ZARA
By Yvonne Xian
"Spanish Success Story"
ZARA is a Spanish clothing, shoes and accessories retailer that was founded by Amancio Ortega and Rosalía Mera and opened its first store in 1975 in A Coruña. It is the flagship chain store owned by the Inditex group based in Arteixo, Spain.
ZARA nowadays has attracted many and many more customers, as it becomes more and more popular, now it has become the world's largest apparel retailer, the fashion group, Inditex, also owns other brands such as ZARA Home, Bershka, Massimo Dutti, Pull&Bear, Uterqüe, Stradivarius, Tempe, and Oysho.
As a successful fast fashion retail store, it is claimed that Zara needs just two weeks to develop a new product and get it to stores, compared to the six-month industry average, and launches around 10,000 new designs each year. Zara has resisted the industry-wide trend towards transferring fast fashion production to low-cost countries. Perhaps its most unusual strategy was its policy of zero advertising; the company preferred to invest a percentage of revenues in opening new stores instead. This has increased the idea of Zara as a "fashion imitator" company and low cost products. Lack of advertisement is also in contrast to direct competitors such as Uniqlo and United Colors of Benetton. As of 2007, Zara stores have men's clothing and women's clothing, each of these subdivided in Lower Garment, Upper Garment, Shoes, Cosmetics and Complements, as well as children's clothing (Zara Kids).
Corporate ZARA
Manufacturing and Distribution
Regarding the design strategy, an article in Businessworld magazine describes it as follows: "Zara was a fashion imitator. It focused its attention on understanding the fashion items that its customers wanted and then delivering them, rather than on promoting predicted season's trends via fashion shows and similar channels of influence, which the fashion industry traditionally used. 50% of the products Zara sells are manufactured in Spain, 26% in the rest of Europe, and 24% in Asian and African countries and the rest of the world. So while some competitors outsource all production to Asia, Zara makes its most fashionable items—half of all its merchandise—at a dozen company-owned factories in Spain and Portugal, particularly in Galicia and northern Portugal where labour is somewhat cheaper than in most of Western Europe. Clothes with a longer shelf life, such as basic T-shirts, are outsourced to low-cost suppliers, mainly in Asia and Turkey.
Shoes and Accessories
Venezuelans Swarming ZARA Gives New Meaning to Fast Fashion
Selling Channels
On September 6, 2010, Financial Times reported that Inditex launched the first online boutique for its best-selling brand Zara. The website will begin in Spain, the UK, Portugal, Italy, Germany and France—six countries that are among the most important of the company's 76 markets. When asked about the company's late arrival to internet retailing, Pablo Isla, chief executive, said they have been waiting for online demand to build before launching into cyberspace. All items on sale at its Zara outlets would be available online and at the same prices. Customers can choose from the usual range of paying methods and opt either for a free store pick-up or paid-for postal delivery. The online return and exchange policy is identical to the store system, with shoppers given 30 days to change their minds. Queries will be handled by customer service operators or via e-mail or chat messaging. Inditex said that iPhone and iPad applications that allowed purchasing would soon be available.
On November 4, 2010, Zara Online extended the service to five more countries: Austria, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. Online stores will begin operating in the United States and South Korea in 2011. The simple website allows shoppers to filter a search for garments by; type of garment, colours, sizes, prices, reference number, etc. Customers can view products in precise detail from different angles and use a SuperZoom feature to get an exceptional close-up look at the details of each item.
Pricing Structure
ZARA Worldwide
Zara has over 2,000 stores strategically located in leading cities across 88 countries.
https://www.google.com/maps/search/zara+manhattan+locations/@40.7593413,-73.9944279,12z