When department stores and clothing stores closed, many consumers bought fashion online for the first time. For many, it becomes a habit, notes Zalando – and takes a break.
Buying clothes online remains an alternative for many people even after the corona lockdowns. The online fashion retailer announced that anyone who ordered from Zalando for the first time during the store closings in spring 2020 has remained very active on the platform afterwards.
Since the summer of 2020, the number of active customers has increased by a good ten million to 44.5 million – active means that someone orders at least once a year. In the period from April to June, these customers made more purchases than ever before: on average, they received five orders from Zalando.
“Customers and partners make great use of our platform,” said Chief Financial Officer David Schröder. The average shopping cart has also grown. It confirms that the switch to online trading triggered by the pandemic is sustainable.
Many of the almost 15,000 employees are just recovering from the show of strength that lies behind them, as Schröder explained. The company granted an additional week of vacation as a “collective break”. Office workers in particular have this week off. In logistics, the days often come first on the vacation account.
After the second quarter, the Berlin company is on track to meet its growth targets. When looking at the operating profit, the DAX candidate was a bit more optimistic despite a disappointing quarter on this point – but this is also due to postponed investments.
The earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) adjusted for special effects are now expected for the full year in the upper half of the expected range of 400 to 475 million euros, announced Zalando SE. In terms of sales, a further increase of 26 to 31 percent to 10.1 billion euros to 10.5 billion euros is expected.
In the second quarter, sales increased by 34 percent to 2.73 billion euros. The operating result fell by 13 percent to 184 million euros due to higher spending on customer acquisition and marketing. Zalando thus met the experts’ expectations in terms of sales – but operating profit was weaker than expected.
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
