyber Week and the festive season.”

In the third quarter, Zalando saw strong growth across all regions. In the DACH region, revenues went up 22.9%, while business in the Rest of Europe region grew strongly by 30.8%. The positive development was especially pronounced in Spain, the Nordics, as well as the Czech Republic, where the business has grown at a high pace since the launch one year ago. Zalando will continue to further invest in the market and will expand Zalando Lounge to the Czech Republic in the fourth quarter.

In line with its vision to be a sustainable fashion platform with a net-positive impact for people and the planet, from now onwards, Zalando will be carbon neutral in its own operations, deliveries, and returns. Furthermore, the company will provide its customers with an even broader choice of more sustainable styles. Three new brands offering more sustainable products will be added to the assortment, and Zalando’s private label brand Zign will be fully dedicated to sustainability as of the summer season 2020. 

In the first nine months of 2019, Zalando grew its GMV by 23.5% to EUR 5.7 billion (first nine months of 2018: EUR 4.6 billion) and its revenues by 20.7% to EUR 4.5 billion (first nine months of 2018 EUR 3.7 billion) and achieved an adjusted EBIT of EUR 114.5 million, which corresponds to a margin of 2.5% (first nine months of 2018: EUR 55.5 million or 1.5%). 

On the back of the strong results of the first nine months, Zalando is confident about its full-year guidance for 2019 and expects a GMV growth of 20 to 25% and a revenue growth around the low end of this range. It expects the adjusted EBIT to be in the upper half of the range of EUR 175 to 225 million and capital expenditure of around EUR 300 million. Zalando’s quarterly statement and the earnings presentation for analysts and investors is available on the Zalando Investor Relations website. Zalando will report results for the fourth quarter and full year of 2019 on 27 February 2020.

Zalando Group – Key Figures (in EUR million)