Online retailer Wehkamp restructures after persistent losses

Falling sales and persistent losses are forcing Dutch online retailer Wehkamp to reorganise, cutting more than 100 jobs, including at its headquarters.

Optimise cost structure

Wehkamp is cutting 103 of its 1100 jobs, or about 10 % of its total workforce, management reported to staff on Monday. 84 jobs will disappear through natural attrition and by not extending temporary contracts, Dutch newspaper AD writes. Some vacancies will also not be filled. The redundancies fall both at the head office in Zwolle and at the clothing line office in Hilversum.

The intervention is necessary because the retailer has seen sales fall for three years in a row and is continuously losing money – last year the loss was almost 8.7 million euros. The company behind Wehkamp.nl, kleertjes.com and men’s fashion brand Union River wants to optimise its cost structure.