...Case: “Zara: IT for Fast Fashion” Issue Zara, the flagship chain of Spanish based holding company Inditex, has grown to great prominence in the international retail fashion industry. It has done so by advantage in recognizing and responding to changing fashion. Recognizing and quickly responding to the changes in fashion trends is largely achieved through a collaborative system of store managers and mid-management level commercials. The exponential growth of Zara has been upon the backbone of a reliable but increasingly antiquated IT system that begins to counterproductively threaten the speed by which the majority of the 32,535 employees operate. At the center of the technical issue is the Point of Sale (POS) system commonly used in each of Zara’s stores. Focal Stakeholder Opinion It is an open issue frequently in the mind of Xan Salgado Badas, the head of IT for Inditex. The current POS system exists in each store as a non networked terminal operating upon the outdated Disk Operating System (DOS). Though incredibly stable and familiar to Zara’s employees, it proves to be increasingly lacking in functionality across the current and future needs of the expanding international chain (McAfee, Dessain, Sjoman, 2). The heart of the issue is not a debate over whether to upgrade the operating system and the POS application itself, but rather when and how to facilitate such a large modernization. Salgado’s advisor Bruno Sanchez Ocampo expresses, “We could mess it up in the process...
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...complex system which should remain unique and reliable to all stakeholders. Rapidly changing society, technologies and trends make the big fashion companies to propose not just a brand but also a fast fashion brand accessible to all eager customers. One of companies “…that introduced the idea of fast fashion some two decades ago, then developed a highly centralized and often studied—but rarely duplicated—design, manufacturing, and distribution system” (Berfield & Baigorri, 2013) is Zara International. Zara International belongs to, “…Spanish retail giant Inditex owns some of Europe's most popular clothing stores and is rapidly expanding around the world” (Inditex Group (Zara), n.d. para.1). After releasing the company Zara International by Index Group, parent company, Zara’s brand becomes one of the most popular in clothing industry worldwide and continues to keep the position despite of the fierce competition. The study case Zara International: Fashion at the Speed of Light would reveal and emphasise the main characteristics of the popularity and particularity of the fast fashion industry through analysis some of the aspects and rules of the Spanish company, Zara International. DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS It is well-known that every organization would like to excel in some criteria specific to their sphere of activity. Due to fast changing trends, the management should acknowledge that they should continuously improve and motivate all working parts of the company. Because...
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...the fast fashion industry Table of Contents 1. Introduction 3 2. Industry environment of fast fashion 4 2.1 PEST analysis 4 2.2 Five forces analysis 6 2.3 Summary of findings 7 3. Analysis of Zara and H&M 7 2.1 Analysis of Zara 7 2.1.1 Vision, mission and objectives 7 2.1.2 Internal analysis 8 2.1.3 Business model canvas 8 2.1.4 Value proposition canvas 9 2.2 Analysis of H&M 10 2.2.1 Vision, mission and objectives 10 2.2.2 Internal analysis 10 2.2.3 Business model canvas 11 2.2.4 Value proposition canvas 12 2.3 Summary of findings 12 4. Comparison of business models between Zara and H&M 12 4.1 Comparison of business models 13 4.2 Comparison of value proposition canvas 14 4.2 Summary of research insights 14 5. Development of a new entrant 15 5.1 Strategic model 15 5.2 Business model canvas 16 6. Reflection on strategic insights 16 7. Conclusion 17 References 18 1. Introduction Fast fashion is a sub sector of the fashion industry that boasts fast response to consumer demand and efficient distribution of materials and products in the global landscape (Hines and Bruce 2007). Hines and Bruce (2007) also imply that fast fashion could quickly identify and capture business opportunities and transform them into products in a timely manner. As fast fashion retailers need to deliver trendy apparels to end customers, low cost production and efficient distribution become primary trends of fast fashion industry...
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... Summary 2 Introduction of Zara 2 Porter’s Six Forces model in Zara 3 Existing competitors 4 The bargaining power of suppliers 4 The bargaining power of customers 4 Potential competitors 5 Alternative products or services 5 The power of cooperative dealer 6 IT is the heart of ZARA mode 6 Track fashion with the information base 6 Information standardizing and optimizing design 7 Zara’s competitive advantage – based on value chain perspective 8 Design 8 Marketing 9 Conclusion 12 ZARA's Informational Rapid Response Mechanism and Fast Fashion Summary In recent years, with the unique marketing strategy, fast fashion apparel business has developed rapidly in the world. Some of enterprises engaged in the fast fashion business have obtained considerable sales and global business expansion, it can be said that fast fashion has been become one of the most valuable fields in the clothing industry, and carrying out fast fashion business has become an ideal choice for clothing enterprises to develop rapidly and create performance (Hayes & Jones, 2006). In this paper, it chose an international fast fashion clothing brand--ZARA of Spain, which is characterized on marketing and has won widely recognized worldwide, as the research object. Through the analysis of the brand's marketing strategy, it interprets the universal business model used the fast fashion clothing brand to do business. This paper adopts the method of case study, first makes detailed analysis...
