zalando：巴黎仓库参观要点-自动化程度良好但差异化有限且仍相当依赖人工

Yesterday, Zalando hosted a investor visit at its new Paris warehouse. Overall thetechnology and set up of the warehouse was good but not ground-breaking. There is well-tested automation through bagsorters and shuttle systems but still a lot of manual pickingfor long-tail SKUs. Some technology that we saw at Next’s warehouse (note here) was notpresent, such as automated packing of single item orders & automated collation of multi-item orders (instead ZAL using a manual pickface). The continued roll-out of automationtechnology across their 13 sites (as well as the new Frankfurt site to be opened in 2026)will help reduce fulfillment costs and offset wage pressures. We had 4 thoughts afterour visit:1) ZAL is a good operator but not leading the cutting edge of fulfillmenttechnology; 2) For the roll-out of ZEOS,Zalando has the advantages of scale & capitalinvestment but lacks true differentiation in automation, fulfillment & logistics,making it less compelling for brands to sign up (particularly compared to pureplay expertslike GXO); 3)There’s plenty of capacity for growth(the site was just ramping at thisstage) but that means that Zalando’s warehouses are operating at sub-optimal capacity.This is likely a pressure on OPEX unless there is higher growth;4) The extent of manualpicking reinforces our caution on the significant SKU breadth that Zalando has, andwe think there’s an opportunity to reduce the number of SKUs- we think they arelikely operating inefficiently due to the complexity of picking >1m SKUs, which we thinkhave limited sell-through (we assume an average item sells only 581x items p/a; <100xassuming 6 sizes - note here).The Paris warehouse is not their first automated site but combines multiple bits ofautomation from previous warehousesin Rotterham, Monchengladbach and Lars. It isGeneration 4 for Zalando. Gen. 1 being conveyors, linesorters & outbound sorters; Gen 2being bag sorters; Gen. 3 being shuttle technology; Gen. 4 being order streaming. Goingfrom Gen. 1 to Gen. 4 makes picking x. 2x faster. Products are categorised into A - C basedon speed of movement - ‘A’ products can be handled in 2 hours at their fastest.Overall thetechnology and automation is good but not ground breaking. It uses a combinationof bagsorting, goods-to-man shuttle systems and manual picking. The WMS (warehousemanagement system) is in-house Zalando technology whilst the WCS (warehouse controlsystem) is Knapp. Most of the technology in the site is Knapp but has a variety of suppliers.Vs. our Next warehouse visit, the technology is slightly less advanced - i.e. it doesn’t useautomated packing for single item orders, there is a lot more manual picking of long-tailSKUs (c. half the warehouse capacity is manual pick), and no hanging garment automation.The Paris warehouse is located in Lieusaint (approx. 30-35km outside Paris). It is operatedby GXO for Zalando (outsourced like all of their warehouses outside of Germany). It is c.150k sqm (surface area) with total space equivalent to c. 310k sqm and required CAPEXof €250m. It will end up replacing their current spoke outside Paris which is <50k sqm andcost <€50m. At full capacity, the site will handle 800k items per day with 1,200 employees(2,000 at peak) vs. 400k items per week in the old site (c. 60-80k p/d). Total site capacitywill be 16m split between two manual pick towers, bagsorters and a shuttle system.Returns are not handled; 80% of inbound has already been sorted at the IDCs in Germany.www.bernsteinresearch.com INVESTMENT IMPLICATIONSWe rate Zalando Underperform with a target price of €23.BERNSTEIN TICKER TABLETickerRatingZAL.GRUEUREDMO - Outperform, M - Market-Perform, U - Underperform, NR - Not Rated, CS - Coverage SuspendedSource: Bloomberg, Bernstein estimates and analysis.EUROPEAN GENERAL RETAIL 2 Jun 2025ClosingPricePriceTarget32.2223.0017.8%1,432.59 I. REQUIRED DISCLOSURESReferences to "Bernstein" or the “Firm” in these disclosures relate to the following entities: Bernstein Institutional Services LLC(April 1, 2024 onwards), Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., LLC (pre April 1, 2024), Bernstein Autonomous LLP, BSG France S.A. (April 1,2024 onwards), Sanford C. Bernstein (Hong Kong) Limited盛博香港有限公司,C. Bernstein (India) Private Limited (SEBI registration no. INH000006378), Sanford C. Bernstein (Singapore) Private Limited andSanford C. Bernstein Japan KKOn April 1, 2024, Société Générale (SG) and AllianceBernstein, L.P. (AB) completed a transaction that created a new joint venturein which their respective cash equities and research businesses operate in a new business combination. Although their respectiveownership percentages in the joint venture differ between North America and the rest of the world, the creation, production andpublication of research is handled collaboratively on a global basis across the two research brands, “Bernstein” and “Autonomous”.Unless specifically noted otherwise, for purposes of these disclosures, references to Bernstein’s “affiliates” rela