C&A wants to become an e-commerce company

By 2025 at the latest, C&A wants at least half of its sales to come from e-commerce. CEO Giny Boer also hopes to reach more young people by focusing more intensely on the online channel.

(Re)double

At present, the online channel accounts for about a fifth of the fashion chain’s total sales. Boer wants that double in less than five years, but stresses that she is happy with the company’s substantial progress since she came over from Ikea a year ago and took charge of C&A Europe. During that year, online sales have already doubled, mainly thanks to the implementation of a second distribution centre in Poznan.

The retailer will open a third warehouse in Kamen in six months’ time. “This will also enable us to deliver much faster in the future”, Boer said in an interview with German newspaper Handelsblatt.

Drawing young people in, cutting levels out

The focus on online should also attract the younger generations back to C&A. “Most people only know us from the stores, but they have to get to know us online.” The partnership with Zalando, with which the executive is “very satisfied”, also fits the framework. All this should help generate half of the turnover from the online channel by 2025 at the latest.

A month and a half ago, the fashion chain already indicated that it would have to modernise and that it might cost jobs. “In our organisation, there are too many hierarchical levels and too much bureaucracy”, Boer commented on the subject. “We have to become more simplified, leaner and faster in order to survive.” Boer could not or would not give any precise figures on the number of jobs that will be lost as a result.