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...Zara: Staying Fast and Fresh Wance Tacconelli Donghua University Shanghai Contents • • • • Historical background Overview of the Inditex Group Zara’s business model The competitive landscape – The Gap, H&M, Fast Retailing (Uniqlo) • Zara’s global store and online expansion • Questions Zara Case Study 2 Corporate history (1 of 2) • 1963: establishment of clothing production company in A Coruῆa, Spain • 1975: first Zara store opens in A Coruῆa • 1985: Inditex Group is established • 1989: first international Zara store opens in Portugal Zara Case Study 3 Corporate history (2 of 2) • 1990s: acquisition of brands Massimo Dutti and Stradivarius • 2001: Inditex IPO • 2006: first Zara store opens in China • 2010: first Zara store opens in India • 2010: Zara launches first online store Zara Case Study 4 Inditex’s performance indicators, 2012 • Net income totalled 2.3 billion euros, an increase of 22% from 2011 • 6,009 stores, 482 more than a year earlier • Online store network covers 23 markets, with new launches in China and Canada • Creation of 10,802 new jobs in 2012, bringing workforce to 120,314 employees Zara Case Study 5 Inditex Group Brand Portfolio (1 of 8) Zara • Fashionable, yet affordable clothes for a wide range of people, cultures and generations, who, despite their differences, all share a special fondness for fashion • 1751 stores in 86 countries • www.zara.com Zara Case Study 6 Inditex Group Brand Portfolio (2 of 8) ...
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...Number | Contents | Page | 1. | Introduction to ZaraHistory & Company BackgroundCompany Profile | 23 | 2. | Case Summary : ZARA The technology Giant of the Fashion World | 7 | 3. | Discussion: Question 1Question 2Question 3Question 4Question 5Question 6 | 899101010 | 4. | Conclusion | 11 | 5. | Reference list | 11 | History and Background of Zara Marked as the first prestigious venture of the Inditex group the first store of Zara, the chain of Spanish fashion stores came into reality on central A Coruña Street in 1975. In 1985, Amancio Ortega integrated Zara in a new holding company, Industria de Diseño Textil, INDITEX S.A. The Zara fashion concept was well received by the public later in 1976, allowing it to expand its network of stores to the other main Spanish cities. During 1981-1988 with the growing popularity Zara started new ventures by multiplying in number not just in Spain but around the world. Today Zara is present in 73 countries, with a network of more than 1,540 stores, ideally located in major cities. Its international presence clearly shows that national frontiers are no impediment to sharing a single fashion culture (fibre2fashion.com, 2011). Today Zara is the largest and most internationalized of the six retailers that Inditex owns which are Zara, Massimo Dutti, Pull & Bear, Bershka, Stradivarius, and Oysho (www.zara.com/company, 2011). The role of the corporate centre at Inditex’s headquarters is that of a “strategic controller” only...
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...Zara Case Study - Answer the following questions using both the case in the text and online research. Citations (within the text) and a bibliography are required. Be sure to provide an overview of the case in a short paragraph prior to answering each question. List the question you are answering prior to your answer. Vertical Supply Chain Zara uses a vertical supply chain, which is an uncommon strategy in the fashion industry. A company that operates in a vertically integrated strategy has total control of the various business activities, such as designing, manufacturing, sourcing, and to distribution to retail stores. This gives the company total business management. 1. As completely as possible, explain the supply chain for Zara from raw materials to consumer purchase. (5 points) Zara makes about 40% of their raw material (fabric) and produces more than half of its own clothes. (Kotler and Armstrong). The remaining 60% is outsourced from within Spain, mostly from the La Curuna. Designing of clothes at Zara is done by creative teams of over 300 professionals at the headquarters in La Curuna, Spain. (Supply Chain Brain). After the designers complete a design they are sent to Zara’s production system to cut the fabric. The design is then sent for sewing by one of several hundred local cooperatives. After sewing, the clothes are returned to Zara’s facilities for ironing by an assembly line of workers. After this, the items are wrapped and transported on conveyor...
