Amazon vs Zalando: Revenue, Profit and Business Model
Amazon reported $716.9B of revenue in FY2025 and $77.7B of net income. Zalando reported ~$14B of revenue in FY2025 and ~$243.1M of net income.
Latest financial snapshot
Financial summary
Amazon
Amazon's headline revenue understates how concentrated its profit is. FY2025 net sales were $716.9B and operating income was $80.0B, of which AWS supplied $45.6B on $128.7B of sales. The North America segment turned $426.3B of sales into $29.6B of operating income, and International turned $161.9B into $4.8B. Advertising services, which Amazon reports inside the retail segments, grew from $56.2B in FY2024 to $68.6B in FY2025. Operating cash flow was $139.5B, but capital spending on AWS and AI capacity reached $131.8B, leaving free cash flow of $11.2B against $38.2B a year earlier.
Zalando
Zalando's FY2025 revenue rose 16.8% to ~$14 billion (€12.35 billion), mainly because ABOUT YOU was consolidated from July 2025. Adjusted EBIT was ~$668 million (€591 million) and net income was about $243 million (€215 million). H1 2026 revenue rose 22.2% to ~$7.25 billion (€6.42 billion) on a reported basis. For full-year 2026, Zalando guides to adjusted EBIT of €680–720 million.
Revenue and profit by year
Amazon
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $716.9B | $77.7B | 10.8% | +12.4% | Source |
| FY2024 | $638B | $59.2B | 9.3% | +11.0% | Source |
| FY2023 | $574.8B | $30.4B | 5.3% | +11.8% | Source |
| FY2022 | $514B | -$2.7B | -0.5% | +9.4% | Source |
| FY2021 | $469.8B | $33.4B | 7.1% | +21.7% | Source |
| FY2020 | $386.1B | $21.3B | 5.5% | +37.6% | Source |
| FY2019 | $280.5B | $11.6B | 4.1% | +20.5% | Source |
| FY2018 | $232.9B | $10.1B | 4.3% | +30.9% | Source |
| FY2017 | $177.9B | $3B | 1.7% | +30.8% | Source |
| FY2016 | $136B | $2.4B | 1.7% | — | Source |
Where the revenue comes from
Amazon
- Online stores37.6%
First-party product and digital media sales recorded gross. $269.3B of FY2025 net sales.
- Third-party seller services24.0%
Referral commissions plus related fulfillment and shipping fees charged to independent sellers. $172.2B of FY2025 net sales.
- AWS18.0%
Cloud compute, storage, database, and AI services sold on consumption pricing. $128.7B of FY2025 net sales and $45.6B of operating income.
- Advertising services9.6%
Sponsored ads, display, and video advertising sold to sellers, vendors, publishers, and authors. $68.6B of FY2025 net sales.
- Subscription services6.9%
Prime membership fees plus digital video, music, audiobook, and e-book subscriptions. $49.6B of FY2025 net sales.
- Physical stores3.1%
Sales where customers select items in a store, mainly Whole Foods Market and Amazon Fresh. $22.6B of FY2025 net sales.
- Other0.8%
Shipping services, healthcare services, certain video licensing, and co-branded credit card agreements. $5.9B of FY2025 net sales.
Zalando
- B2C (Zalando, ABOUT YOU, Lounge by Zalando)~91%
Wholesale sales, partner programme commissions and retail media across the three consumer apps; about $12.8 billion (€11.3 billion) of revenue in FY2025.
- B2B (ZEOS and SCAYLE)~9%
Fulfilment and logistics services for brands plus commerce software; revenue rose 14.6% to about $1.24 billion (€1.1 billion) in FY2025.
Business model and strategy
Amazon
How it makes money
Amazon runs a hybrid model: it buys inventory and sells it directly, and it rents its store, warehouses, and ad inventory to independent sellers. In FY2025 online stores produced $269.3B of net sales, third-party seller services $172.2B, advertising services $68.6B, subscription services $49.6B, physical stores $22.6B, and AWS $128.7B.
Growth strategy
Amazon's growth now comes mostly from the higher-margin layers on top of its infrastructure. Advertising services grew from $56.2B in FY2024 to $68.6B in FY2025 as Amazon added inventory in Prime Video, grocery, and its demand-side platform.
Competitive advantage
Amazon's advantages depend on scale rather than patents. It carried $534.1B of gross property and equipment at the end of FY2025, including $155.1B of land and buildings and $172.5B of servers and networking equipment, which pays for delivery speed and cloud capacity smaller rivals cannot fund.
Zalando
How it makes money
Zalando reports two segments. B2C covers the Zalando, ABOUT YOU and Lounge by Zalando apps. There it earns money from goods it buys and resells itself (wholesale), from commissions in its partner programme where brands sell directly to Zalando customers, and from retail media sold through Zalando Marketing Services. B2C produced about $12.8 billion (€11.3 billion) of revenue in 2025.
Growth strategy
Zalando's plan rests on two growth vectors. In B2C it runs a multi-app approach, with Zalando, ABOUT YOU and Lounge by Zalando aimed at different customer groups. It is also widening into sports, beauty and home & living, and using AI tools such as the Zalando Assistant. In B2B it opens its logistics network (ZEOS) and software (SCAYLE) to outside brands and retailers.
Competitive advantage
Zalando combines a large customer base (62.5 million active customers in Q2 2026), relationships with thousands of brands through its partner programme, and a European logistics and software stack that it now sells to other companies through ZEOS and SCAYLE.
Questions about Amazon vs Zalando
Which company has higher revenue — Amazon.com, Inc. or Zalando?
Amazon.com, Inc. reported $716.9B (FY2025), while Zalando reported ~$14B (FY2025). By last reported revenue, Amazon.com, Inc. is the larger business, with Zalando reporting a smaller revenue base.
What is the market cap of Amazon.com, Inc. vs Zalando?
Amazon.com, Inc.'s market capitalisation stands at $2.69T, while Zalando's is $7.5B. Amazon.com, Inc. carries the higher market valuation, reflecting investors' expectations of its future earnings power relative to Zalando.
Which is more financially efficient — Amazon.com, Inc. or Zalando?
Amazon.com, Inc. generates $455k / employee in revenue per employee, while Zalando generates $900k / employee. Zalando shows higher revenue efficiency per headcount, though this reflects business model differences — capital-light software companies routinely outperform labour-intensive manufacturers on this metric.
How do Amazon.com, Inc. and Zalando make money?
Amazon.com, Inc. and Zalando generate revenue in fundamentally different ways. Amazon.com, Inc.: Amazon runs a hybrid model: it buys inventory and sells it directly, and it rents its store, warehouses, and ad inventory to independent sellers. Zalando: Zalando reports two segments.
Which company is valued higher relative to revenue — Amazon.com, Inc. or Zalando?
On a price-to-sales (P/S) basis, Amazon.com, Inc. trades at 3.8x P/S and Zalando at 0.5x P/S. Amazon.com, Inc. commands a higher revenue multiple, typically indicating that investors expect faster growth or higher future margins compared to Zalando. A higher multiple is not inherently better — it may also signal that the stock is priced for perfection.
Is Amazon.com, Inc. bigger than Zalando?
By last reported revenue, Amazon.com, Inc. ($716.9B (FY2025)) is the larger company compared to Zalando (~$14B (FY2025)). Revenue scale is one dimension of size — market capitalisation, employee count, and geographic reach are also relevant depending on the context.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Amazon vs Zalando overview