Beauty boosts Zalando growth as AI tools drive customer engagement

Sales and profit at online retailer Zalando strengthened in the first quarter, supported by the continued roll-out of artificial intelligence technologies and the integration of e-commerce platform About You last year.

On a pro-forma basis, group gross merchandise volume (GMV) rose by 6%, while reported GMV increased by 21.7% to €4.3 billion. Group revenue grew by 3.4% on a pro-forma basis and 23.8% as reported, reaching €3 billion.

Adjusted EBIT came in at €65 million, marking an increase of 38.7%. The adjusted EBIT margin improved from 1.9% to 2.2%, supported in part by €10 million in synergies from the About You acquisition, before integration costs.

Within the B2C segment, all three consumer-facing apps - the Zalando app, About You app and Lounge by Zalando - recorded growth, with About You and Lounge delivering double-digit increases. Performance was particularly strong in seasonal and lifestyle categories such as sports, kids and family, and beauty.

The number of active customers reached 62.3 million, an increase of nearly 10 million year-on-year, supported by the addition of About You and organic growth across platforms. Average spend per customer rose by 2.9% to €305, driven by higher basket sizes, while order frequency remained stable.

During the quarter, Zalando also expanded its use of AI, with the Zalando Assistant now offering personalised recommendations across fashion and beauty. Nearly 10 million customers have used the tool so far this year, up from six million in all of 2025.

The Berlin-based company described this as a step toward transforming the Assistant into a broader lifestyle platform aligned with customers’ wider spending habits.

Its loyalty programme also expanded to 18.5 million members during the first quarter, also indicating increased customer engagement.

Despite ongoing geopolitical uncertainty and a "subdued" macroeconomic environment since issuing its full-year outlook earlier in the year, Zalando noted continued consumer demand.

For FY26, the company reaffirmed its guidance, expecting GMV and revenue growth of between 12-17% on a reported basis, alongside adjusted EBIT of €660-740 million.

Robert Gentz, Co-CEO of Zalando, said: "Our strong first quarter demonstrates the strength of our strategy. We are very satisfied with the progress we’re making in strategically scaling AI innovations and integrating About You.

"Our unique data and infrastructure that we built over 17 years - including the richest fashion-specific data in Europe and the continent’s leading logistics network for fashion and lifestyle - are a massive advantage when supercharged with AI."

In logistics, Zalando continued deploying AI-driven robotics across its European fulfilment network. Currently, around two million picks per month are automated, helping to increase efficiency, reduce manual handling and improve scalability.

Artificial intelligence has also been integrated into partner onboarding processes, where generative AI image processing is used to detect and correct visual errors and enhance product listings with missing material composition data.