Zalando Sees Accelerating Growth and Rising Profitability in Q1; Confirms Full-Year Guidance
- First-quarter gross merchandise volume (GMV) rises 6.5% to 3.5 billion euros, revenue grows 7.9% to 2.4 billion euros
- Adjusted earnings before interest and tax (adjusted EBIT) rise to 46.7 million euros, corresponding to a margin increase of 0.7pp to 1.9%
- Business-to-Consumer growth driven by new high of 52.4 million active customers, successful end-of-season sales, and a promising start to the spring/summer season
- Business-to-Business revenue up 11.6%, driven by ZEOS fulfilment
- Full-year guidance for 2025 confirmed
Berlin, 6 May 2025 // Zalando delivered a strong first quarter by accelerating growth and improving profitability, successfully executing its strategy to build the leading pan-European fashion and lifestyle e-commerce ecosystem around its two growth vectors Business-to-Consumer (B2C) and Business-to-Business (B2B). The company confirmed its full-year guidance and will continue to invest in future growth opportunities.
“Our ecosystem strategy is progressing well, and customers and partners are embracing our expanding offerings,” said co-CEO David Schroeder. “Growth in B2C accelerated due to a successful end-of-season sale, a promising start to the spring/summer season supported by the continued roll-out of our updated loyalty program Zalando Plus and a new high of active customers. In B2B, we are delighted to see a continuation of our double-digit growth trajectory as we are working to advance our ZEOS offering with a particular focus on logistics and software solutions this year.”
Revenue grew 7.9% to 2.4 billion euros compared with 2.2 billion euros a year earlier, also supported by a strong performance in Zalando Marketing Services. GMV increased 6.5% to 3.5 billion euros. Adjusted EBIT rose to 46.7 million euros in line with market expectations, representing a margin of 1.9% and up 0.7 percentage points, compared with 28.3 million euros a year earlier.
Strong B2C momentum with loyalty, lifestyle, and personalization
Within the B2C growth vector, where Zalando works to differentiate itself through quality, make itself a lifestyle destination, and offer customers personalised inspiration and entertainment, the company saw revenues rise by 7.6%, with profitability improving by 0.7 percentage points to 1.9%. The number of active customers increased to 52.4 million, up 2.9 million year-over-year, reaching a new high.
Zalando continued to roll out the upgraded loyalty programme Zalando Plus, which is now live in 13 markets, with over 15% of customers already enrolled. Zalando’s ultimate ambition is to serve the majority of customers with this programme and to increase their average order frequency and hence their share of wallet through the programme. Early data from first markets indicates promising progress towards this goal.
Zalando also saw double-digit growth in its Lounge by Zalando, Sports, Designer, and Beauty propositions, as the company continues to elevate these lifestyle categories through richer assortments, curated content, and seamless customer experiences.
The partnership with iconic designer Diane von Furstenberg (DVF), which made Zalando DVF's exclusive retail partner for Europe, was celebrated in a marketing campaign featuring Diane herself, further underscoring Zalando’s role as the leading fashion destination in Europe. Additionally, Zalando launched the LVMH-owned brand Marc Jacobs on its platform.
In addition, Zalando has rolled out its so-called boards, which enable users to create curated boards dedicated to a specific topic or lifestyle theme, to all markets as part of its strategy to offer customers inspiring and entertaining experiences. Some of its most engaging boards such as “Urban Running” or “New Boho” speak to popular current trends, and more than one million customers have already interacted with the new experience. The next step will be to allow users to create, share, and engage with curated and user-generated boards, fostering inspiration and discovery across the platform.
B2B expansion: scaling ZEOS and unlocking social commerce
In B2B, where Zalando is opening up its logistics infrastructure, software, and service capabilities to be a key enabler for brands' and retailers' e-commerce transactions with its ZEOS operating system, regardless of whether they take place on or off its platform, revenue grew 11.6% to 240 million euros. Adjusted EBIT came in at 5.8 million euros, with a stable margin of 2.4%.
As in previous quarters, B2B’s growth was driven by ZEOS Fulfilment, which includes Zalando Fulfilment Solutions (ZFS) and multi-channel fulfilment. In the first quarter, ZEOS was also selected as TikTok Shop’s preferred logistics partner for fashion and lifestyle merchants in Germany, France, and Italy. The first successful partner launch on TikTok Shop Germany was completed during the quarter, signalling a key milestone in ZEOS’ expansion into social commerce enablement.
Full-year guidance confirmed despite fast-changing environment
Zalando confirmed its full year guidance for 2025, despite a fast-changing geopolitical and macro-economic environment. It expects both GMV and revenue to grow between 4% to 9% this year compared with 2024 and adjusted EBIT to reach a level between 530 million euros and 590 million euros. The guidance does not account for effects from the planned acquisition of Hamburg-based ABOUT YOU.
The Q1 2025 financial report, as well as the earnings presentation for analysts and investors, is available on the Zalando Investor Relations website. Zalando will report the results for the second quarter 2025 on 6 August 2025.
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Zalando at a glance
| Key figures* |
|
|
| In m EUR |
Q1/25 |
Q1/24 |
| Group GMV |
3,495.7 |
3,283.9 |
| Percent growth |
6.5 % |
1.8 % |
| Group revenue |
2,419.5 |
2,241.4 |
| Percent growth |
7.9 % |
-0.6 % |
| B2C revenue |
2,182.5 |
2,028.0 |
| B2B revenue |
240.0 |
215.1 |
| Reconciliation revenue |
-3.0 |
-1.7 |
| Adjusted group EBIT |
46.7 |
28.3 |
| Adjusted group EBIT margin |
1.9 % |
1.3 % |
| B2C adjusted EBIT |
41.0 |
22.9 |
| B2B adjusted EBIT |
5.8 |
5.4 |
| Reconciliation adjusted EBIT |
0.0 |
0.0 |
| Net working capital |
-85.9 |
-328.6 |
| Capital expenditure |
-33.6 |
-59.5 |
| Net income |
9.9 |
-8.9 |
| Key performance indicators |
|
|
| |
Q1/25 |
Q1/24 |
| Active customers (million) (last 12 months) |
52.4 |
49.5 |
| Number of orders (million) |
58.5 |
55.2 |
| Average orders per active customer (last 12 months) |
4.9 |
4.9 |
| Average basket size (EUR) (last 12 months) |
61.1 |
60.4 |
*Definitions are available in the Annual Report 2024
About Zalando
Founded in Berlin in 2008, Zalando is Europe’s leading online multi-brand fashion destination. We are building a pan-European ecosystem for fashion and lifestyle e-commerce, along two growth vectors: Business-to-Consumer (B2C) and Business-to-Business (B2B). In B2C, we provide an inspiring, high-quality multi-brand shopping experience for fashion and lifestyle products to more than 52 million active customers across 25 markets. In B2B, we leverage our logistics infrastructure, software, and service capabilities to support brands and retailers in managing and scaling their entire e-commerce business, both on and off the Zalando platform. Through our ecosystem vision, Zalando aims to enable positive change in the fashion and lifestyle industry.
Contact
Media inquiries
Sarah Syed
Business & Financial Communications
presse@zalando.de
Investor/Analyst inquiries
Patrick Kofler
Investor Relations
investor.relations@zalando.de
