Zalando restructures board to propel pan-European ecosystem strategy

Co-founder David Schneider will focus on building partner relationships across Zalando's B2C and B2B ambitions and on further positioning the Zalando brand. As strategic partnerships play a crucial role in executing the ecosystem strategy, Schneider decided to move into a Management Board role that is fully dedicated to these areas and hand over his Co-CEO role to David Schröder.

In his new role, Schröder will focus on building the B2B operating system that enables e-commerce across Europe on and off the Zalando platform and further developing Zalando’s unique capabilities and infrastructure. Co-founder Robert Gentz will continue in his role as Co-CEO and focus on expanding Zalando’s B2C growth vector to make Zalando the go-to-destination for quality fashion, lifestyle shopping and inspiration.

To give Zalando a strong foundation for its ecosystem strategy, Chief People Officer Astrid Arndt has the additional responsibility of strengthening Zalando’s corporate functions. Chief Financial Officer Dr. Sandra Dembeck will enable the successful execution of the ecosystem strategy with prudent financial management that allows strategic investments into Zalando's long-term growth and continues the company's margin expansion. All changes will come into effect as of September 1, 2024.

“One of Zalando’s strengths has always been to adapt our strategy and rotate the roles and responsibilities of its strong leadership team to make sure everyone complements each other and serves the ever-changing needs of customers and partners,” said David Schneider, who co-founded Zalando with Robert Gentz in 2008, building the company from a startup selling flip-flops online out of a flat in Berlin into a leading European e-commerce company serving 50 million customers in 25 markets. “We are thrilled that David Schröder, who has been an integral part of Zalando's success story since the early days in 2010, will take on the Co-CEO role to scale our B2B growth vector. On a personal note, I’m excited to focus even more on serving the needs of partners, lifting our deep partnerships across the industry to the next level.”

David Schröder, who is currently Zalando’s Chief Operating Officer, has been part of Zalando’s senior management team since 2010, serving as CFO until 2022 and as SVP Convenience until 2019.

Zalando’s ecosystem strategy, announced in March, will enable the company to capture a larger share of the fashion and lifestyle e-commerce market and deepen relationships with customers and partners. In B2C, Zalando differentiates itself through quality to offer the best possible shopping experience in fashion and lifestyle, enhancing its role in customers’ lifestyle journeys by elevating existing categories such as Sports and Kids & Family to distinct propositions and offering personalised inspiration and entertainment. In B2B, Zalando is opening up its logistics infrastructure, software and service capabilities to be a key enabler for e-commerce transactions of brands and retailers, regardless of whether they take place on or off the Zalando platform. In the mid-term, Zalando sees the B2B growth vector developing into a multi-billion-euro business.

The ecosystem strategy sets out the path for strong growth and continued margin progression in the medium term through 2028. It will also help Zalando to be an enabler of positive change for a more sustainable and inclusive future of the fashion and lifestyle industry.

“15 years after Zalando was founded, new commercial opportunities are opening up as consumers and partners have new expectations and needs,” said Kelly Bennett, Chairperson of the Zalando Supervisory Board. “The adjusted management board responsibilities will help this strong group of executives and Zalando’s first-class teams from around 140 countries execute the ecosystem strategy in the most impactful way and embrace the exciting opportunities ahead of them.”

Note: The content of this press release has not been edited by Fibre2Fashion staff.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (RM)