Zooplus: sales increased by 31%, now 4 million customers

Zooplus, a major European online retailer of pet supplies, had a good year as its sales increased by 31 percent during 2015, reaching a level of 711 million euros. The company generated double-digit growth at all of its 30 markets. Zooplus has now over 4 million active customers and says the positive development was driven mainly by the increase in the sales retention rate, which reached a record level of 94 percent last year.

Zooplus released this numbers yesterday [pdf] while showcasing the financial figures for 2015. It also announced it had improved the cost efficiency: the ratio of total cost to total sales is now 28.5 percent, while last year the ratio was 29.6 percent. “This is a result of both efficiency gains and improved economies of scale”, the company explains.

‘Well prepared for this competitive market’
According to CEO Cornelius Patt, the statistics show that Zooplus can continue its strategy of generating profitable growth. “We see our current cost ratio as a clear indicator of cost leadership in our sector and will continue to increase the level of efficiency. Thus we are well prepared for this competitive market and plan to achieve further growth and operating leverage”, he said. “Our substantial positive free cash flow (€13.6 million) shows that we can finance our rapid growth entirely from internal resources.”

Zooplus thinks it could continue its growth in 2016. It expects to generate sales of 875 million euros during this period, which would mean an increase of 18 percent compared to last year.

About Zooplus
Zooplus was founded in Germany in in 1999 and is now said to be the leading online retailer of pet supplies in Europe. Zooplus has dedicated ecommerce websites in 30 European countries, selling over 8,000 different products such as pet food, scratching posts, dog baskets and toys.