Online retailer Zalando returns to growth thanks to premium brands
Gross Merchandise Volume up 1.3% to 3.27 bln euros
Shares rise 7%
Active customers fall to 49.5 mln from 51.2 mln
Zalando does not want to compete in ultra low prices - CFO
Updates headline and paragraph 1, adds detail on price competition in 2, CFO in 3 and 11, shares in 5, customer numbers in 10
By Linda Pasquini and Helen Reid
May 7 (Reuters) -Online fashion marketplace Zalando ZALG.DE returned to growth in the first quarter after three consecutive declines in gross merchandise volume, as bets on more premium brands and its business servicing other retailers paid off.
While fast-fashion retailer Shein is a threat to Zalando's revenues and customer numbers, Chief Financial Officer Sandra Dembeck said the company does not want to compete on price, instead trying to differentiate itself with a range of higher-priced brands such as On Running, which it recently added.
"We do not want to compete in the ultra fast fashion, ultra low price point segment," Dembeck said in a press conference. Zalando's average order value increased to 60.4 euros ($65) in the first quarter, from 57.3 euros a year earlier.
Quarterly gross merchandise volume (GMV) - a key revenue metric measuring the total value of all goods sold - rose 1.3% to 3.27 billion euros from 3.23 billion a year earlier, the German online fashion retailer said.
At 0820 GMT, the company's shares were up 7%.
As inflation has hit demand for clothes, Zalando has sought new revenue drivers and started offering its platform and logistics network as a service to other retailers and brands.
Revenue from Zalando's business-to-business (B2B) service was up 13% at 215 million euros.
Zalando's number of active customers fell, however, to 49.5 million from 51.2 million a year earlier, and revenue dipped 0.6% to 2.24 billion euros.
Along with weaker demand after a pandemic-fuelled surge in online shopping, increased competition from Shein - which sells $5 T-shirts and $10 shoes - has weighed on Zalando.
Dembeck said the decline in Zalando's customer numbers could partly reflect shoppers turning to "new incumbents" with lower prices, but was also a result of Zalando introducing a minimum order value of 29.90 euros to qualify for free delivery as it focused more on profitability.
"We feel that with that, we're in a very healthy position because now we can really leverage those active customers (and) increase their spend with us," she said.
In a bid to reduce the number of returns - a major threat to profits for online retailers - Zalando developed a tool to predict sizing based on photos submitted by customers, and launched the service in Spain, France and Italy in the first quarter, adding to Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
Adjusted earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) swung to a profit of 28.3 million euros from a loss of 0.7 million euros a year earlier.
Zalando confirmed its outlook for GMV and revenue to grow as much as 5% in 2024, with adjusted EBIT of 380-450 million euros.
($1 = 0.9291 euros)
Zalando https://tmsnrt.rs/44y75gZ
Reporting by Linda Pasquini and Helen Reid; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Mark Potter
Actifs liés
Dernières actualités
Avertissement : Les entités de XM Group proposent à notre plateforme de trading en ligne un service d'exécution uniquement, autorisant une personne à consulter et/ou à utiliser le contenu disponible sur ou via le site internet, qui n'a pas pour but de modifier ou d'élargir cette situation. De tels accès et utilisation sont toujours soumis aux : (i) Conditions générales ; (ii) Avertissements sur les risques et (iii) Avertissement complet. Un tel contenu n'est par conséquent fourni que pour information générale. En particulier, sachez que les contenus de notre plateforme de trading en ligne ne sont ni une sollicitation ni une offre de participation à toute transaction sur les marchés financiers. Le trading sur les marchés financiers implique un niveau significatif de risques pour votre capital.
Tout le matériel publié dans notre Centre de trading en ligne est destiné à des fins de formation / d'information uniquement et ne contient pas – et ne doit pas être considéré comme contenant – des conseils et recommandations en matière de finance, de fiscalité des investissements ou de trading, ou un enregistrement de nos prix de trading ou une offre, une sollicitation, une transaction à propos de tout instrument financier ou bien des promotions financières non sollicitées à votre égard.
Tout contenu tiers, de même que le contenu préparé par XM, tels que les opinions, actualités, études, analyses, prix, autres informations ou liens vers des sites tiers contenus sur ce site internet sont fournis "tels quels", comme commentaires généraux sur le marché et ne constituent pas des conseils en investissement. Dans la mesure où tout contenu est considéré comme de la recherche en investissement, vous devez noter et accepter que le contenu n'a pas été conçu ni préparé conformément aux exigences légales visant à promouvoir l'indépendance de la recherche en investissement et, en tant que tel, il serait considéré comme une communication marketing selon les lois et réglementations applicables. Veuillez vous assurer que vous avez lu et compris notre Avis sur la recherche en investissement non indépendante et notre avertissement sur les risques concernant les informations susdites, qui peuvent consultés ici.
