Zalando plans to let shoppers buy Westwing products through an AI agent in its app from 2027, pairing a new partner-sales channel with quarterly results that showed a narrower gross margin.
Zalando unveiled the service, called Zalando Extended, on Nov. 3. It would let the agent place orders from other online shops while customers remain in Zalando’s app. Westwing is the first pilot partner, and checkout for its home and living products is expected from 2027. Zalando has not given a more specific start date.
The company says participating shops could reach Zalando customers without changing their logistics. Zalando said participating shops could advertise through its retail media business, potentially adding revenue. Existing partners accounted for 33.6% of consumer gross merchandise volume in the quarter, up 2.9 percentage points from a year earlier.
Revenue increased 5.1% year over year to €3.17 billion, and gross merchandise volume rose 7.5% to €4.54 billion. Adjusted EBIT, or earnings before interest and taxes, increased to €106.5 million from €96.3 million, lifting the adjusted operating margin to 3.4% from 3.2%. Zalando reported a net loss of €18 million, compared with a net profit of €12.5 million a year earlier.
Gross margin slid to 38.7% from 39.6%. Zalando attributed the decline to offers in consumer retail and faster growth in its business-to-business segment, which has a lower gross margin.
Business-to-business adjusted EBIT climbed to €42.2 million from €19.6 million, while consumer adjusted EBIT fell to €64.4 million from €76.6 million. Higher business-to-business adjusted EBIT more than offset the consumer segment’s decline; Zalando also cited lower fulfillment costs and ABOUT YOU synergies for the group’s improvement.
Zalando maintained its 2026 forecast for revenue and gross merchandise volume growth in the lower half of a 12% to 17% range, alongside adjusted operating profit of €680 million to €720 million. It plans to report full-year results on March 11, 2027.
