Germany’s shuttered retailers turn to online rival for help

For Zalando, Connected Retail is part of a larger push to become more profitable by shifting away from wholesale toward a platform for all things fashion. — Reuters

For most high-street retailers, the hard lockdowns across Europe mean they’re missing out on the lucrative holiday shopping period. That’s unless they team up with the enemy.

Kaufhaus Ganz, a department store near Frankfurt that sells clothing, toys and stationaries, is doing just that. Even as it has been losing customers to online rivals, the business this year turned to Zalando SE to sell wares on the Internet giant’s websites. The move helps keep revenue flowing now that its physical shop had to close, said managing director Tatjana Steinbrenner.