GLOBAL-BLUE
8.3.2021 13:03:14 CET | Business Wire | Press release
Global Blue today announced the acquisition of ZigZag, a leading Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) technology platform that helps retailers manage worldwide e-commerce returns and exchanges more profitably, and consumers to enjoy a smoother and enhanced return experience.
ZigZag enables merchants to optimise their e-commerce growth
E-commerce returns are a big problem for retailers with more than 40% of orders on average being returned.
ZigZag’s technology platform addresses this issue by digitalising the e-commerce returns process and improving the returns experience for both consumers and retailers.
It replaces outdated paper-based “label in the box” solutions with a best in class online returns portal that offers a greater range of shipping options including post office, parcel shops, lockers and collection from home, as well as exchange alternatives.
In parallel, it optimises retailers’ profitability by reducing logistical costs via consolidation, local market resale, and inbound consumer queries, as well as by allowing exchanges versus simply return of goods.
With e-commerce expanding rapidly and further accelerating during the COVID-19 pandemic, an efficient returns platform is key to both mass and luxury retailers, who are experiencing accelerating growth in their online sales and operations.
ZigZag’s platform integrates with over 30 leading merchant e-commerce software platforms, enabling retailers to access ZigZag’s reverse logistics network comprising 450+ carrier services and 220 warehouses in 130 countries.
As of December 2020, Zigzag’s technology powered approximately 100 global ecommerce retailers and recorded dramatic growth of more than 500% of its processed returns in 2020 versus 2019.
Global Blue and ZigZag combination creates complementary benefits
With both companies operating in the retail ecosystem, Global Blue and ZigZag will join forces to empower merchants to capture growth opportunities through omni-channel technology and payment solutions.
With e-commerce business booming and becoming even more crucial for luxury brands, Global Blue will benefit from ZigZag’s e-commerce expertise, extending its relationships with its existing and future clients.
In parallel, ZigZag will enhance its rapid growth by cross-selling its solutions into Global Blue’s extensive merchant network and by enhancing its value proposition through integration of Global Blue’s payments and data capabilities.
$70 million of equity capital raised to fund the acquisition
Global Blue, listed on the New York Stock Exchange (Ticker: GB), has raised $70 million via a private placement of common stock issued to new institutional investors to fully fund ZigZag acquisition. Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. is acting as equity private placement agent.
Jacques Stern, CEO and President of Global Blue commented:
“With this first acquisition since our listing on the New York Stock Exchange in August 2020, Global Blue has the ambition to become a strategic omni-channel technology and payments partner empowering merchants to capture growth opportunities.
ZigZag is an exciting, fast-growing, emerging leader in e-commerce, specialised in the management of e-commerce returns. The synergies between the two companies are strong and will help both of us to grow faster.”
Al Gerrie, CEO and Founder of ZigZag added:
“As a market leader focused on technological innovation for merchants and consumers, Global Blue is an ideal fit for ZigZag. We are confident that our partnership and our ambitious joint investment plan will accelerate our growth even further.”
The transaction is expected to close by the end of March 2021.
ABOUT GLOBAL BLUE
Global Blue pioneered the concept of Tax Free Shopping 40 years ago. Through continuous innovation, it has become the leading strategic technology and payments partner, empowering merchants to capture the growth of international shoppers.
The Group connects all stakeholders involved in the international shopping ecosystem, helping:
- More than 29 million international shoppers receive a seamless and personalised shopping experience, enabling them to claim back the VAT on their eligible purchases when they shop abroad and to pay in their home currency at a guaranteed best rate,
- More than 300,000 points of sale, including leading department stores and luxury brands, identify growth opportunities through smart data and intelligence solutions, increase footfall through data-driven marketing solutions and convert traffic into merchant revenue through innovative in-store technologies,
- More than 50 acquirers, at around 130,000 points of interaction, benefit from additional revenue streams and offer merchants and travellers Dynamic Currency Conversion options and other Added-Value Payment Solutions,
- Customs & authorities in more than 40 countries increase country attractiveness and ensure a secure and compliant Tax Free Shopping scheme.
In the financial year ending 31 March 2020, Global Blue processed 35 million Tax Free Shopping transactions with a total value of €18.5 billion sales in store, and 31 million Added-Value Payment Solutions transactions with a total value of €4.4 billion sales in store.
Global Blue has over 2,000 employees in more than 50 countries.
For more information, visit http://www.globalblue.com/corporate/
ABOUT ZIGZAG GLOBAL
ZigZag Global is a software solution to help ecommerce retailers manage returns domestically and globally.
The ZigZag platform connects major retailers to a global network of over 220 warehouses to over 450+ carrier services in over 130 countries. ZigZag's clients include boohoo group, Selfridges, GAP, Superdry, DHL, The Hut Group and many more.
ZigZag delivers best in class technology and service to transform the returns experience globally. ZigZag’s mission is to reduce the cost, waste and friction associated with returns, boost customer loyalty and make retailers more profitable and sustainable.
