22nd April 2015
- Taoiseach officially opens new fashion insights centre in Silicon Docks
- Hub will include deep data science & engineering research
- Zalando is aiming for the best talent in tech in Dublin
Zalando SE, Europe’s leading online fashion platform for men, women and children, today announced the opening of its new Zalando Fashion Insights Centre in Dublin.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny, T.D. was joined by the Tánaiste Joan Burton T.D. and Robert Gentz, Founder and co-CEO of Zalando at the official opening of the new Insights Centre in Dublin’sSilicon Docks.
Zalando is locating in Ireland to meet the growing demand for top quality candidates in the field of research and development, big data analysis, data science and engineering. The company plans to create up to 200 jobs in Dublin over the next 3 years. The investment is supported by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation through IDA Ireland.
Headquartered in Berlin, Zalando was founded in 2008 by David Schneider and Robert Gentz and today has a presence in 15 European countries selling fashion clothing, sports gear and shoes, to close to 15 million active customers. After just over six years of operation its business has grown to €2.2 billion in revenue in 2014, with an EBIT margin of 2.8%.
Speaking at the official opening today, Taoiseach Enda Kenny said, “Ireland is establishing a
reputation as the Internet capital of Europe and this is further strengthened by Zalando's decision to locate here, with the creation of up to 200 jobs. Thanks to our talented workforce, Dublin's Silicon Docks is home to some of the biggest Internet companies in the world. The Government will continue to ensure that companies like Zalando see Ireland as an attractive location for business through the determined implementation of the Action Plan for Jobs, as we aim for full employment by 2018."
Tánaiste Joan Burton said; "Zalando's decision to locate its Fashion Insights Centre in Dublin underscores once again Ireland's attractiveness as a location for inward investment, and Dublin's emergence as a centre of digital excellence. Online business is changing the way we all do business. 15 or 20 years ago, it would have been hard to imagine why a fashion retailer would need engineers, for example, unless they were an actual manufacturer and had machines to take care of. Today we live in a very different world, and the 200 employees who Zalando will hire will work across research and development, big data analysis, data science and engineering to help improve the company's offering for customers. They will find no shortage of high calibre recruits forthese positions in Ireland."
Robert Gentz, Founder and Member of the Management Board, Zalando said, “Zalando is the most trafficked fashion site in Europe with well over 100 million visits to the site per month. Understanding our customers, and gaining deep insights into their purchasing patterns and their behaviour online means we can provide them with a personalised and compelling offering.Investing to understand these insights has driven our growth since the earliest days of ourcompany and has been the key to our success. The new Zalando Fashion Insights Centre in Dublin will play a major role as we continue to lead online fashion and grow our presence across Europe.”
Welcoming the investment from Doha, Qatar, where he is leading a 9-day trade and investment mission, the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton TD said: “Attracting more of the world’s fastest-growing technology companies to set up operations in Ireland and create jobs here is a key part of our Action Plan for Jobs, and in recent years we have seen major successes in this area. Today’s announcement that Zalando is creating 200 new jobs in Dublin is a hugely welcome announcement, and I wish all at Zalando every success with this investment.”
Martin Shanahan, CEO IDA said, “Ireland continues to attract the world’s leading online
Zalando is actively recruiting data scientists and candidates from the science, maths and
engineering disciplines as well as academia for a variety of R&D focused data science and
engineering roles in its Fashion Insights Centre.
“We will offer graduates and experienced people the opportunity to work on exciting engineering and data science challenges, said Eric Bowman, VP Engineering at Zalando. “We're looking for the best engineers and data scientists in Dublin, Europe and the world, people who thrive on solving hard problems and delivering impact. We want independent thinkers, brilliant executioners, people who love a challenge, working on deep problems and working with the smartest people, while creating a great team culture.”
Recruitment has already commenced and details can be found at Dublin Zalando
About Zalando
Zalando is Europe’s leading online fashion platform for women, men and children. Weoffer our customers a one-stop, convenient shopping experience with an extensive selection of fashion articles including shoes, apparel and accessories, with free delivery and returns. Our assortment of over 1,500 international brands ranges from popular global brands, fast fashion and local brands, and is complemented by our private label products. Our localized offering addresses the distinct preferences of our customers in each of the 15 European markets we serve:
Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Poland and the United Kingdom. Our logistics network with three centrally located fulfilment centers in Germany allows us to efficiently serve our customers throughout Europe. We believe that our integration of fashion, operations and online technology give us the capability to deliver a compelling value proposition to both our customers and fashion brand partners.
Zalando’s websites attract well over 100 million visits per month. In the fourth quarter 2014, 48 per cent of traffic came from mobile devices, resulting in close to 15 million active customers by the end of the quarter.
Contact Zalando
Boris Radke
Head of Corporate Communications
Phone: +49 (0)30-209 68 1038
Email: Boris.Radke@zalando.de
Contact MKC Communications
Céline Crawford
Phone: +353 1 703 8613 / +353 86 8235777
Email: celine@mkc.ie
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