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Want to learn the best business insights from remarkable speakers at Slush 2023, but don’t have the time to watch the full speeches on YouTube?
You’ve come to the right place. Below is a summary of a speech by Robert Gentz, CEO and co-founder of Zalando.
(psst: the notes were automatically generated with Wudpecker's AI notetaking tool. If you'd like to check these notes + transcript + audio recording without needing to log in, press here.)
<p class="h1-rich">🤏 TL;DR</p>
Zalando, founded in 2008, democratized fashion by providing access to a wide selection of products, addressing customer concerns about risk and returns, and using quantitative and analytical approaches to marketing and customer lifetime value. The company has evolved from a pure e-commerce player to incorporating in-person retail and focusing on brands and is committed to long-term growth and double-digit growth in the future. Action items include investigating the impact of the Digital Services Act, investing in quality e-commerce, moving upstream to invest in content creation and storytelling, and enabling brands to use Zalando's infrastructure to operate their own brands and e-commerce outside of Zalando.
<p class="h1-rich">✨ Summary</p>
Building Zalando
- Founded Zalando in 2008, targeting the emerging generation of consumers entering the retail market.
- Key factors for early success: democratizing fashion by providing access to a wide selection of products, addressing customer concerns about risk and returns, and using quantitative and analytical approaches to marketing and customer lifetime value.
Evolving Zalando
- Zalando has evolved from a pure e-commerce player to incorporating in-person retail and focusing on brands.
- This reflects changes in consumer preferences, including a new generation shift with millennials and the rise of sustainability and generative AI.
Bridging the Trust Gap
- Zalando focuses on providing quality e-commerce experiences and working with brands to build trust with consumers.
- Investing in content and moving upstream to provide more information and inspiration to customers.
- Enabling brands to use Zalando's infrastructure to operate their own e-commerce businesses.
Challenges and Growth
- Continuing to execute and grow the business over time requires resilience and managing the emotional curves.
- Zalando's co-CEO structure has been helpful in maintaining resilience and balancing strengths.
- Despite challenges, Zalando remains committed to long-term growth and double-digit growth in the future.
Competition and Regulation
- Fast fashion brands, especially from China, pose competition in the market.
- Regulatory loopholes and data utilization contribute to the success of these brands.
- Zalando believes regulation should incentivize companies to be headquartered in Europe and pay taxes and employ people there.
Future Opportunities
- New shifts in fashion and lifestyle, such as generational changes, sustainability, and technology, create opportunities for innovation.
- Zalando is passionate about solving specific challenges in the fashion industry, like the size and fit problem.
- The fashion and lifestyle sector offers unique and exciting problems to solve for young founders.
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