Are you familiar with the German webshop Zalando? I suspect you are. The online shoe giant only made its virtual entrance into our country last year, but almost immediately put a serious dent in the classic retailers Brantano and Torfs (get it?). The rapid growth of Zalando was even the direct reason for both companies to also opt for e-commerce. And to close a number of physical stores in the same breath, in the case of Brantano. Not that I am a fashionista of the purest water, but shouldn't you try on a shoe before you buy it? The online customer - who according to recent figures is multiplying at a rapid pace - apparently doesn't really care. Why should he: if the shoe doesn't fit, he can send it back for free. Zalando may sell shoes, but they are still not entirely familiar with the term ecological footprint...
Moreover, the German Zalando distribution centre is not very strict about the labour laws. At least, that is what Dutch investigative journalist Allard Van Gent claims, who started working as a temporary worker in the Großbeeren distribution centre in 2011. The portrait he paints of Zalando in its infancy is anything but pretty. “It is mainly Poles who work in the Zalando warehouse, and that for a German starvation wage of seven euros gross per hour. Here and there, 'black ravens' walk around to control, intimidate and humiliate the workers,” the Dutchman testifies. A disturbing side note: Zalando is now the fastest growing online company in Europe. According to an official response from Zalando, “a lot has changed in the meantime”. I guess I'll have to stop at Brantano later.