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...Zara Case Study Fast Fashion Zara’s success story begins by offering a product range capable of catering for men, women and children, providing affordable and stylish clothes whatever the season. Coupled with this, is their keen eye for discovering new fashion trends and translating these trends from the catwalk to the high street, both quickly and affordably. Zara boasts a marketing strategy of firstly product variety with a focal point of ensuring speed to market (Capell). At present, Zara launch 10,000 new articles per year across their portfolio of stores. Finally, store location, as any marketing is left to store location rather than advertising. Opting for a strategy of minimal advertising provokes the consumer into having to visit their stores. Zara is the most profitable brand of Inditex SA, accounting for 75% of the overall profit. Zara has remained focused on its core fashion philosophy that creativity and quality design together with a rapid response to market demands will yield profitable results. One of Zara’s many approaches is fast fashion. A contemporary term used by fashion retailers to acknowledge that designs move from catwalk to store in the fastest time (2weeks!) to capture current trends in the market. This "fast fashion" system depends on a constant exchange of information throughout every part of Zara's supply chain—from customers to store managers, from store managers to market specialists and designers, from designers to production staff, from buyers...
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...References 9 Introduction The global apparel market is a consumer-driven industry. Also, globalization and new technologies have allowed consumers to have more access to fashion. As a result, consumers are changing, competition is fierce, and companies are evolving to meet these demands. Zara, a Spanish-based chain owned by Inditex, is a retailer who has taken a new approach in the industry. With their unique strategy, Zara has the competitive advantage to be sustainable. In order to maintain that advantage and growth they must confront certain challenges and face traditional retailers in the apparel industry. So, now our group will analysis the PESTLE of Zara Company. (Lopez & Fan, 2009) Overview Zara is one of the largest international fashion companies and belongs to Inditex, which is one of the largest fashion retailers worldwide. Inditex operates in textile design, distribution and manufacturing. (Inditex, 2011 b) Zara operates in 78 countries worldwide with 1557 stores in the world’s largest cities. (Inditex, 2011 c) The company is founded in 1975 by Amancio Ortega, located in Spain and had in 2010 a net sale of 8.088 million of euro. (Inditex, 2011 a) The have worldwide 1557 stores in 78 different countries. (Inditex, 2011 a) Aim: democratize fashion, offering latest fashion, medium quality and moderate price (Lopez & Fan, 2009) Structure: customer oriented, satisfaction of consumer needs (Mazaira, González, & Avendano, 2003) Business...
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...The Strategy of ZARA Prepared by Frank Li 090107 Jilin University---Lambton College May 13, 2013 Prepared for Program Committee Northwood University/ Jilin University---Lambton College Letter of Transmittal Room 612, Qianjin Street, Changchun City, Jilin Province, 130000, P. R. China. May 13, 2013 Program Committee Northwood University/JULC 4000 Whiting Drive Midland, MI, U.S.A. 48640-2398 Dear Program Committee: Here is my report, “The Strategy of ZARA”, which you asked for on July 12, 2013. As we all know, the global apparel market is a consumer-driven industry. Also, globalization and new technologies have allowed consumers to have more access to fashion. As a result, consumers are changing, competition is fierce, and companies are evolving to meet these demands. Zara, a Spanish-based chain owned by Inditex, is a retailer who has taken a new approach in the industry.With their unique strategy, Zara has the competitive advantage to be sustainable. In order to maintain that advantage and growth they must confront certain challenges that face traditional retailers in the apparel industry. I will talk about the industry leader of fashion follower, ZARA and discuss the success the famous brand. Sincerely, Frank Li Executive Summary As we all know, as a fast fashion, Zara is always growing. It has the potential for sustainable growth due to its competitive advantage and its ability to face the challenges...
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...apparel, footwear, and accessories for women, men and children through its chains around the world. Zara is the largest and most internationalized of the six retailers that Inditex owns: (Zara, Massimo Dutti, Pull & Bear, Bershka, Stradivarius, and Oysho). Zara is one of the leading retail garments chain in Europe. Their main competitors are Gap and H&M, and together they form a group of speciality chains in the apparel industry. Zara has operated and adopted a different strategy as compared to Gap and H&M and the following points draw the difference between the players. 1. Vertical Integration: Traditionally the global apparel industry is highly labor intensive rather than capital intensive. Hence outsourcing production to developing countries with low labor rates to lower costs is a common trend amongst the big retailers. The same strategy is followed by Gap and H&M. In contrast, Zara has developed a successful diverse method of doing business in the fashion industry by working through the whole value chain. Zara manufactures 60% of its own products and is able to be flexible in the variety, amount, and frequency of the new styles they produce. In fact the whole line of most fashion sensitive products is produced internally (comprising around 50% of the total manufacturing) and in small batches for the most time-sensitive ones. 2. Distribution System: Zara has one centralized distribution centre compared to H&M and Gap, which have distribution centres in all...
