Free Essay

Zara Success

In:

Submitted By aboody
Words 2033
Pages 9
Arab Open University
Faculty of Business Studies
Business Functions in Context I
B203A -- Second Semester 2015-2016
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), Britain's Top Shop, Spain's Mango, and the Netherland's Mexx. Although all of these companies are successfully employing the fast-fashion concept, Zara leads the pack on virtually every level.
For example, "fast" at Zara means that it can take a product from concept through design, manufacturing, and store-shelf placement in as little as two weeks, much quicker than any of its fast-fashion competitors. For more mainstream clothing chains, the process takes months.
This gives Zara the advantage of virtually copying fashions from the pages of Vogue and having them on the streets in dozens of countries before the next issue of the magazine even hits the newsstands! When Spain's Crown Prince Felipe and Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano announced their engagement, the bride-to-be wore a stylish white trouser suit. This raised some eyebrows, given that it violated royal protocol. But European women loved it and within a few weeks, hundreds of them were wearing a nearly identical outfit they had purchased from Zara.
But Zara is more than just fast. It's also prolific. In a typical year, Zara launches about 11,000 new items. Compare that to the 2,000 to 4,000 items introduced by both H&M and Gap. In the fashion world, this difference is huge. Zara stores receive new merchandise two to three times each week, whereas most clothing retailers get large shipments on a seasonal basis, four to six times per year.
As part of its strategy to introduce more new items with greater frequency, Zara also produces items in smaller batches. Thus, it assumes less risk if an item doesn't sell well. But smaller batches also means exclusivity, a unique benefit from a massmarket retailer that draws young fashionistas through Zara's doors like a magnet. When items sell out, they are not restocked with another shipment. Instead, the next Zara shipment contains something new, something different. Popular items can appear and disappear within a week. Consumers know that if they like something, they have to buy it or miss out. Customers are enticed to check out store stock more often, leading to very high levels of repeat patronage. But it also means that Zara doesn't have to follow the industry pattern of marking products down as the season progresses. Thus, Zara reaps the benefit of prices that average much closer to the list price.
THE VERTICAL SECRET TO ZARA'S SUCCESS
Just how does Zara achieve such mind-blowing responsiveness? The answer lies in. its distribution system. In 1975, Amancio Ortega opened the first Zara store in Spain's remote northwest town of La Coruna, home to Zara's headquarters. Having already worked in the textile industry for two decades, his experience led him to design a system in which he could control every aspect of the supply chain, from design and production to distribution and retailing. He knew, for example, that in the textile business, the biggest mark-ups were made by wholesalers and retailers. He was determined to maintain control over these activities.
Ortega's original philosophy forms the heart of Zara's unique, rapid-fire supply chain today. But it's Zara's high-tech information system that has taken vertical integration in the company to an unprecedented level. According to CEO Pablo Isla, "Our information system is absolutely avant-guard. It's what links the shop to our designers and our distribution system."
Zara's vertically integrated system makes the starting point of a product concept hard to nail down. At Zara's headquarters, creative teams of more than 300 professionals carry out the design process. But they act on information fed to them from the stores. This goes far beyond typical point-of-sales data. Store managers act as trend spotters. Every day they report hot fads to headquarters, enabling popular lines to be tweaked and slow movers to be whisked away within hours. If customers are asking for a rounded neck on a vest rather than a V neck, such an item can be in stores in seven to ten days. This process would take traditional retailers months.
Managers also consult a personal digital assistant every evening to check what new designs are available and place their orders according to what they think will sell best to their customers. Thus, store managers help shape designs by ensuring that the creative teams have real-time information based on the observed tastes of actual consumers. Mr. Ortega refers to this as the democratization of fashion.
When it comes to sourcing, Zara's supply chain is unique as well. Current conventional wisdom calls for manufacturers in all industries to outsource their goods globally to the cheapest provider. Thus, most of Zara's competitors contract manufacturing out to low-wage countries, notably Asia. But Zara makes 40 percent of its own fabrics and produces more than half of its own clothes, rather than relying on a hodgepodge of slow-moving suppliers. Even things that are farmed out are done locally in order to maximize time efficiency. Nearly all Zara clothes for its stores worldwide are produced in its remote northeast corner of Spain.
As it completes designs, Zara cuts fabric in-house. It then sends the designs to one of several hundred local co-operatives for sewing, minimizing the time for raw material distribution. When items return to Zara's facilities, they are ironed by an assembly line of workers who specialize in a specific task (lapels, shoulders, and so on). Clothing items are wrapped in plastic and transported on conveyor belts to a group of giant warehouses.
Zara's warehouses are a vision of modern automation as swift and efficient as any automotive or consumer electronics plant. Human labor is a rare sight in these cavernous buildings. Customized machines patterned after the equipment used by overnight parcel services process up to 80,000 items an hour. The computerized system sorts, packs, labels, and allocates clothing items to every one of Zara's 1,495 stores. For stores within a 24-hour drive, Zara delivers goods by truck, whereas it ships merchandise via cargo jet to stores farther away.

