With quarterly growth and the announcement of a strategic partnership with the German Football Association (DFB), Zalando continues to grow and invest in sports.
“This new agreement will allow us to further strengthen our business in this area, creating an unprecedented sporting experience for our customers,” says David Schröder, co-CEO of the German platform.
The agreement with the DFB, which with over 8 million members is the largest sports association in the world, will last for five years. Zalando becomes the main partner of the men’s, women’s, and youth teams ahead of the 2026 World Cup. At the same time, the company is keeping an eye on the world of running: for example, it has strengthened its cooperation with the Berlin Marathon, of which it is the main sponsor, and signed agreements with the Rotterdam and Copenhagen marathons.
Third-quarter figures are positive, with GMV up 21.6% to €4.2 billion, while revenues are up 26.5% to over €3 billion: a performance driven mainly by the acquisition of About You, completed last July. “On a pro-forma basis as of July 11, assuming that About You had been part of the group in the previous year, Q3 GMV increased by 6.7% and revenues by 7.5% compared to the same period in 2024,” a statement said.
Adjusted EBIT rose from €93 million to €96 million, while net profit fell from €44.3 million to €12.5 million. Active customers grew over the 12 months (from 50.3 million to 61.4 million), with the number of orders rising from 57.9 million to 68.5 million. Average orders per active customer fell slightly (from 4.9 to 4.8), but the average shopping cart value rose from €61 to €61.8.
While B2C revenue grew from €2.15 billion to €2.75 billion, B2B revenue also rose, from €239.7 million to €277.1 million, with adjusted EBIT of €20 million and an adjusted EBIT margin that surged 4.3% to 7.1%. The B2B sector, based for Zalando on the Zeos operating system, has just expanded its collaboration with Marks&Spencer: the partnership will cover logistics for the brand’s entire e-commerce business in continental Europe, integrating existing operations on Zalando, About You, and Amazon.
The deal with About You brought the subsidiary Scayle into Zalando’s orbit, which joined the Zeos software stack, providing the Berlin-based company with a first-class enterprise shop system to support brands on their own online sales channels. As reported in the press release, last August, Deichmann (Europe’s leading footwear retailer) went live with Scayle in its home market of Germany, while Netto-Marken Discount is improving its digital shopping experience in synergy with Scayle.
There is also news in Zalando’s management, with the appointment of Anna Dimitrova as CFO at the end of October. Dimitrova will take on the roles of Finance and Group Governance from January 1.
Finally, the outlook for 2025 has been confirmed, with pro-forma GMV and revenue growth of between 4% and 7%, adjusted EBIT of between €550 million and €600 million, capital expenditure of between €200 million and €280 million, and negative net working capital. The results are scheduled to be published on March 12, 2026.
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