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...Case study: Zara, Fast Fashion from Savvy Systems Introduction The poor, ship-building town of La Coruña in northern Spain seems an unlikely home to a tech-charged innovator in the decidedly ungeeky fashion industry, but that’s where you’ll find “The Cube,” the gleaming, futuristic central command of the Inditex Corporation (Industrias de Diseño Textil), parent of game-changing clothes giant, Zara. The blend of technologyenabled strategy that Zara has unleashed seems to break all of the rules in the fashion industry. The firm shuns advertising and rarely runs sales. Also, in an industry where nearly every major player outsources manufacturing to low-cost countries, Zara is highly vertically integrated, keeping huge swaths of its production process in-house. These counterintuitive moves are part of a recipe for success that’s beating the pants off the competition, and it has turned the founder of Inditex, Amancio Ortega, into Spain’s wealthiest man and the world’s richest fashion executive. Figure 3.1. Zara’s operations are concentrated in Spain, but they have stores around the world like these in Manhattan and Shanghai. The firm tripled in size between 1996 and 2000, then its earnings skyrocketed from $2.43 billion in 2001 to $13.6 billion in 2007. By August 2008, sales edged ahead of Gap, making Inditex the world’s largest fashion retailer.[1] Table 3.1 compares the two fashion retailers. While Inditex supports eight brands, Zara is unquestionably the firm’s...
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...Case Study – Zara Abstract The competition of current clothing industry is very fierce and Zara has many competitive advantages in this competition. This paper will analyze on about how the information technology help Zara to make decisions and make their performance more speed. First, a case review from Harvard Business Review will be covered in the introduction to show an overview of current Zara’s business model. Second is the Michael Porter’s model analysis based on Zara that including three generic strategies and five forces. Third, some of IT applications are really help the Zara to make their business more efficient, the applications will be applied in the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Supply Chain Management (SCM) will emphasize a speed supply chain for Zara, and Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Finally is about the relationship between Zara and Peter Drucker’s theory, Zara and Andrew McAfee’s theory, Zara and Hey’s theory. The last part will conclude where is Zara today and make brief recommendations. Table of Contents Introduction 4 Zara and Michael Porter’s Model 5 Generic Competitive Strategies Analysis for Zara 5 Five Forces Analysis for Zara 6 Suppliers Bargaining Power 6 Buyer Bargaining Power 7 Threat of New Entrants 7 Threat of Substitute 8 Industrial Competitors 9 The Value Chain of Zara 10 Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) 11 Supply Chain Management (SCM) 11 Customer Relationship Management (CRM) 13 Zara and...
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...THE CASE OF ZARA: PLANNING AND STRATEGIC CONTROL Alexandra Iacob University of Huelva HUELVA, SPAIN 2015 Abstract Zara is a retail company belonging to the Spanish company Inditex Group. Currently, Zara has 1,808 stores in 86 countries. This paper will analyse Zara’s business model, based on innovation and flexibility, as well as logistics chain and the various tools used to recognize the continuous changes in fashion trends and turn them into a product marketable within a few weeks. Compared with the competition, Zara has three distinctions: vertical integration to achieve a faster turnaround time; rapid expansion; and use of the store as the main tool for promotion, with low spend on advertising. This company offered a product design and quality, low price. In addition, resources and competences have allowed develop a different business model, where all processes from product design, to manufacturing, distribution and sales are carried out within the same organization. Key words: Strategic Management, Strategy, External Environment, Michael Porter’s Generic Strategies, Vertical Integration, Balanced Scorecard, Globalization Culture Introduction Company Background Four letters that make up a fashion brand known around the world. Zara is a Spanish brand of clothing and accessories and the foundation of Inditex’s success as well as their first retail format. Inditex S.A. is a Spanish multinational group of textile manufacturing and distribution established in 1975 in...
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...Tutor Marked Assessment Managing Marketing Channels: Zara | One global retailer is expanding at a dizzying pace. It's on track for what appears to be world domination of its industry. Having built its own state-of-the art distribution network, the company is leaving the competition in the dust in terms of sales and profits, not to mention speed of inventory management and turnover. Wal-Mart you might think? Dell possibly? Although these two retail giants definitely fit the description, we're talking here about Zara, the flagship specialty chain of Spain-based clothing conglomerate, Inditex. This dynamic retailer is known for selling stylish designs that ' resemble those of big-name fashion houses, but at moderate prices. "We sell the latest trends at low prices, but our clients value our design, quality, and constant innovation," a company spokesman said. "That gives us the advantage even in highly competitive, developed markets, including Britain." More interesting is the way that Zara achieves its mission. FAST-FASHION—THE NEWEST WAVE A handful of European specialty clothing retailers are taking the fashion world by storm with a business model that has come to be known as "fast-fashion." In short, these companies can recognize and respond to fashion trends very quickly, create products that mirror the trends, and get those products onto shelves much faster and more frequently than the industry norm. Fast-fashion retailers include Sweden's Hennes & Mauritz (H&M)...
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