German online retailers Otto and Zalando are currently the largest online fashion retailers in Western Europe, with a market share of respectively 6.2 and 6.1 %, but Amazon is inching closer and already claims 5.7 % of the market.
Otto is still the biggest
Five years ago Otto still captured a 10 % market share, a drop that correlates to Amazon and Zalando’s surge in popularity. However, Amazon did not do that much to gain market share in this industry worth 42 billion euro annually. other than to continue to invest in Europe. The Americans’ main advantage is that they have a complete package to offer, including online food sales and streaming services like Prime Video.
Amazon could still capture plenty of markets in the near future. By comparison, Zalando is already present in 15 countries (albeit only in fashion), while Amazon has only become a major party in a few European markets. In order to compete with the American online giant, Zalando is quickly evolving into a sales platform instead of a traditional retailer. About 10 % of the brands Zalando sells are currently partner sellers.
