Lululemon Continues European Growth With New Zalando Partnership
Lululemon has inked a new deal with Zalando to expand distribution in Europe.
With this move, the Vancouver-based athletic brand, which already does some direct business in Europe, will work with the German e-commerce platform as its preferred European partner with the hopes of reaching “millions” of new consumers.
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Zalando noted in a statement that a range of Lululemon’s products including training, running, yoga and lifestyle clothing and accessories are now, or will soon be, available in 12 markets via its distribution network. This means Lululemon is now available for Zalando customers in Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, Sweden and the Netherlands.
David Schneider, co-CEO of Zalando, said in a statement that the company is “very excited” to partner with Lululemon. “The partnership with Lululemon enriches Zalando’s assortment, and fits with our ambition to continuously elevate the customer experience, by offering the most relevant and exciting brands,” Schneider said.
Sarah Clark, SVP of EMEA at Lululemon, added that the company’s partnership with Zalando “will enable us to serve more guests in our existing markets and reach new guests in those markets where we don’t yet have a physical presence, helping us to continue to grow our global community.”
This latest move by Lululemon to expand its distribution comes as the athleisure company continues to grow.
Last month, Lululemon reported strong results for the first quarter, bucking a trend of weakness and earnings misses across retail this quarter. The company’s net revenue increased 24 percent to $2.0 billion in the quarter, up from $1.6 billion the same time last year, nearly $77 million above analysts’ expectations. What’s more, net income in Q1 jumped 53 percent to $290.4 million, or $2.28 a share — 32 cents ahead of the $1.96 analysts projected, according to FactSet.
On the company’s earnings call last month, CEO Calvin McDonald said that in 2022, international represented only 16 percent of the company’s revenue, but he remained “optimistic” about its runway for global growth. In the first quarter of 2023, the company said it saw a 60 percent growth in international sales. No specific breakdown by region was provided.
Following these results, Lululemon boosted its outlook for the year and is now looking for earnings per share ranging from $11.74 to $11.94, up from the $11.50 to $11.72 projected in March. Likewise, the revenue projection crept up to a range of $9.44 billion to $9.51 billion, up from $9.3 billion to $9.41 billion.
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