This article was updated on Nov. 3 at 10:30 a.m.
PARIS —Zalando's ongoing transformation into a platform with business-to-business services started to bear fruit in the third quarter.
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The German company is also betting further on agentic commerce, with an addition that will be able to look for products on other online shops within the Zalando app.
On Tuesday, Zalando reported gross merchandise volume rose 7.5 percent to 4.54 billion euros in the three months ended Sept. 30, while revenue increased 5.1 percent to 3.17 billion euros, slightly ahead of consensus estimates.
The period also saw revenue for its B2B division surge nearly 28 percent.
The adjusted EBIT margin expanded to 3.4 percent from 3.2 percent a year earlier, supported by lower fulfillment costs, synergies from the About You integration and B2B growth. The company said synergies had reached the "mid-teens millions of euros" in the quarter.
Market reaction was mixed, with Zalando stock briefly rising 4.6 percent at market opening to 27.51 euros before falling 6.58 percent by mid-afternoon trading.
In an earnings call, Zalando chief financial officer Anna Dimitrova touted that the integration of former rival About You, acquired in July 2025, was "progressing well," noting that it had continued to improve profitability in line with recent quarters.
She also noted that targeted investments in attractive customer offers and marketing partly offset the benefit from lower fulfillment costs, synergies and B2B growth.
However, analysts picked up on the year-on-year contraction of the third quarter's gross margin, which had been expected to grow.
Jefferies equity analyst Frederick Wild said in a note that this "will come as a surprise given previous messaging, even though it is entirely offset at EBIT level by better-than-expected fulfillment costs."
Describing the quarter as "early evidence of a return to execution for Zalando — even if the gross margin miss may obscure that today," he noted that margin pressure reflected the investments mentioned by Dimitrova and stronger B2B growth, but that sneaker clearances helped keep inventories under control.
Revenue for the company's B2B division, which offers solutions ranging from logistics to marketing and analytics, grew to 354.4 million euros. Meanwhile, adjusted EBIT more than doubled, to 42.2 million euros. The division's adjusted EBIT margin increased to 11.9 percent.
Zalando said software unit Scayle added enterprise customers in the U.S. and U.K., while Zeos Fulfilment secured clients including Champion, LC Waikiki and Lascana.
In its consumer business, GMV increased across all three of Zalando's apps, led by its core app as well as the scaling of partner business and "strong momentum" in the Lounge app.
Its partner business and retail media each grew at double-digit rates. Partner products accounted for 33.6 percent of business-to-consumer GMV, up 2.9 percentage points year-on-year, while retail media revenue grew nearly 18 percent.
Active customers reached a record 63.2 million, up 2.9 percent. Average spend per customer also rose 2.9 percent, to 308 euros. Dimitriova said there were more than 600,000 additional active customers quarter-on-quarter and that customers were shopping across more categories.
The company said more than 22 million unique users had visited its Zalando Assistant this year. It announced the launch of Zalando Extended, with German home and lifestyle goods retailer Westwing as its pilot partner. The new AI agent will help users find products from other online shops directly through the Zalando app.
According to Zalando, the service could help partner shops reach its customers without requiring complex technical integration or changes to their logistics. The company plans to begin with categories such as bulky home goods and gradually add products from more online shops.
In the earnings call, Dimitrova said monthly active users of the assistant had increased fivefold year-on-year, while high-value actions such as adding items to basket had risen sevenfold. She added that customers using the assistant during a shopping journey were twice as likely to complete a purchase.
Dimitrova also mentioned Duolingo and Spotify among new partners offering benefits to Zalando Plus members, now totaling more than 22 million members across the 17 markets where the loyalty program is deployed.
Zalando confirmed its full-year 2026 guidance, expecting reported GMV and revenue growth in the lower half of its 12 percent to 17 percent range, and adjusted EBIT of 680 million euros to 720 million euros.
RBC's Chamberlain said that Zalando could deliver double-digit adjusted EBIT and earnings per share growth, driven by its expanding B2B business and the appeal of its platform to brands.
Noting that the company remained confident in reaching the midpoint of its adjusted EBIT guidance, Dimitrova said Zalando had seen a "good start into the fall-winter season" and was focused on maintaining momentum through Cyber Week and the Christmas holiday season.
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