The same philosophy that has produced such good results for Zara has led parent company Inditex to diversify. Its other chains now include underwear retailer Oysho, teen-oriented Bershka and Stradivarius, children's Kiddy's Class, menswear Massimo Duti, and casual and sportswear chain Pull & Bear. Recently, Inditex opened its first nonclothing chain, Zara Home. Each chain operates under the same style of vertical integration perfected at Zara.
Making speed the main goal of its supply chain has really paid off for Inditex. In only three years, its sales and profits more than doubled. Last year, revenues increased over 15 percent over the previous year to $14.5 billion. Not bad considering retail revenue growth worldwide averages single digits, and many major retailers were feeling the effects of slowing economies worldwide. Perhaps more importantly, Inditex's total profits grew by 25 percent last year to $1.8 billion. Most of this performance was driven by Zara, now ranked number 64 on Interbrand's list of top 100 most valuable worldwide brands.
Although Inditex has grown rapidly, it wants more. Last year it opened 560 new stores worldwide (most of those were Zara stores) and plans to do the same this year. That's even considering an entry into the fast-growing Indian market. Global retailers are pushing into India in droves in response to India's thirst for premium brands. Zara can really capitalize on this trend. With more than one ribbon-cutting ceremony per day, Inditex could increase its number of stores from the current 3,890 to more than 5,000 stores in more than 70 countries by the end of this decade.
European fast-fashion retailers have thus far expanded cautiously in the United States (Zara has only 32 stores stateside). But the threat has U.S. clothing retailers rethinking the models they have relied on for years. According to one analyst, the industry may soon experience a reversal from outsourcing to China to "Made in the USA":
U.S. retailers are finally looking at lost sales as lost revenue. They know that in order to capture maximum sales they need to turn their inventory much quicker. The disadvantage of importing from China is that it requires a longer lead time of between three to six months from the time an order is placed to when the inventory is stocked in stores. By then the trends may have changed and you're stuck with all the unsold inventory. If retailers want to refresh their merchandise quicker, they will have to consider sourcing at least some of the merchandise locally.
So being the fastest of the fast-fashion retailers has not only paid off for Zara, the model has reconfigured the fashion landscape everywhere. Zara has blazed a trail for cheaper and cheaper fashion-led mass-retailers, has put the squeeze on mid-priced fashion, and has forced luxury brands to scramble to find ways to set themselves apart from Zara's look-alike designs. Leadership certainly has its perks.

II. Discussion Questions |

Question 1 (300 words, 30 marks)
As described by the case study, explain the supply chain for Zara from raw material to consumer purchase.
Question 2 (300 words, 30 marks)
What are the disadvantages of Zara’s “fast fashion” distribution system? Are these disadvantages offset by the advantages?
Question 3 (500 words, 40 marks)
Define vertical integration and horizontal integration and then discuss how these activities have allowed Zara to gain competitive advantage.

