Supply Chain · Profile from Supply Chain Research Companion
Zalando
The Berlin online fashion and lifestyle platform founded in 2008 by Robert Gentz and David Schneider with backing from the Samwer brothers' Rocket Internet, which built its own network of fulfilment centres across Germany, Poland, Italy and other European markets, listed in Frankfurt in Oct 2014, turned itself from an online shoe-and-clothing retailer into a platform where brands sell directly (the Partner Program), and then began selling its logistics and software to other brands and retailers under the ZEOS name. In Dec 2024 it agreed to buy its Hamburg rival About You for €6.50 a share in cash (~€1.1bn equity value, reported), secured more than 90% of the shares and closed on 11 Jul 2025 after EU clearance; About You was consolidated from that date. Group GMV reached ~€17.6bn in 2025 (+14.7%), revenue ~€12.3bn (+16.8%) and adjusted EBIT ~€591m, with ~62.0m active customers (company, reported). In Jan 2026 it said it would close its Erfurt logistics centre — one of its first large sites — by end-Sep 2026, affecting ~2,700 jobs (later reported as ~2,100 losses), because the combined network had spare capacity. Its failures are about the cycle: the 2020–21 lockdown boom it extrapolated, the 2022 profit warnings and the 2023 job cuts that followed, and in 2026 a guidance trim that sent the shares down. For a US reader the defining fact is an absence: Zalando has never sold in the United States, which makes it the clearest example in this knowledge base of a regional e-commerce network built for European density, languages and returns habits — and of the choice not to fight Amazon on its home ground.
At a glance
- Founded
- 2008, Berlin, by Robert Gentz and David Schneider, incubated and funded by Rocket Internet (Oliver, Marc and Alexander Samwer) (well documented; launch month from memory, verify)
- Headquarters
- Berlin, Germany; serves ~25 European markets after About You (company; exact count verify); no US, Canadian or Asian consumer business
- Ownership / structure
- Listed (Frankfurt, ZAL) since 1 Oct 2014 (date from memory, verify); Societas Europaea (Zalando SE); founder co-CEOs; early large holders included Kinnevik and Rocket Internet (later reduced or sold, verify current register)
- Leadership (2026)
- Robert Gentz and David Schneider, co-CEOs (co-founders); Rubin Ritter, co-CEO until 2021 (verify); About You's founders Tarek Müller, Sebastian Betz and Hannes Wiese sold to Zalando in 2024–25 (reported)
- Segments / lines
- B2C — the Zalando app and site, About You (from 11 Jul 2025) and the off-price club Lounge by Zalando; B2B — ZEOS (logistics, multi-channel fulfilment, software and services for brands and retailers) and the Partner Program's services (company segmentation from 2024–25, verify)
- Scale
- FY2025: GMV ~€17.6bn (+14.7%), revenue ~€12.3bn (+16.8%), adjusted EBIT €590.7m (+~15.6%), active customers 62.0m (+19.7% from 51.8m), B2C revenue ~€11.3bn, B2B revenue >€1bn (+14.6%) (FY2025 fact sheet and coverage, reported)
- Financials (2026)
- Q2 2026: GMV ~€4.9bn (+20.7% reported, +4.4% pro forma for About You; Zalando Q2 2026 fact sheet), group adjusted EBIT €204.8m (+10%), group margin ~6% (Zalando standalone ~6.6%), >€10m of About You synergies; FY2026 guidance narrowed to adjusted EBIT €680–720m (from €660–740m) and GMV and revenue growth in the lower half of 12–17% (Aug 2026, reported); Q3 2026 results were scheduled for 3 Nov 2026 and not checked at writing
- Signature moves (incl. failures)
- Founding (2008); free delivery and free returns (2008–, verify); own fulfilment centres (Erfurt 2012, Mönchengladbach) (2012); Frankfurt IPO (2014); Partner Program and platform pivot (2016–); the post-boom reset — profit warnings and job cuts (2022–23, failure); ZEOS logistics-as-a-service (2023–); About You (2024–25); Erfurt closure and network consolidation (2026, failure of capacity planning)
9 strategic moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
2008
Founding with Rocket Internet and Free Returns
Founding
2012
Own Fulfilment Centres Erfurt and Moenchengladbach
Network build (owned fulfilment centres)
2014
Frankfurt IPO
Spin-off or IPO
2014
Staying European No US Entry
Strategy choice (market scope) — a decision by omission, sustained over many years
2016
Partner Program and Platform Pivot
Strategy pivot (retailer → platform)
2022
Post Boom Reset Profit Warnings and Job Cuts
Restructuring (cost cuts after guidance cuts) — failure of demand planning
2023
ZEOS Logistics as a Service
Strategy pivot / selling the network as a service
2025
About You Acquisition
Acquisition (public takeover offer for About You Holding SE, Hamburg)
2026
Erfurt Closure and Network Consolidation
Restructuring (site closure) — failure of capacity planning after an acquisition