Zalando to expand into Scandinavia
Zalando, the online fashion and footwear retailer, has confirmed plans to enter the Scandinavian market.
The retailer said it will go live in Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway in May with plans for rapid growth. It will also open a new €100 million warehouse in Germany in 2013 which will have capacity for over eight million products in the first phase of development.
Founder and chief executive of Robert Gentz said: “Following our great success in the last few years we are very confident to capture the Scandinavian market with the same speed that we have demonstrated successfully in other countries in the last few years.”
Zalando launched in Germany in 2009, and by 2010 had generated net sales of €160 million. It now operates in Austria, Switzerland, France, Italy, the UK and the Netherlands and in the first half of 2011 achieved sales €200 million.
Gentz said the growth was a result of a consistent marketing strategy and stable financing with a strong group of investors.
Christian Meerman, Zalando chief marketing officer, said: “We will pursue the same strategy in Scandinavia that has been effective for the opening up of all our markets. We use a perfected marketing mix that has been tailored to the respective market and we invest systematically in marketing facilities in order to be able to extend our involvement even more.
He added: “We can guarantee this because we can rely on sound financing.”
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