General instructions for students:
This TMA should be written by students individually.
TMA weight: 20% of total course grade.
Cut-off date: Check LMS
Plagiarism: It’s imperative that you write your answer using your own words. Plagiarism will be penalized depending on its severity and according to AOU plagiarism policy.
Format: you are expected to write your answer in an essay format: introduction, body paragraph(s) and a conclusion. Failing to do so could result in the deduction of up to 4 marks from your total TMA mark.
Word count: your answer is expected to be within the specified word count range. Not adhering to specified word count could result in the deduction of up to 4 marks of your total TMA mark.
Referencing: You are expected to use the Harvard referencing style for in-text referencing and list of reference at the end. Failing to do so could result in the deduction of up to 4 marks of your total TMA mark.
E-library: You are expected to use E-library sources to support your answers. A minimum of 3 sources is required. Failing to do so could result in the deduction of up to 4 marks of your total TMA mark.

Similar Documents

Free Essay

Pestle Analysis of Zara

...Political 4 5 Economic 4 6 Social 5 7 Technological 6 8 Environmental 6 9 Legislative 8 10 Conclusion 8 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...

Words: 1870 - Pages: 8

Free Essay

Zara Business Assessment

...ZARA Word count: 3799 Table of Contents Executive summary 2 Zara background 3 External factors and competitive forces 3 PESTEL 3 Porter’s 5 4 Internal factors 6 Resources and capabilities 6 Manufacturing 8 Logistics 8 Public relations crisis and their effect on peformance 8 Evaluation of strategic options and recommendation 10 References 12 Appendixes 13 Executive summary This project aims to provide an in-depth analysis of external and internal factors affecting performance of world leading retailer Zara. First of all, the brief background on Zara is provided in order to familiarise reader with the business model they implement. Secondly, the PESTEL framework is utilised as the base for analysis of external environment and its potential effects on company’s performance. Further, the Porter’s 5 forces are identified in order to assess where the competitive advantage stems from. After assessment of external environment, this paper provides the overview of internal factors which might be crucial for success, as well as drawbacks of Zara’s internal organisation. Assessment of internal environment starts from the evaluation of Zara’s resources and capabilities, followed by the critical analysis of manufacturing and logistics processes. Further discussion of the PR issues and its effects on company performance is provided. In addition, the benefits of corporate socially responsible policies are discussed. Overall conclusions on Zara strategic...

Words: 4312 - Pages: 18

Free Essay

Bussiness Comucation

...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 the main purpose of an organization is to achieve the established objectives, the management...

Words: 1581 - Pages: 7

Free Essay

Zara 2011

...12% world 18% Net profit 2,500 1,946 1,741 1,258 1,262 1,322 2,000 1,500 1,000 500 0 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Number of employees 0 20,000 40,000 60,000 80,000 100,000 120,000 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 79,517 109,512 100,138 92,301 89,112 Inditex´s Annual Report addresses its economic, social and environmental performance for the purposes of achieving the maximum transparency in its relationship with all its stakeholders annual report 2011 index 06 54 Letter from the Chairman | 08 Business model | 10 A look back over 2011 Customers Milestones for the year. International presence | 22 Suppliers | 70 Employees | 84 Retail formats. Zara. Pull&Bear. Shareholders. Economic Massimo Dutti. Bershka. Stradivarius. Osyho. Zara Home. Uterqüe. | 42 Community | 100 and financial report....

