Zalando sales probably up 300%

Online fashion store Zalando has continued its strong growth in 2011. In the first half of 2011,

the company generated net sales of approximately 200 million Euro (Rs 1,292 crores), compared to full year sales of 159 million Euro (Rs 1,027 crores) in 2010. This is the first official financial statement about Zalando's activities, coming from one of it's investors, Stockholm based Kinnevik. An investment firm with investments in Groupon, Metro newspaper, Tele2, Zalando and many others.

In a job ad which Zalando posted in Asia last month it stated about the 2012 sales: "We have built an e-commerce website in Europe which sells more than 30.000 pairs of shoes per day and generates 100 million Euros (Rs 646 crores) per month in revenue". Kinnevik´s statement support´s the thought that the company´s growth rate is at 300 per cent on annual basis and is most likely on track to hit the 1.3 billion Euro (Rs 8,400 crores) mark this year.

Everyone in the fashion industry has been wondering how, what and how much they are doing, and that they seem to grow fast. But a 250 per cent+ annual sales growth over a 3 year period most likely makes Zalando the fastest growing 50 million plus turnover apparel company in the world.    

Due to the strong growth, huge advertising campaigns and geographical expansion of Zalando, the company reported an operating loss.

In 2011, Zalando launched its own logistic center and opened the first warehouse operated by the company. A new warehouse construction project was initiated in the city of Erfurt in Germany to start operations in 2012.

Earlier this month Zalando successfully completed talks regarding an equity investment with international firm, DST Global. The investment firm has announced that it is acquiring 4 per cent of Zalando, an investment aimed at supporting the future growth of the retailer in Europe.

The Berlin-based e-commerce company was founded in 2008 by Robert Gentz and David Schneider offering fashion and lifestyle products to the German market. Following its success it expanded to its neighbouring European countries, starting with Austria in 2009, and the Netherlands and France in 2010. In 2011, the retailer expanded to Italy, the UK and Switzerland.