GMV Rose 20.7%, So Why Did the Stock Fall 9%?
Shares of Berlin-based e-commerce company Zalando plunged 9% immediately after the announcement. Second-quarter GMV (gross merchandise volume) rose 20.7% year over year to €4.9 billion (about KRW 7.35 trillion), and adjusted operating profit also increased 10% to €205 million. But what rattled the market was not this double-digit growth; it was the lower bar the company set for next year.
Zalando said it expects 2026 annual GMV and revenue growth to land toward the lower end of its previously guided 12% to 17% range. It also narrowed its adjusted operating profit guidance range. In other words, while second-quarter results alone looked solid, the company took a more conservative view for the full year.
The company cited synergies from its acquisition of online fashion platform ABOUT YOU and AI investments across customer service as the basis for its outlook. Zalando said it has been expanding personalized shopping tools, automated product listing, and the introduction of robotics across its European logistics network, and that this foundation will support performance from the second half onward.
Source · Retail Gazette, "Zalando trims 2026 growth forecast as shares tumble 9%"
Mother's Day Gift Search Became a Year-Round AI Assistant
Kohl's has expanded the gift recommendation tool it introduced in April for Mother's Day into a year-round service. Using Google Cloud's generative AI, Gemini Enterprise for Customer Experience, the retailer has relaunched it as an AI shopping assistant that can find products, gifts, and style ideas through conversational questions alone.
If the previous method required shoppers to click through categories and filters one by one to search for the products they wanted, the new assistant selects products based on spoken descriptions of preferences and situations. Kohl's said the tool allows shoppers to find desired items, gifts, and style combinations through conversation at any time, not only during specific seasons.
Kohl's has effectively joined the ranks of retailers such as Macy's, Michaels, and Lowe's, which have already introduced their own AI assistants. The company has previously reported that first-quarter net sales fell 1.7% year over year and comparable sales declined 1.1%, making this expansion of its AI assistant appear to be a bid to seek a rebound through the online shopping experience.
Source · Retail Dive, "Kohl's debuts AI shopping assistant"
Moodmatch Selects Lookbook Concept Cards from a Single Sentence
RealSnap's Moodmatch is a feature within the moodboard menu that lets users choose a purpose such as campaign, lookbook, or daily, then describe the desired scene in a sentence to create images with that mood. A person in charge of detailed lookbook shots can review the concept cards shown on screen and choose the desired tone without separately collecting reference images.
Previously, conveying a desired mood within a team first required collecting and sharing several reference photos. Moodmatch moves that explanation into a single Detail Prompt entry. By also setting reference strength, number of images, and aspect ratio, users can receive versions for each concept side by side and compare multiple drafts on one screen without back-and-forth revisions.