ZigZag was the winner of the Best eCommerce Technology Innovation and Best Product at eCommerce Expo 2020, Innovation in Delivery and Logistics Award at the eCommerce Awards 2019, won the KPMG Best British Tech Startup 2019 (London round), was a finalist at The Circulars at the World Economic Forum 2019 in Davos, is listed in the Retail Tech Top 50, The StartUps Top 100, Disrupt 100. ZigZag won the 2018 Shop.org Disruption and Innovation Award, 2018 World Post and Parcel Awards for Ecommerce and Innovation, 2018 Postal Pitch in Washington, 2018 Millennial 20:20 Ecommerce Enabler, 2017 ShopTalk Startup award along with a 25,000 Euro prize. It also won the 2017 Sustainability Award in Milan, 2017 Innovation Award at IRX, StartUps 100 Winner 2017. 2016 Global award at the World Retail Congress in Dubai for innovation, Mark of Excellence - Disruptor of the Year 2016 - Supply Chain Awards, Winner at London Technology Week – GetInTheRing.
ZigZag is also proud to be a member of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
ZigZag is a British Company, headquartered in London.
For more information, visit http://www.zigzag.global
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210308005430/en/
Link:
About Business Wire
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
U.S. Federal Court Permanently Bans 19 Online Sellers of Fake Urolithin A Supplements and Awards $5.3 Million in Damages to Timeline23.7.2026 16:27:00 CEST | Press release
Default judgment follows Timeline’s independent laboratory testing showing products sold under 19 online brands contained no detectable Urolithin A, or far less than advertised Timeline (Amazentis SA), the Swiss life-sciences company that pioneered the postbiotic ingredient Urolithin A and its branded form Mitopure®, together with its U.S. subsidiary Timeline Longevity, Inc., announced today that the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts has granted the companies’ motion for default judgments and permanent injunctions against 19 online sellers found to have marketed and sold nutritional supplements falsely advertised as containing Urolithin A. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260722951066/en/ Timeline longevity supplement powered by Mitopure; proprietary, highly pure Urolithin A. The order, entered July 15, 2026 by Judge Myong J. Joun in Amazentis SA et al. v. The Partnerships and Unincorporated
TestMu AI Introduces the Source-to-Verdict Loop in Kane CLI, Carrying Every Requirement to a Ship Decision With Portable Proof23.7.2026 15:45:00 CEST | Press release
Kane CLI now takes a requirement all the way to a ship-or-hold verdict, designing the tests, running them in a real browser, and emitting an open .evidence proof pack that teammates, AI agents, and auditors can all verify, with no server or dashboard required TestMu AI (formerly LambdaTest), the world's first Agentic AI-powered Quality Engineering platform, introduced a source-to-verdict loop in Kane CLI, its natural-language testing tool. Building on Kane CLI's evolution from a browser automation tool, the loop carries a product requirement to a ship decision, writing the tests, running them in the local browser, collecting the proof, measuring coverage from what actually happened, and returning a verdict. As AI agents write, run, and fix tests, a green checkmark is no longer enough: a step that checks nothing passes, a test written against a spec that changed weeks ago passes, and an agent that says “done” without the click ever landing passes. Empty green and earned green are the sa
Norway’s health system adopts Wolters Kluwer UpToDate Enterprise Edition23.7.2026 15:30:00 CEST | Press release
Enterprise Clinical Decision Support solution available to 30,000 clinicians in more than 50 Norwegian hospitals Wolters Kluwer Health announced that Norway’s health system has renewed its adoption of UpToDate Enterprise Edition, a market-leading Clinical Decision Support (CDS) solution, for its nationwide health system which includes over 50 public hospitals and 11,000 beds in over 20 trusts. This extends a 15 year partnership with Helsebiblioteket, now part of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH). Helping clinicians on a national scale Kjell Tjensvoll, Team Leader for Helsebiblioteket said, ‘‘Providing frontline teams with easy access to the latest medical knowledge is vital in reducing unwarranted variation and improving patient care on a national scale. UpToDate Enterprise Edition enables this, and we are delighted to strengthen our relationship with Wolters Kluwer and provide continued support for clinicians across the country.’’ UpToDate Enterprise Edition was selected
Boyd Watterson Global Names John Creswell Global Chief Client Officer to Accelerate Global Growth and Client Engagement23.7.2026 15:00:00 CEST | Press release
Veteran investment management executive will lead global sales, client engagement and marketing as Boyd Watterson Global continues expanding its global alternatives platform across real estate, infrastructure, and debt strategies. Boyd Watterson Global today announced the appointment of John Creswell as Global Chief Client Officer, a newly created senior leadership role that reflects the firm's continued investment in growth and its evolution into a leading global alternatives investment platform. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260722823117/en/ John Creswell has joined Boyd Watterson Global as Global Chief Client Officer, a newly created role overseeing global sales, client engagement and marketing across the U.S., Europe and APAC. In this role, Creswell will oversee global sales, client engagement and marketing efforts across the United States, Europe and APAC, helping investors access the firm's capabilitie
Trulioo Launches AI Agent to Resolve Beneficial Ownership Where Global Registries Fall Short23.7.2026 15:00:00 CEST | Press release
Breakthrough AI agent reconstructs ownership for long-tail businesses and hard-to-reach jurisdictions while significantly increasing UBO coverage Trulioo, a global risk intelligence platform, today announced the UBO Discovery Agent, the newest layer in Trulioo's UBO Discovery capability inside its business risk and Know Your Business (KYB) verification workflow. AI is reshaping fraud, making it easier for bad actors to hide, and harder for companies to catch them. This makes the already tough job of verifying who actually owns a business even more difficult. Determining a business's ultimate beneficial owner is an ongoing, acute challenge for companies: registry coverage is inconsistent across countries, and even where registries exist, they typically record shareholders and directors of record (rather than the people actually in control). That data isn't simply outdated, it reflects a structural lag: ownership changes and time passes before the filing is made and processed, so a looku
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom