[SNIPPET] Robert Gentz - Why Europe is the Hardest Market on Earth?

**Matthieu Stefani** (0:05)
We are the average of the people we spend the most time with. My name is Mathieu Stéphanie, and I invite entrepreneurs, athletes and artists to raise my average, and yours. Just before we begin this episode, I'll switch to French for a brief moment to thank my sponsors.
Are you saying that it's very difficult to grow in Europe because of all of these specificities, local fiscal tax or...?

**Robert Gentz** (0:33)
Yeah. I think what we say is a lot of the reasons why Zalando was so successful in the last 16, 17 years, because of the beautiful complexity of Europe. So because it is actually, although it's like 400 million people, it's not like 400 million people in one single market. So there's so many different languages, there's so many different payments, logistics systems, I mean, legislations. And so it is not like one single market from e-commerce perspective. So it's very hard to actually build an offer for all these different countries.

**Matthieu Stefani** (1:18)
Some people say, sorry, but some people say, I've read recently that it's kind of a, we have our own tariffs. It's not a fiscal, I mean, like a tariff that is, but it's a logistical and framework. Yeah, it could be up to some countries, up to 100% tariffs because they're so difficult to get in.

**Robert Gentz** (1:38)
Yeah, I mean, I think it's more self-made, regulatory, cultural terrors, I think.

**Matthieu Stefani** (1:44)
Should it change ? I mean, at some point, it's working well for you with those because you've cracked them somehow. Maybe you wouldn't have any interest. I mean, I'm talking on your side, but because if it's easier, then maybe you'll get more competitors somehow.

**Robert Gentz** (2:02)
Well, I mean, I think then we, but I think then we probably would have like needed to work, I think 40, 50% less on this stuff, and we would have more time to actually crack other stuff. So I, yeah, I mean, maybe that's, I think it's some of the, it's a driver of our success that we were more focused on these European particular problems.
But yeah, I mean, I think overall, I think for Europe, it would be much better if it's just, I mean, one simple, I mean, single markets that really makes it easy to actually build. I mean, that's in the end, like if you compare ourselves to US or to China, I mean, it's such a big market, actually. But I think we make it actually very, very hard to just build, I mean, big companies in this market because it's so...

**Matthieu Stefani** (2:46)
Which is, you're saying it's such a big market in theory, which is not such a big market, particularly speaking. Do you believe it can change ?

**Robert Gentz** (2:58)
I believe it can change. I hope it can change, yeah. I mean.
I think I hope that we as Europeans, we see that I think in this race around relevancy, that I think is actually happening, I think right now in China or the US., that I think we can only, I mean, win this, I think, together, because I think all the single individual markets are just too small. It's like neither is Germany, neither is France. We're all a little bit too small, but I think together, we actually, we can be very, very powerful.
But I think we need to be able to, be willing to work together and as well, see it a bit like of our national interests, sometimes towards like just, I mean, just for the greater good to just, I mean, get to make a greater good path for Europe ahead. I mean, that's my hope.

**Matthieu Stefani** (4:05)
Yeah, it's my hope too.
Speaking of, I mean, we're talking about some of difference, which are good things being different. And let's get back to that question I had earlier on about, let's see differences between French and German markets. My understanding of a German market is that, so the volume of e-commerce is much bigger than in France. I mean, like no comparison. But it's also very complex because I've heard, I don't know if it's still true, but a long time ago that the volume of returns is also very big here, much more than in France and in other countries. I mean, can you explain to me the cultural differences ? And yeah, let's start by that.

**Robert Gentz** (4:53)
Yeah, I mean...

**Matthieu Stefani** (4:55)
And maybe some other countries I'd be interested in, some very specific stuff, but yeah.

**Robert Gentz** (5:00)
Yeah, I mean, I think I personally started to appreciate how different actually Europe is when we internationalize. So we stayed for one and a half years only in Germany, with Zalando.