PostNL Parcels has won a contract from Zalando, the fast-growing e-retailer selling shoes andclothes online, to handle both its delivery and return shipments across the Netherlands, from the
end of the second quarter of 2012 onwards.Zalando is one of the fastest growing online fashion retailers in the Dutch market, PostNL said.Measured in terms of online orders, fashion is the biggest segment of the Dutch online retailmarket. Research conducted by PostNL shows that 14.8 million fashion purchases were made by onlineshoppers in 2011. Almost a quarter of clothes bought online are returned because the fashion itemsdon’t fit or the colour is different than expected. As part of its service, Zalando offers itscustomers free shipment and return of their ordered fashion items.
David Schroeder, Manager Mybrands-Zalando, commented on the contract: “We are very happy to havefound a reliable distribution partner who meets our stringent requirements with regards to qualityand delivery time to satisfy our customers. Not only for today, also for coming activities. PostNLopens us the opportunity to extend our business within the Netherlands to reach a higher customerawareness.”
Gerrit Mastenbroek, Managing Director of PostNL Parcels, said: “We are proud to welcome Zalandoas our newest customer and be able to be a contributor to the success of Zalando’s online business.We believe we can add to the customer experience of Zalando shoppers by offering unrivalled servicelevels and the added value of PostNL Pakjegemak, where receiving customers can have their orderdelivered to one of our post offices.”
Zalando is currently present in seven European countries including Germany, Austria,Netherlands, Switzerland, France, Italy and the UK and plans to expand further to add another sevencountries this year. In May, it plans to enter the Scandinavian market aiming to become a leadinge-commerce provider in the region. For the first half-year of 2012, the company wants to focus onSweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway and expects rapid growth.
In the next few months, Zalando plans to expand its extensive range of around 100,000 productsand 1,300 brands offering free delivery and returns in Scandinavia as well. To ensure smoothlogistics processes, the Berlin-based start-up plans, in addition to its logistics site, to openanother warehouse in Erfurt, central Germany, in the beginning of 2013 with an investment of up to€100 million and a capacity of storing over eight million products in the first constructionphase.
After going live in Scandinavia in May, Zalando wants to target other European markets includingPoland, Spain and Belgium.
In its domestic market Germany, Zalando has established itself as the leading online fashionretailer in the country reaching a brand awareness of 95% within two years. Zalando founder andco-chief executive Robert Gentz said: “Zalando went live in Germany in 2009 and recorded netrevenues of already €160 revenues in 2010. In the first half year of 2011, we exceeded this resultwith net sales of €200 million.” For the whole last year, the company generated revenues of around€500 million.
