Zalando's profit wiped away in first quarter

German online retailer Zalando saw its first quarter profit completely wiped away: last year’s 5.1 million euro net profit turned into a 15 million euro loss. Turnover grew 22 %, investments being the cause for both.

More and better customers

First quarter turnover reached 1.96 billion euro: according to CEO Rubin Ritter, that was because his company’s first quarter “focus was on that, despite a challenging fashion industry”. The signs are indeed positive: its number of active customers grew 17 % to 23.9 million in the first quarter and the average customer ordered another 12 % more compared to last year.

The CEO is mostly proud of its successful beauty product category launch on the German web shop: “Beauty is our first new category in four years’ time and its start was highly promising. We want to expand our product range and become a one-stop shop for fashion and lifestyle”, Ritter said.

Zalando still maintains its full-year forecast thanks to its major investments: a 20 to 25 % turnover increase and a 220 to 270 million euro EBIT. “A slow start to the spring / summer season has put the industry under pressure, but we have a lock on our growth targets”, CEO Ritter said.