Words: 132690 - Pages: 531

Premium Essay

Zara Marketing Plan

...World’ is ZARA. Fashion is more than clothing; it’s a part of our live. We live in Fashion. ZARA is a member of the INDITEX group, a Spanish group. ZARA have established its stores all over the world, Europe, America, the Middle East, Asia Pacific and among its 5000+ stores (from the INDITEX group), Hong Kong shares 8 ZARA stores from the whole wide world. Zara offers the latest trends in international fashion in an environment of thought-out design. Its stores located in the main commercial areas of cities across the Europe, America and Asia, offer fashion inspired in the tastes, wishes and lifestyles of today's men and women. Zara’s clothing has identified a significant underserved segment within it. Zara’s clothing is uniquely positioned to serve this segment of the market because of its fast paced fashion ideas, its latest technology, its efficient business strategies and its affordable prices. Due to the growing of the clothing industry and the enormous unmet need in the clothing market we see the long-term expansion and potential of Zara throughout the world. We are visionaries who see Zara as an extreme financial launch. By achieving its sales targets, Zara will position itself for exceptional profitability and self-funded growth. ZARA’s Plan is to maintain and develop its position in the market by giving well in time response to changing trends in consumer tastes through creating new designs that are suitable for all customers at an affordable price. “Zara constantly...

Words: 4589 - Pages: 19

Premium Essay

Zara, Success Story

...Assignment “ZARA” 1.Zara designs majority of it cloth in Spain (about 80 percent). It focuses on shorter response time enabling it to meet the constantly shifting fashion trends. However such moves do not take months, but this process is complete within in 30 days; during which Zara identifies the latest trends, design it clothes and supply material to its stores. Such strategy means catching up a trend when it is in vogue in the fashion circles. On the other hand H M company needs about two months to do the same job. It is this difference which makes Zara unique from others. Zara has teams in the international arena, who observe the latest fashion trends and report leads to head office. The mangers are also involved in tracking customer demands through sales analysis; this process enables Zara to meet customer's needs and be ahead of its rivals. Its research style is not traditional, but it includes consistent emails and phone calls from various stores to head office and responding to it instantly. H&M offers online shopping to customers in eight of its 48 markets around the world: Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK. What's more, Inditex's vertical integration lets it respond to fashion trends much faster than H&M. For Hennes & Mauritz, better known as H&M, expansion can't come quickly enough. The Swedish giant already has about 2...

Words: 884 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Zara Operations Strategy

...storage and logistics. A great deal of focus in operations is on efficiency and effectiveness of such a process. An example of successful operations strategy in the retail industry is the strategy employed by Zara which is discussed in this critique. Zara started as a single shop in La Coruna and then rapidly spread its wings to 68 countries; opening a store each day - one of the fastest global expansions the world has ever seen. Throughout the entire system of Zara’s business; designing, sourcing, manufacturing, distribution process and retailing come out a number of success factors: short cycle time, small batches per product, extensive variety of product every season and heavy investment in information and technology. This elements feature in every aspect of the business. 2. Introduction. Zara is the flagship brand of the Spanish fashion retail giant, Inditex, (Industrias de Deseno Texti S. A.) Founded in 1975 ; this super- heated performers in soft retail fashion market in recent years; is engaged in textile design, manufacturing and distribution .The group operates approximately 1500 stores .The company primarily operates in Europe, where about 80% of its sales are made with La Coruna , the city that saw its earlier operations, home of its central offices. Zara contributes about 2/3 of the company’s sales making it undoubtedly the firm’s growth engine. As other retailers like Marks and Spenser and Gap join...

Words: 4086 - Pages: 17

Premium Essay

Use the Concepts Described in the Course to Analyze What Sort of Innovation This Is and How It Compares to Competing Products or Processes

...In 1975, appeal giant Inditex set up the first Zara store in La Coruna, in Northwest Spain. By 2006, Zara had owned 723 stores which hold a selling area of 821,100 square meters around the world. With sales of 3.7 billion dollars in the business year 2005, Zara had developed into Spain’s the most famous fashion brand and the leading brand of Inditex (Kumar, 2006). Zara is one of the most outstanding apparel retail businesses in the world today. Although it is not the biggest, its marginal profits and rates of growth are leading the industry. The purpose of this essay is to analyze what sort of innovation Zara used on its way to success and make comparisons of competing products or processes with its competitors. By analyzing and comparing, it is obvious that the company's success depends on conducting a series of innovations at each one of the parts in the business: fashion-forward design, unique branding strategies, in-house production processes and centralized distribution system. Basically, this essay has been divided into four parts: the first part focus on describing how Zara makes its designs more innovative compare with other appeal retailers. Then, what sort of innovation used in their branding strategies will be discussed. Next, it will consider Zara’s innovation of production process and show an apparent difference of this process among Zara, H&M and the Gap. Finally, it will look at how Zara promotes innovation on their distribution process in to become more fast...

