Inditex - Fast Fashion Dicussions

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1. What are the ways that Inditex ensures that “fast fashion” is truly fast?

The first drive by which Inditex delivers a “fast fashion” is its high-developed logistic chain. It centralizes its production near by Spain, Portugal and Turkey, therefore ensuring significant savings on transportation costs and faster delivery times. Moreover, the fact that more cargo routes are being introduced, also contribute to that “fast fashion” shipping and ensures that managers get their merchandise on time.

Apart from this, another move to cut costs, and speed up, is Isla’s software system that controls the volume of sales at different times. This allows evaluating the demand, as well as readjusting it by the production operation management. Stock is limited but replaced twice a week, as well as, the stores decoration. Fashion is monitored very closely to the customer, and those successfully items that are being quickly sold returns to the company’s designers in order to create more.

It is remarkable the fact that it is not only important the “fast” moving by opening stores and expanding internationally, but also be conscious about their market: its preferences, their new habits, their culture, and the actual “fashion” in the targeted country.

This way, Zara and the whole Inditex group is able to provide a “fast fashion” move around the world. “Zara online store”^[1] and “Zara application” are the nowadays tools to reach all the customers around the world

1. What are the important attributes of a “fast fashion” retailer to customers? To store managers?

For customers, the most important attribute of a “fast fashion” is actually what it sounds to be. Customers value fashion as always the latest trend. Pablo Isla has been able to provide not only the latest trends in each of the countries, after careful study of their target; but also the speedy shipping and the possibility to follow orders. Also, the accurate packaging conditions and delivery facilities (pick up in stores or directly to home) feeds customer loyalty to the brand. Because they are really conscious about their customer’s needs and the fashion of the moment, Zara has installed its brand recognition around the world.

For managers, teamwork with constant feedback among departments is essential to a “fast fashion” strategy. Every day store managers report relevant information to a vast team of designers in order to quickly develop new models and send them to factories so that they can be returned again to stores. In addition, cooperation between each of the countries headquarters helps to provide fashion faster. Fashion is increasingly becoming a more global concept, so, the quicker the transmission of new trends, the earlier it would be introduced in Zara stores.

That’s why data analysis and the constant attention to competitors’ movements (H&M, GAP etc.) also reinforce this growing strategy.

1. Why would a retailer introduce its online store country-by-country? Why was Inditex slow to embrace online sales when it is so tech-savvy in other ways?

Even though fashion is a global concept, meaning similar tastes around different nationalities; each country still must have its “characteristic fashion”. Actually, a New York customer seems more or less the same than one from Tokyo. However, according to their “culture of fashion” or the actual trend in this country, some items can differ a little bit in shape or colors. Maybe this could be a reason for adapting the online store country-by-country.

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