Zalando invests in Swiss startup

Zalando relies on Swiss IT know-how. As founder and co-CEO Robert Gentz reveals to Handelszeitung in an interview, the online retailer has invested in the Swiss startup Fashwell invested. "The company is doing exciting work in the area of image recognition of fashion items," Gentz said. With its image analysis software, the startup can recognize clothing items and accessories that users have discovered on social media platforms.

Gentz's growth plans for Zalando are ambitious. In 2015, sales were around 3 billion euros; in 2016, they should be around 3.7 billion. But the stated goal is 20 billion. "We see potential in all of our 15 markets," Gentz said. Expansion in new countries is not absolutely necessary, he said. The retailer turns over an estimated 500 million in Switzerland - but does not employ anyone here. "I can't say whether a Zalando location in Switzerland is planned at some point," Gentz said. It currently makes more sense to manage all markets centrally from Berlin.

The volume of orders gives the fashion retailer a good overview of which style is popular in which region. This shows that there is also a "Röstigraben" in Switzerland when it comes to fashion. In Basel, customers order casual clothing, in Bern sporty clothing. In Zurich, hipster style is popular. In Geneva, on the other hand, customers tend to dress elegantly, in Lausanne sexily. In Lugano, elegant clothes are also the most popular.

The fact that around 50 percent of the goods ordered are returned to Zalando does not worry Gentz. "We just want customers to move the booth home," he says. "Customers who return a lot of merchandise tend to be more profitable customers because they use the concept more consciously." There is no alarm level for returns, he says. "But 105 percent is definitely too much."