German pureplay fashion retailer Zalando expects to see double-digit sales growth in 2020, despite the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

Despite much of the global fashion market predicting huge downturns in sales due to the crisis, Zalando said it expects to be “clearly profitable” in 2020 with adjusted EBIT of between €100m and €200m. It also pledged to invest between €230m and €280m over the course of the year.

The retailer said it aims to grow its total sales between 10% and 20% this year.

The fast-fashion marketplace said this growth would be driven by an “accelerated consumer shift from offline to online” caused by worldwide bricks-and-mortar store closures.

Zalando added that in the last three weeks it had seen 50 new partners join its marketplace, including Vaude, American Eagle Outfitters and Next’s brand Lipsy London.

Co-chief executive Rubin Ritter said: “We are confident that we will grow [in] double-digits and at a clear profit in 2020. This will allow our partners to grow and gain market share in a challenging economic environment by building their business on Zalando.

“Many of them have significantly increased their activities on our platform in the past weeks and we will continue to make it easier for them to reach customers across Europe.”

Chief financial officer David Schröder said: “As a company, we quickly found answers to the challenges in March. We are now seeing a significantly more positive development in the first weeks of the second quarter. These recent developments are a testament to the resilience of our business model and the agility of our team, and generally make us confident for the full year.”