How Zalando's AI assistant reached 10 million users in Q1 2026

Close to 10 million customers used Zalando's AI assistant in the first quarter of 2026, the Berlin-based retailer reported in May, as the conversational shopping tool expanded from fashion advice into beauty recommendations. The figure represents a near-fourfold increase from the 6 million users recorded across the whole of 2025, according to company executives.

Zalando reported revenue of 3 billion euros for Q1 2026, up 23.8 per cent year on year, reflecting both the acquisition of About You and organic growth. Active customers reached 62.3 million, up close to 10 million year over year, whilst average spend per customer rose 2.9 per cent to 305 euros. The assistant's rapid adoption coincided with what co-chief executive Robert Gentz described as Zalando's AI-powered matchmaking system, which now advised shoppers on sportswear and beauty as well as fashion.

What features drove the assistant's user growth?

The Zalando Assistant now fully supports beauty-related recommendations, allowing customers to receive personalised product suggestions that span both fashion and beauty in a single conversation. Year to date, close to 10 million customers have already asked the assistant for advice, up from 6 million in the whole of 2025. The tool has been available across all 25 Zalando markets since October 2024, offering advice in local languages.

Zalando's AI assistant, powered by Zalando's own models and OpenAI's large language models, now offers logged-in customers in all markets personalised fashion advice in local languages. It enables customers to navigate Zalando's extensive assortment with intuitive queries such as "What should I wear to my dad's 60th birthday in November in Barcelona?" The assistant understands context, such as location, weather and occasion, to make informed recommendations.

The shift from a chat tool to what Gentz called "a true lifestyle companion" has been central to the platform's strategy. This progress marks a defining step in the evolution of the assistant from a shopping tool into a true lifestyle companion, and reflects Zalando's ambition to grow alongside its customers across every dimension of their lifestyle spending.

How does the assistant affect conversion and basket size?

Zalando has disclosed several performance metrics tied to the assistant's deployment. Product clicks increased by 23 per cent within the recommendation carousel, and wishlist additions rose by 41 per cent, demonstrating stronger user interaction, according to an OpenAI case study published in 2024. The enhanced Zalando Assistant drove a 63 per cent increase in high-value actions, defined as add-to-wishlist, add-to-cart and purchase activities, between January and June 2026. Management highlighted this as evidence that AI personalisation is improving customer experience and conversion rates across the platform.

Customer cohorts that used the assistant showed up to 7 per cent lower return rates compared to those who did not, suggesting that AI-enhanced guidance plays a significant role in improving purchase confidence and product relevance, a 2025 analysis noted. Basket size also increased. Average spend per customer rose by 2.9 per cent to 305 euros, driven by higher basket sizes, whilst order frequency remained stable in Q1 2026.

Which customer segments use the assistant most?

Zalando has not publicly broken down assistant usage by demographic or product category in detail. However, the company has indicated that beauty enthusiasts represent a key segment. Beauty enthusiasts shop frequently (75 per cent of them are shopping nearly every month or more) and across all categories, and over-index on portfolios like streetwear, premium, designer and beauty. Among Zalando's 50 million customers, beauty customers are predominantly female, but a significant male segment also engages with this category. The majority of beauty customers are young, fashion-forward consumers, highlighting the natural extension of beauty into the Zalando shopping journey.

Performance was particularly strong in seasonal and lifestyle categories such as sports, kids and family, and beauty. During the quarter, Zalando also expanded its use of AI, with the Zalando Assistant now offering personalised recommendations across fashion and beauty. The company indicated that beauty customers tend to shop holistically across categories, making the integrated fashion and beauty assistant particularly relevant.

What is Zalando's broader AI strategy?

The assistant is one element of a broader AI deployment across Zalando's operations. In logistics, AI models increased the accuracy of delivery promises by 22 percentage points in real time, management said. Generative AI image processing now helps to automatically detect and correct visual errors and enriches around 6,000 articles daily with missing material composition data.

Executives previously said 90 per cent of Zalando's content production and marketing material is now AI-generated or assisted, with far less need for Photoshopping or cameras. In logistics, Zalando proceeded with the strategic roll-out of AI-driven robots across its pan-European fulfilment network in collaboration with Nomagic, automating around 2 million picks per month.

Zalando also said it is working on "agentic commerce", where AI agents assist with search, product selection and purchases. The company said it is one of two European launch partners for Google in agentic commerce. The assistant is expected to evolve further as part of this strategy.

What do the Q1 2026 results indicate for AI-driven commerce?

Zalando's results demonstrate measurable traction for conversational AI in fashion retail. The near-fourfold increase in assistant users within a year, combined with documented improvements in conversion and basket size, suggests that customers are willing to engage with AI tools when they deliver contextual, personalised advice across product categories.

The shift from single-category recommendations to integrated fashion and beauty advice mirrors broader consumer expectations for holistic shopping experiences. The assistant's deployment across 25 markets in local languages addresses a structural challenge in European e-commerce: linguistic and cultural diversity. Whether the tool can sustain user growth and demonstrably improve profitability at scale remains an open question, particularly as reported EBIT in Q1 2026 was negative due to restructuring costs.

Group adjusted EBIT margin increased from 1.9 per cent to 2.2 per cent. Sales and profits further strengthened in the first quarter as the deployment of AI and the acquisition of About You delivered growth and efficiencies across B2C and B2B. The company maintained its full-year 2026 guidance, projecting GMV and revenue growth of between 12 and 17 per cent.