Zalando: The situation has been a “mix of shock and opportunities”

New York – In a recent virtual round table organised by McKinsey, Boris Ewenstein, senior vice president of Supply at Zalando, explained how the “situation has been a mix of shock and opportunities” over the past couple of months.

“In January/February, we were looking at supply-side risks. How do we ensure that our logistics are functioning properly and that there is sufficient production and product to supply? Then it was March and the tide turned as we faced the issue of too much stock. It was a huge swing: from potentially having too little to having way too much,” Ewenstein added.

The executive pointed out that while business performed as expected in January and February, in March, demand dried up. But in April, the environment changed again, with people moving online virtually overnight. “People who would have bought offline before are now moving into online. Of our 32 million active customers as of March 31, 17 percent are new (year over year). We sold one million items just over Easter via our direct-to-consumer partner program, which is up more than 100 percent from last year. Similarly, new sign-ups to the Partner Program were up 150 percent from February to March,” said the Zalando’s executive.

In a research note published earlier in June by Richard Clarke, Bernstein advises its customers to buy the stock. The target price continues to be set at 62 euros per share.