Zalando co-founder David Schneider is stepping down as co-chief executive to take on a new role at the retailer focusing on partnerships.

Schneider will be replaced by the German fashion etailer’s current chief operating officer David Schröder, who has worked in the company’s senior management team since 2010.

Schröder, who will serve alongside Zalando CEO Robert Gentz, will be responsible for scaling the retailer’s B2B division and developing its unique capabilities and infrastructure.

Schneider’s new role will see him focus on building partner relationships across the retailer’s B2C and B2B divisions and on further positioning the Zalando brand.

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Schneider said: “One of Zalando’s strengths has always been to adapt our strategy and rotate the roles and responsibilities of its strong leadership team to make sure everyone complements each other and serves the ever-changing needs of customers and partners.

“We are thrilled that David Schröder, who has been an integral part of Zalando’s success story since the early days in 2010, will take on the co-CEO role to scale our B2B growth vector. On a personal note, I’m excited to focus even more on serving the needs of partners, lifting our deep partnerships across the industry to the next level.”

Last week, Zalando posted “improved” profitability during its first quarter as its updated strategy began to bear fruit.

Adjusted EBIT for the fashion giant rose to £24.3m (€28.3m) in the three months, up from a loss of £600,000 (€700,000) for the same period last year.

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