Zalando Expands Tech Operations to Dublin with Plans to Create up to 200 Jobs

• First technology hub outside of Germany with the aim of hiring 200 people
• Hub will include deep data science & engineering research
• New site allows Zalando to further improve its offer and provide customers with the best online retail experience

DUBLIN, APRIL 22, 2015 - Zalando SE, Europe’s leading fashion platform online, today opened its new Zalando Fashion Insights Centre in Dublin. Member of Parliament Taoiseach Enda Kenny was joined by Robert Gentz, Founder and Member of the Managing Board of Zalando, at the official opening of the new Fashion Insights Centre in Dublin’s Silicon Docks.

Zalando aims to transform the world of e-commerce by building the best platform for every player in fashion across Europe and the world. The new office in Dublin will play a key role in this strategy. It is the company’s first technology hub outside of Germany, located in a vibrant city with a strong reputation for innovation, thus helping the company to meet the growing demand for top quality candidates in the field of research and development, big data analysis, data science and engineering. Zalando plans to create up to 200 jobs in Dublin over the next 3 years.

Speaking at the official opening of the Fashion Insights Centre, Taoiseach Enda Kenny said, “Ireland is establishing a reputation as the Internet capital of Europe and this is further strengthened by Zalando's decision to locate here, with the creation of up to 200 jobs. Thanks to our talented workforce, Dublin's Silicon Docks is home to some of the biggest Internet companies in the world."

Welcoming the investment, Richard Bruton TD, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation said, “Attracting more of the world’s fastest-growing technology companies to set up operations in Ireland and create jobs here is a key part of our Action Plan for Jobs, and in recent years we have seen major successes in this area. Today’s announcement that Zalando is creating 200 new jobs in Dublin is a hugely welcome announcement, and I wish all at Zalando every success with this investment.”

Robert Gentz, Founder and Member of the Management Board, Zalando said, “Zalando is the most trafficked e-commerce fashion site in Europe with well over 100 million visits per month. Understanding our customers and gaining deep insights into their purchasing patterns and their behavior online means we can provide them with a highly personalized and compelling offering. Investing to understand these insights has driven our growth since the earliest days of our company and has been the key to our success. The new Zalando Fashion Insights Centre will play a major role as we continue to lead online fashion and grow our presence across Europe.”

Zalando is actively recruiting data scientists and candidates from the science, maths and engineering disciplines as well as academia for a variety of R&D focused data science and engineering roles in its Fashion Insights Centre.

“We will offer graduates and experienced people the opportunity to work on exciting engineering and data science challenges,” said Eric Bowman, VP Engineering at Zalando. “We're looking for the best engineers and data scientists in Dublin, Europe and the world, people who thrive on solving hard problems and delivering impact. We want independent thinkers, brilliant executioners, people who love a challenge, working on deep problems and working with the smartest people, while creating a great team culture.”

Video material for the opening of the Dublin office can be viewed here. There will be picture material available from the official opening in Dublin in the early afternoon. Photos can be requested at press@zalando.com.

ABOUT ZALANDO
Zalando (https://corporate.zalando.com) is Europe’s leading online fashion platform for women, men and children. We offer our customers a one-stop, convenient shopping experience with an extensive selection of fashion articles including shoes, apparel and accessories, with free delivery and returns. Our assortment of over 1,500  international brands ranges from popular global brands, fast fashion and local brands, and is complemented by our private label products. Our localized offering addresses the distinct preferences of our customers in each of the 15 European markets we serve: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Poland and the United Kingdom. Our logistics network with three centrally located fulfillment centers in Germany allows us to efficiently serve our customers throughout Europe. We believe that our integration of fashion, operations and online technology give us the capability to deliver a compelling value proposition to both our customers and fashion brand partners.
Zalando’s websites attract well over 100 million visits per month. In the fourth quarter 2014, 48 per cent of traffic came from mobile devices, resulting in close to 15 million active customers by the end of the quarter.

CONTACT ZALANDO
René Gribnitz
VP Communications
Phone: +49 (0)173 9264683
Email: press@zalando.com