For the first time in 2018, the company’s revenues from the rest of Europe surpassed those of the DACH region, which combines Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. As of 2021, Zalando generated a total of nearly 9.3 billion euros in revenue, 4.2 billion of which came from the DACH and 5.1 billion euros came from other European markets. In Germany, Zalando is no longer an online-only retailer and has discovered the potential given by physical retailing. After successfully launching its first physical store in Berlin in 2018, Zalando now operates outlet stores in over ten other city locations across Germany.
Inflation strikes
Zalando’s journey over the course of the decade was sometimes a bumpy one. In 2022, the fashion retailer's year-on-year (YoY) revenue showed a negative trend for the first time in company history. Macroeconomic conditions are reportedly largely to blame. Ramping inflation at an all-time high and growing living costs affect consumer behavior, while retailers such as Zalando face higher operational costs. This has led to consumers becoming more cautious and less eager to spend on the fashion marketplace, which registered a smaller average basket size in the first half of 2022. Nevertheless, Zalando topped the list of fashion e-commerce companies with the highest market capitalization worldwide as of June 2022. That year, the Berlin-based fashion powerhouse had a market cap of approximately 6.7 billion U.S. dollars, outdoing competitors like VIP Shop, The Hut Group, and ASOS.Online presence
Both Zalando's websites and apps have been wildly successful across the European continent. Its customer base is growing at a reassuring rate, with 50.2 million active customers placing at least one order in the previous year in the third quarter of 2022. In addition to Zalando.com, the sub-domain Zalando-lounge.com is the company's online outlet store available in 17 European countries.Zalando's mobile application ranked fourth in 2022 among Europe's top fashion apps, preceded by Shein, Vinted, and Trendyol in the top three places. In its headquarters’ country, Germany, the app was downloaded over 349,000 times in November 2022, a sign that consumers' appetite for browsing, favoriting products, and searching for deals online has not been tamed by inflation.
