Zalando has revealed its plans to capture 10% of the European fashion market by 2025, with ambitions to grow its gross merchandise volumes (GMV) to more than €30bn (£25.6bn) in the same period.
The fashion group will expand its footprint in Europe to eight further European markets: Croatia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia in 2021; Hungary and Romania in 2022.
Plans to strengthen its foothold in the region follow an “extraordinarily strong” start to the year for Zalando, which predicts a GMV growth of around 50% in its first quarter of 2021.
The group is further optimistic for its full-year results, expecting total GMV to rise by 27-32% to €13.6-€14.1bn (£11.6-£12bn) in FY21. Meanwhile, revenues are also expected to rise as a result of its ongoing platform transition, with 24-29% growth to €9.9-€10.3bn (£8.5-£8.8bn).
In addition, Zalando expects to “continue to grow profitably” throughout the year with an adjusted EBIT of €350-€425m (£299-£363m), noting the group will continue to invest into its logistics infrastructure and technology platform throughout the year.
The new growth targets in Europe also follow what has been a strong FY20 for the group, as it reported a GMV growth of 30.4% to €10.7bn (£9.1bn), driven by an “outstanding” intake of new customers and strong Partner Program performance.
In the same year, revenues rose 23.1% to €8.0bn, and the fashion group recorded an adjusted EBIT of €420m (£359m), while its active customer base rose by 25% to 38.7 million.
Zalando co-CEO Robert Gentz said: “2020 has been a year like no other. We have kept our eyes on our long-term vision to be the Starting Point for Fashion. For the coming years, our focus remains on growth and investments for the long-term.”
