Zalora secures €20mil investment from German retail giant

By Digital News Asia March 13, 2013

Tengelmann joins other investors like Rocket Internet, J.P. Morgan Asset Management and Summit Partners
Latest injection to help Zalora expand its position in Asia’s fashion and beauty e-commerce industry

GERMAN retail giant the Tengelmann Group will invest €20 million (approximately US$26 million) in online fashion and beauty retailer Zalora, joining an investor base that includes Rocket Internet, J.P. Morgan Asset Management, Investment AB Kinnevik and Summit Partners.

The latest injection would help Zalora expand its position in Asia’s fashion and beauty e-commerce industry, the company said in a statement. It already has a presence in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Taiwan, and employs more than 1,000 people in these eight countries.

The 145-year-old Tengelmann Group is a household name in the European retail industry, operating over 4,000 stores in 15 different countries and employing more than 80,000 people, Zalora said.

This latest investment follows Zalora’s successful launch of a mobile-optimized site that marked the beginning of the company’s expansion into m-commerce, it added.

“We are very excited to join the Zalora team,” said Tengelmann Ventures chief executive officer Christian Winter.

“We are confident that this is a synergistic and promising partnership given both our strengths in retail and the tremendous potential of the e-commerce market in Asia.

“Zalora’s success in the market, growth trajectory, management team and investor base speak volumes about how the company is fast becoming the undisputed leader for online fashion and beauty retail in many countries,” he added.

Michele Ferrario, regional managing director of Zalora South-East Asia, said: “Tengelmann’s long and successful experience in retailing and specifically e-commerce will prove useful for Zalora as we cement our position as an e-commerce industry leader in fashion and beauty retail.”

Zalora has also recently started building a regional software development center in Singapore, a company spokesman said. Its technology roadmap is also being planned and would be implemented out of its headquarters in the city-state.

“This would therefore allow our center here to have complete control on plans for the webshop platform development, and give us the ability to bring new innovations to the e-commerce sector – more intuitive navigation, personalized shopping experiences through shopping history recommendations, etc.,” the spokesman said.

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