In the third quarter of 2022, Zalando’s net loss widened to €35.4 million from €8.4 million a year as capital expenditure grew to €77.0 million from €57.7 million. However, the German online fashion retailer resumed sales growth after a weak first half. In the third quarter, the gross merchandise volume (GMV) rose 7.1 percent year-on-year to €3.28 billion, and sales grew by 2.9 percent to €2.35 billion. GMV was stable in the second quarter and rose only 1 percent in the second quarter, while sales fell by 1 percent in the second quarter and by 1.5 percent in the first quarter, the first decline in quarterly sales in the company’s history. But, the company had previously indicated that it expected to return to growth in the second half of 2022.
The number of active customers reached 50.2 million in the third quarter against 46.3 million a year earlier, and orders grew to 58.8 million from 55.8 million. The average order per active customer increased to 5.2 from 5.1, but the average basket size fell to €56.2 from €57.4.
Zalando pointed out that it had deepened its partnership with Nike, enabling customers to shop for Nike member-exclusive products on its platform.
In the third quarter, adjusted Ebit increased to €13.5 million from €9.8 million in the same quarter a year ago, and the margin widened to 0.6 percent from 0.4 percent. The company said that it had ”captured further marketing efficiencies in the third quarter,” reducing costs by almost €100 million so far this year.
“Zalando continues to be laser-focused on protecting profitability. The introduction of a minimum order value has encouraged customers to increase their basket size or pay the delivery fee. As a result, orders below the minimum order value are now profitable,” the company said in a statement.
Zalando confirmed its full-year guidance provided on June 23, which anticipates gross merchandise volume growth at 3-7 percent to €14.8 billion to €15.3 billion. Revenues are expected to grow by 0–3 percent to €10.4 billion to €10.7 billion with adjusted Ebit at €180 million to €260 million. Capital expenditure is forecast at €350 million to €400 million. But, the company now expects all final amounts to be at the lower end of all the guidance ranges.
