Zalando turns to AI home pages after growth in Q2

At Zalando, both revenue and profit increased in the second quarter. The B2B segment grew strongly, but the fashion platform also aims to boost sales to consumers with a fully personalized AI home screen.

Record number of customers

The gross merchandise volume (GMV) rose by 5% to 4.1 billion euros, while revenue grew by 7.3% to 2.8 billion euros. Adjusted EBIT increased to 186 million euros, up from 172 million euros last year. The profit margin remained stable at 6.5%.

In the B2C segment, the number of active customers increased by 6.1% to a record high of 52.9 million. Consumer revenue rose by 6.8% to 2.6 billion euros, resulting in an adjusted EBIT of 174 million euros; 9 million euros more than the year before.

Customer journey starts with AI

This week, Zalando is launching out a new AI-driven “discovery feed.” The feed replaces the traditional home screen in the app and offers users a personalized stream of content, including product recommendations, lifestyle boards, livestream shopping, and editorial campaigns from brands and influencers.

According to the company, both the customer experience and advertising revenue will benefit, as new advertising opportunities for brand partners emerge. The feed will initially be launched in six markets, followed by a phased rollout. Revenue from marketing services already increased by as much as 45% in the first half of the year.

New Shopify integration

Within the B2B segment – where Zalando offers its fulfillment network and software to external parties – revenue grew by 12.2% to 262 million euros. Adjusted EBIT amounted to 11 million euros, with a margin improvement of 1.3 percentage points to 4.3%.

An important innovation is the launch of a Shopify application that allows thousands of Shopify webshops to utilize Zalando’s fulfillment services. On July 11, Zalando also completed the acquisition of rival About You. Although the EBIT synergies from the merger are estimated at 100 million euros per year starting in 2029, both platforms will, according to Zalando, retain their own identity.