Zalando AI shopping is moving from suggestions to checkout. On Tuesday, Europe’s largest online fashion retailer unveiled Zalando Extended, so shoppers can buy other retailers’ goods inside its app, starting with a Westwing pilot and agent-completed purchases from 2027. Revenue beat forecasts, but gross margin fell to 38.7% and shares dropped after an early rise.
Key Takeaways
- Zalando Extended pilots with Westwing; AI checkout is targeted for 2027.
- Q3 revenue rose 5.1% to €3.17 billion; GMV rose 7.5% to €4.54 billion.
- Gross margin fell 0.9 points to 38.7%, missing a 39.9% forecast.
- B2B revenue jumped nearly 28%; partner products were 33.6% of consumer GMV.
Zalando AI Shopping Moves Checkout In-App
Zalando Extended brings other retailers’ products into the app even when Zalando does not sell them, The Next Web reported. From 2027, the AI agent is meant to complete those purchases without sending customers to another website. WWD reported that German home retailer Westwing is the pilot, starting with bulky home goods, and that partners could reach Zalando customers without complex technical integration or logistics changes.
More than 22 million unique users have visited Zalando Assistant this year, WWD reported. Chief financial officer Anna Dimitrova said on the earnings call that monthly active users rose fivefold year on year, high-value actions including adding items to a basket rose sevenfold, and customers using the assistant in a shopping journey were twice as likely to complete a purchase.
Q3 Revenue Beat, Gross Margin Miss
Revenue rose 5.1% to €3.17 billion in the three months ended Sept. 30, slightly ahead of consensus, WWD reported. The Next Web reported €3.18 billion, ahead of a €3.15 billion forecast. Gross merchandise volume rose 7.5% to €4.54 billion.
| Metric | Q3 result | Comparison |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | €3.17 billion | +5.1%; ahead of consensus |
| Gross merchandise volume | €4.54 billion | +7.5% |
| Gross margin | 38.7% | Down 0.9 points; 39.9% expected |
| Adjusted EBIT margin | 3.4% | Up from 3.2% |
| B2B revenue | €354.4 million | Up nearly 28% |
| Active customers | 63.2 million | +2.9% |
Zalando blamed the drop in gross margin to 38.7% on targeted price investments, discounts, and a larger lower-margin B2B contribution, The Next Web said. Finimize pointed to sharper promotions in the owned retail business, especially sneakers.
The Next Web reported adjusted operating profit up 10.6% to €106.5 million and a net loss of €18 million, versus a €12.5 million profit a year earlier. WWD said the adjusted EBIT margin widened to 3.4% from 3.2% on lower fulfillment costs, About You synergies, and B2B growth. Shares fell around 5% on Tuesday, The Next Web said; WWD said the stock opened at €27.51, up 4.6%, then fell 6.58% by mid-afternoon.
WWD quoted Jefferies analyst Frederick Wild, who said the contraction “will come as a surprise given previous messaging, even though it is entirely offset at EBIT level by better-than-expected fulfillment costs.” The Next Web said Jefferies also pointed to a sneaker clearance program that helped reduce inventory to 18.4% of sales from 21.8% a year earlier.
B2B Services and the Partner Mix
B2B revenue rose nearly 28% to €354.4 million, with adjusted EBIT more than doubling to €42.2 million and the division’s adjusted EBIT margin at 11.9%, WWD reported. Consumer revenue rose just 2.8%, The Next Web reported.
Active customers reached a record 63.2 million, up 2.9%, and average spend rose 2.9% to €308, WWD reported. Partner products were 33.6% of consumer GMV, up 2.9 percentage points year on year, WWD reported, against a longer-term target of 40% to 50% by 2028, Retail Gazette reported. Retail media revenue grew nearly 18%.
B2B commercial moves cited with the results included:
- Logistics and ecommerce partnerships with Next and Marks & Spencer
- Scayle’s deal with UK fashion retailer N Brown, and enterprise customers added in the U.S. and U.K.
- Zeos Fulfilment secured clients including Champion, LC Waikiki and Lascana
Zalando completed its acquisition of About You in July 2025, and synergies reached the mid-teens of millions of euros in the quarter. Dimitrova said, “One year in, the ABOUT YOU integration is progressing well and we kept our momentum in delivering synergies,” in comments reported by The Next Web.
What Agentic Checkout Means for Retailers
Zalando maintained full-year 2026 guidance: GMV and revenue growth in the lower half of a 12% to 17% range, and adjusted EBIT of €680 million to €720 million. WWD reported that the company remained confident in the midpoint of that EBIT range. Dimitrova said Zalando had seen a “good start into the fall-winter season” and was focused on maintaining momentum through Cyber Week and Christmas. JPMorgan, cited by The Next Web, warned of “ongoing structural risk from agentic commerce development.”
For marketplace executives, this is a mix shift, not a demand break. Promotions and a larger B2B share pulled gross margin down while fulfillment savings and synergies supported adjusted EBIT, even as GMV outpaced revenue. Finimize argued that a checkout-layer role would make more revenue look like commissions or service fees than product markups, which can leave gross margin flat or lower even with less inventory risk.
The competitive implication is who keeps the session. U.S. retailers are already choosing sides, a split covered in Retail Pro Report’s look at Walmart opening to AI shopping agents as Amazon blocks them. Zalando is trying to host the agent instead, starting with Westwing, so partners reach 63.2 million customers without a heavy build and the session stays in the app.