Words: 2808 - Pages: 12

Premium Essay

Zara

...I – Company Profile (ZARA: The Technology Giant of the Fashion Word) Historical Background Zara is the flagship chain store of Inditex Group owned by Spanish tycoon Amancio Ortega. The first Zara store opened in 1975 at A Coruna, Spain. Its first store featured low-priced lookalike products of popular, higher-end clothing fashions. The store proved to be a success, and Ortega started opening more Zara stores in Spain. During the 1980s, Ortega started changing the design, manufacturing and distribution process to reduce lead times and react to new trends in a quicker way, in what he called "instant fashions" or “fast fashion”. The company based its improvements in the use of information technologies and using groups of designers instead of individuals. In 1988, the company started its international expansion through Porto, Portugal. In 1989 they entered the United States and in 1990 France. This international expansion was increased in the 1990s, with Mexico (1992), Greece (1993), Belgium and Sweden (1994), etc. until the current presence in over 70 countries. Zara stores are company-owned, except where local legislation forbids foreigner-owned businesses. In those cases, Zara franchises the stores. III – Questions for Discussion 1. As completely as possible, sketch the supply chain for Zara from raw materials to consumer purchase. - Zara makes about 40% of their raw material (fabric). The remaining 60% is outsourced from within Spain, mostly from the...

Words: 746 - Pages: 3

Free Essay

Zara Case Study

...Zara Case Management 454 3/20/14 Founded in 1975 by Armancio Ortega, Zara is a very successful Spanish clothing and accessory realtor and the first business to start the Inditex Group empire. Starting in a small Galician city known as La Coruna in Spain, Zara has grown to be a retailer powerhouse with over 6,000 stores in 85 different countries. Although the number of stores and locations is constantly changing as Zara is known to open more than a store a day in past years. Zara has become the giant they are today because of their differentiated business model, this system has not been copied by any competitors which gives Zara a great competitive advantage. With its own production and distribution channels, Zara specializes in quick fashion innovations based on customer changing needs and is known to develop a new product or design and have it on store shelves in less than a month. Competition will generally do this same task in about 6 to 9 months. This competitive advantage has helped Zara to become a fashion leader and always stay a step ahead of competition. This also allows Zara to copy competitor new designs and come out with a slightly deviated version in just a couple weeks. This has competitors distraught as they spend enormous amounts of money on research and design just to have it instantly copied without costing Zara anything in research costs. This business model has allowed Zara to recently produce 11,000 distinct items in a recent year and several...

Words: 2093 - Pages: 9

Premium Essay

Informative Speech - Zara

...What is the world’s largest fashion retailer? The answer might surprise you. With over 1800 stores in 56 countries across Europe, the Americas, Asia, and Africa, Zara is the brand that holds that title. Within the span of 28 years, the Inditex Group, Zara’s holding company, incorporated seven other brands and over 6500 shops in 88 different countries. As the figurehead of the Inditex group, Zara is the better known brand, however, many people have not heard of it. Today, I am here to inform you on one of the world’s most successful companies by providing a short biography of the founder, a history of Zara stores, and the work model implemented by the company. To begin with, Amancio Ortega was born in Leon, Spain as the youngest of 4 children. When he was 14, his family moved to La Coruna because of his father’s work as a railway worker. During this time, Ortega quit school and found a job as a shophand for a shirtmaker named Gala, where he learned the trade. Eventually, he opened his own shop called Goa in 1972 which sold quilted bathrobes. He was able to mass produce these items by convincing local women to form sewing cooperatives. With the success of Goa, Ortega was able to open the first Zara in La Coruna and has since become the second richest man in the world with a net worth of $72 billion. As stated earlier, Zara was first opened in 1975 by Ortega and his then-wife Rosalia Mera. It was originally called Zorba, after Ortega’s favorite movie, Zorba and the Greek, however...

