The German e-commerce giant Zalando presented its report for the third quarter of 2026 today, and the figures show a steady advance in an otherwise challenging market. The group's total gross merchandise volume, GMV, increased by 8 percent to 4.5 billion euros compared to the same period last year, while net revenue rose by 5 percent to land at 3.2 billion euros. On the bottom line, there is a clear efficiency improvement where adjusted operating profit, EBIT, climbed by 11 percent to 107 million euros, which corresponds to an operating margin of 3.4 percent.
Growth is driven, among other things, by a new record level for the customer base, which now amounts to 63.2 million active customers after an increase of 3 percent. Customer loyalty also continues to strengthen through the Zalando Plus customer club, which now has over 22 million members, contributing to an increase in the average annual customer basket to 308 euros per active customer. The strong brand work has also been recognized locally, where Zalando's Global Chief Marketing Officer Sara Spännar recently was awarded as Sweden's best marketing manager in the category of fashion and clothing.
Our results for the third quarter confirm Zalando's continued progress towards building a leading platform for fashion and lifestyle in Europe. We continued to strengthen Zalando's offering to our Swedish customers and partners, and create more value for both. AI makes it easier for customers in Sweden to discover fashion, and Zalando Assistant is a concrete example of this, says Sebastian Becker, Head of Nordics at Zalando, in a comment to the report.
B2B business more than doubles profit
What stands out the most in today's quarterly report is the explosive development within the group's B2B segment, where Zalando sells its logistics infrastructure ZEOS and software platform SCAYLE to other e-commerce companies and brands. Already in the summer it became clear that AI and B2B are boosting Zalando's profitability, but during the third quarter the development has accelerated further. Revenue within B2B surged by a full 28 percent to 354 million euros and adjusted operating profit more than doubled from 20 million to 42 million euros, lifting the segment's operating margin to an impressive 12 percent.
The successes are explained by a number of major customer contracts during the quarter. The software branch SCAYLE, which entered the group through last year's acquisition of industry colleague About You, has secured its third and fourth enterprise agreements in the USA through collaborations with Rue Gilt Groupe and Neighborhood Intelligence, which operates among others Bed Bath & Beyond. In Europe, agreements have also been signed with British N Brown Group, while the logistics arm ZEOS has rolled out new solutions for brands such as Lascana, LC Waikiki and Champion. It was therefore no coincidence that Zalando just a couple of weeks ago recruited Amazon veteran Tom Christenson as the new Senior Vice President to lead and scale up this multi-billion dollar investment.
We are also committed to supporting our business partners' long-term growth. Through ZEOS, SCAYLE and Zalando Marketing Services, we offer brands and retailers solutions in logistics, e-commerce and marketing that help them reach customers throughout Europe, says Sebastian Becker.
Releasing external stores with AI agents
In addition to the growing B2B business, Zalando today presents a completely new strategic move called Zalando Extended. The initiative means that the platform is opened up for products from external online stores in categories that Zalando does not sell or stock itself. First out in a pilot project is the home decor player Westwing, whose more bulky furniture and interior details are now available to Zalando's customers in Germany directly in the existing flow.
However, the real technological leap in the initiative will be rolled out in 2027. Then, Zalando's own developed AI agent will take over the purchasing process for the customer. Instead of the customer being linked to the external online store, or the retailer being forced to build a complex technical integration against Zalando's checkout, the AI agent will complete the entire order automatically in the background while the customer remains in the Zalando app.
One year after the acquisition, the integration of About You is progressing well and we are maintaining momentum in delivering synergies. At the same time, our transition to a platform model is accelerating, with double-digit growth in partner business and retail media, as well as a B2B revenue increase of almost 28 percent, says Anna Dimitrova, CFO of Zalando.
With three quarters behind it, Zalando chooses to confirm its forecast for the full year 2026. The company still expects both GMV and revenue to grow in the lower end of the range of 12 to 17 percent, while adjusted operating profit is expected to land between 680 and 720 million euros for the full year.