Zalando in Q3 “sustained its profitable growth trajectory”, the German e-tail giant said on Thursday. And although not all of its numbers headed upwards, management was clearly happy with the direction of travel.

It reported gross merchandise volume (GMV) growth of 21.6% to €4.2 billion and revenue growth of 26.5% to €3 billion, but this was driven predominantly by the inclusion of About You in its figures.

On a pro-forma basis, GMV grew by 6.7% and revenue rose by 7.5%, fuelled by a strong performance of both Zalando and About You, reaching just over €3 billion.

B2C revenue rose to €22.75 billion from €2.15 billion and B2B was up to €277 million from €239 million.

Profits based on one key metric rose, albeit by a smaller margin than GMV and revenue. Adjusted EBIT increased to €96 million from €93 million a year earlier but the adjusted EBIT margin dropped to 3.2% from 3.9%. B2C adjusted EBIT actually fell to €76.6 million from €86.7 million while for B2B it was up to €19.6 million from €6.7 million. Net income overall fell to €12.5 million from €44.3 million.

The company saw an increase in both the number of active customers over the past year and the number of orders, although average orders per active customer dips slightly. That said the average basket side edged upwards.

Seizing opportunities

In B2C, Zalando also on Thursday said it has doubled down on its sports opportunity and became a main partner of the German Football Federation (DFB) that will see it linking with the Men’s, Women’s, and Youth National Teams.

On the sports front, it has also secured partnerships with key marathon events in Rotterdam and Copenhagen. And the company strengthened cooperation with the Berlin Marathon as main sponsor.

In B2B, it saw “major enterprise merchant wins, including [an] expanded collaboration with Marks & Spencer”. It already works with the UK’s Next and expanding with M&S is clearly a big deal. The partnership will now cover fulfilment for the brand’s entire continental European e-commerce business, complementing existing operations on Zalando, About You and Amazon. 

The inclusion of About You’s subsidiary SCAYLE to the ZEOS software stack provides Zalando with a prime enterprise shop system to support brands also on their own e-commerce channels, and is also contributing to the strong traction in B2B. 

Deichmann, Europe’s leading shoe retailer, went live with SCAYLE in its home market Germany in August so it’s no surprise that adjusted EBIT in B2B was up 15.6%.

On the back of its year-to-date performance, Zalando also confirmed its full-year 2025 guidance, with expected pro-forma GMV and revenue growth of 4% to 7%, and adjusted EBIT projected between €550 million and €600 million.

“The third quarter demonstrates how we are relentlessly executing our strategy to embrace the immense opportunities in front of us and to capture profitable growth across both B2C and B2B,” said David Schröder, Zalando co-CEO. “The exciting new partnership with the German Football Federation DFB will allow us to boost our sports business further and to build an unparalleled sports experience for our customers, while our high calibre B2B partnerships showcase the superior value that we are able to deliver for brands and retailers with our unique e-commerce operating system.”