Words: 600 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Zara

...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...

Words: 1244 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Case Zara

...NTERNATIONAL MARKETING ZARA: INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT FACULTY OF ECONOMICS UNIVERSITY OF LJUBLJANA 1. What makes Zara different from other specialty apparel retailers? What are the main differences in the business models of Zara and H&M? One of the most important competitive advantages that Zara have is the rotation in the stores, Zara is constantly looking forward increase the rotation of products and the leadership in costs. Why is rotation so important and why this became a competitive advantage? The number of visits form customers to the shops if this industry used to be 3 visits per year but in the case of Zara are 15 visits per year. If your customers visit your shop more often there are more possibilities of increased the sales per customer. Zara is constantly stimulating the customers changing the stock 13 times per year. Not all the bands can change the stock so often because is really expensive. Zara is leadership in costos strategy, this company has a really efficient system of distribution. This brand also have some strategic shops around the world and from there they supply all the comercial stores. The business models of Zara and H & M are very different, one of the main differences between this models is the outsourcing of their activities. Zara produce more than the 40% of the production in Europe and H & M does not have own factories and this company produce more less than the 80% in Asia. This point is very importante if we are...

Words: 856 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Zara Case Study

...CASE STUDY ZARA 1. Which theory is internationalization? the best representative of Zara’s (Inditex’s) In the case of Zara, the Uppsala model can be considered as the best representative theory concerning their internationalization strategy. The Uppsala model is an organic growth model, which aims to minimize psychic distance through small incremental steps in the internationalization process. Zara opened its first store in La Coruna in 1975 and focused on the domestic market in the early stages. Gaining experience from the home country before entering a foreign market is characteristic for the Uppsala model. The expansion of Zara was first limited to Spanish cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants. Due to the maturity of the Spanish market, Zara was aiming to expand to the international market. Because of the geographic and cultural proximity to Spain they started their foreign operations by opening a store in Portugal. This enabled a gradual learning-by-doing process, concentrating first on countries close to Spain. Subsequently they preceded the internationalization process by entering different European markets. The intention was to keep a low level of psychic and cultural distance in order to internationalize step-by-step. After obtaining more knowledge and experience in foreign markets, Zara started expanding to other regions more rapidly and out of consideration for geographical or cultural proximity. In general, the internationalization strategy of Zara can be best...

Words: 1618 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Supplement Chanin Management

...products and new competitors rise seemingly overnight, that truly sustainable advantage might seem like impossibility, but there are winners and the Zara chain is one of them. The Zara fashion chain, founded in 1975 in Arteixo, is perhaps the world's most successful clothing chain. Zara has helped its parent, the Spanish firm Inditex, grow from obscurity in the mid. 90’s to the world's third largest pure-play fashion retailer after the Swedish H&M and US-based Gap Inc. with financial performance well ahead of these rivals. With 1021 shops, at 13.04.2007, in 55 countries, Zara appears to have found the formula for success: Give the public what it wants, at the lowest possible price, in the shortest time possible. In order to think about how the firms achieve sustainable advantage, it's useful to start with two concepts defined by Michael Porter: operational effectiveness and strategic positioning. (I) OPERATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS According to Porter, the reason so many firms suffer aggressive, margin eroding competition, is because they've defined themselves according to operational effectiveness rather than strategic positioning. Operational effectiveness refers to performing the same tasks better than rivals perform them. Everyone wants to be better, but the danger in operational effectiveness is in "sameness". At its heart Zara is building on a vertically integrated demand and supply chain, while most other textile chains rely on outsourcing and cheap labor in China. It enables...

Words: 1922 - Pages: 8