Jalando secretly prepares for an American invasion

Zalando wants to enter the US market in 2023. A team of a hundred men silently prepares for the launch. The new CEO, Jim Freeman, will have billions left to bring the stage to ‘his’ America.

Rich Northeast

Zalando is working on a ‘top secret’ project: Project Kangaroo. Even the name is a sly diversion – or geographical mistake – because the German fashion site doesn’t go to Australia, but to America. A team of more than 100 people will work in secret on a plan to launch in the US by 2023.

According to Business Insider, Jim Freeman, an American who previously worked at Amazon, is leading the project. Worth billions. Freeman is the chief business and product officer at Zalando, and will assume a greater role since the departure of Rubin Ritter. Also Megan Maley, Best Girl for England, Ireland and BeneluxAn American.

Because the Northeast is the richest region in the United States, the fashion market wants to start there. Zalando is reportedly targeting not just cities like Boston and New York, but an entire region that includes states from Maine to Pennsylvania.

Only in the fridge?

The Berlin company wants to build brand awareness through expensive celebrities and with the help of influencers. Zalando reasons that influencers deliver more trust and visibility faster than traditional marketing. The questions remain only about who the base in the US hopes to reach and where the Germans think they can distinguish themselves there.

If Zalando has a huge advantage by being the number one online fashion retailer in Europe, it doesn’t in the US. Amazon is making frantic efforts to claim the online fashion market, at least in the luxury segment. Project workers fear that Zalando is not thinking uniquely enough at the moment, despite a strict non-disclosure clause against leaking news to Business Insider.

However, this time, the problem has not arisen, as the company responds that the project is “on hold”. Without confirming or denying concrete plans, the fashion site is looking at growth opportunities outside of continental Europe, indicating that it will be with markets that exist “in the current economic climate.” Sales fell 1.5% in the first quarter The second quarter is even weaker, predicts the e-commerce player. However, 2023 remains the target date for now.