Zara Case Study: Why they are Best in Fashion Business Model? Image from Vogue.
Zara is one of the most well-known brands in the world and is also one of the largest international fashion companies. Case Study of Zara – Why they are Best in Fashion Business Model? They are the third-largest brand in the garment industry and are a unit of Inditex. It’s their flagship range of chain stores and headquarters in Spain. Amancio Ortega opened the first Zara store Established in 1975; Zara is one of the most successful retailers in today’s world; their case study explains why they are best. Their clear focus and vision have made them tap the power of fashion. Zara’s business working model is quite diverse from the other retailers; this makes them set out in the market. It has promoted the message of high fashion at a lesser cost across all countries through its unique and different selling techniques.
Zara under the flagship of Inditex, (a holding company located in Northwest Spain) is a fashion imitator; it comprehends what its customers desire and then designs and manufactures according to their expectations. Zara opened its first outlet in Spain in 1975. The headquarters of the company is based in Galicia. There are more than 2600 stores across 73 countries in the world. The Zara clothing line accounts for a huge bulk of its parent group’s revenues.
There are other clothing brands owned by Inditex such as Kiddy´s Class (children’s fashion), Pull and Bear (youth casual clothes), Massimo Dutti (quality and conventional fashion), Bershka (avant-garde clothing), Stradivarius (trendy garments for a young woman), Oysho (undergarment chain) and Zara Home (household textiles). Inditex owns all Zara outlets except for places where they are not allowed ownership of stores (that’s where Franchises step in). Also, know What do you understand about International Advertising?
“Through its business model, Zara aims to contribute to the sustainable development of society and that of the environment with which we interact”. Interestingly, Zara’s (Inditex’s) mission statement here makes no mention of clothing – either directly or indirectly. Instead, their case study introduces three salient components of Zara: the business model, the environment, and society at large. The former appeals to Zara’s unique strategy. The latter two elements highlight Zara’s appeal to environmental sustainability (as evidenced by various initiatives in their product design and distribution) and sustainable society.
Zara is renowned for coming up with products on a short timescale instead of taking forever. They are known for taking around 2 weeks to develop products and have been known to come up with around 10,000 new designs every year (which is an industry record).
They have bucked the trend by making productions in Europe instead of shifting their entire production to Third World or Developing countries. However, some of their clothes are manufactured in parts of Asia because they have a longer shelf life. They make most of their products inside Spain or other European Countries as they own a large number of factories in both Spain and Portugal.
They also don’t have to depend on anyone else as they can get everything done by themselves. Zara is unique in the way that it does not spend money on marketing; and, instead, it concentrates on opening new stores instead. Their brave experiments have led them to label as one of the most innovative retailers in the world.
Zara started with low priced products which were pale imitations of high-end fashion products. This move led to Zara being a smashing success; and, allowed them to expand by opening more stores in Spain. The company management also managed to reduce the time it took to create new designs and came up with the term “instant fashions” which allowed them to capitalize on new trends fast. Zara is known to use teams of designers instead of individuals.
Zara has to face a lot of competition from H&M, Gap and Benetton internationally. Fortunately, Zara considers being more fashionable than the rest of the brands even though its price is less than Benetton and Gap. H&M is still cheaper than Zara but is equally fashionable as Zara. Gap and Benetton are less fashionable and more pricy.
Zara’s business model is based on the principle that it can sell “medium quality fashion clothing at affordable prices”. Vertical integration and the ability to come up with a quick response is a key factor to Zara’s successful business model otherwise they would be nowhere without it. The process for Zara has been designed in such a way that it has the various functions within the business system such as designing, sourcing and manufacturing, distribution and retailing; Zara case study explains everything.
They do all of these themselves and that is one reason why their growth is at a good rate. However, what goes up must come down and Zara is not immune to the problems in the world. The way they operate can also prove to be their undoing due to the model they are currently utilizing. The fact that they have their distribution center and manufacturing unit is a very weak point.
This can discuss further in this document. The management at Zara have come up four fundamental success factors; short cycle time for the creation of the product, small quantity per product (and not too much of the same stock); an extensive variety of product every season (so that users can choose easily) as well as a huge investment in information; and, communication technology to allow them to stay on track. Zara knows what its customers want by tracking their preferences on a year-round basis.
They have their team of designers who have been recruited fresh out of fashion school. It is not a tough job to tell them what they want based on the input they receive. They make around a limited quantity of clothes based on the 11000 various items designed by its in-house staff. Zara does not make any losses as they only order a limited quantity of each item which they believe is stylish; and, will be more restricted season-wise.
If they have miniskirts in design they will only be available for a short time due to the short summer period in Europe. Other clothes which can work year-round and for which the trend does not change are outsourced to Asia as the cost won’t be so high. The outsourcing operation is very handy mainly because these clothes have a longer shelf life. It does not take a long time for the clothes to prepare as it merely takes around 4 weeks total for the whole process: from design to the finished product in the stores.
The fact that Zara knows what sort of trends are there in the market and is quick enough to change their strategy to match the trends in the fashion industry gives them a huge advantage. They can modify their timetable easily to adjust for a change in the trends in the market. Normally it takes around 8 to 12 months for any normal retailer to forecast trends and come up with a style and send it for production.
They are unable to match what Zara does and they end up losing big time. Even if a style fails to sell much, Zara can easily sell the clothes at a discount. The fact that the number of clothes manufactured was so low that they lose much. Their low volume strategy has helped them have a very low number of discount sales every year as compared to a high rate for the rest of the industry. However, this leads to higher costs which are a disadvantage; but, then they don’t have to worry about having higher inventories.
This method allows for low inventory and high-profit margins. They don’t save any money here with costs but then they get the maximum out of their clothing line. A problem they face is the fact that since Zara controls everything it is not easy for them to expand or relocate as they have to stay put in one place or the whole operation will suffer and the goods will cost more to distribute. Zara’s business model is wonderful in the sense that it has a very fashion-forward line as they know which trends to cash in on.
They seem to have the Midas touch of turning everything into gold. Their policy is to have a mostly young and fashion-conscious staff so that they will also be able to double as trendsetters. If for instance, a certain item in a store sells well then the management decides to sell the same item in other locations as well. The key is that most of the items are in short supply; and, people presume that there is a shortage of items that end up making consumers want to buy more. A key factor in Zara’s success is the fact that it has sourced its products from the right places.
They have based their procurement offices in a couple of fashionable cities in the world. This allows them to witness the trends first hand and then to quickly come up with a solution of their own. They don’t buy all the raw products on their own as they use one of their parent group’s procurement units to do all it’s purchasing. One clever move on their part is that they buy most of their fabric in grey so that there is greater flexibility. It doesn’t take long for the fabric to prepare.
The main distribution artery is in Spain where they have their biggest distribution center. They also have some smaller distribution centers in countries such as Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico. The problem with the distribution center is that it is purely based in Spain; and, does not have the capacity for a heavy load. It is a huge distribution center and occupies around 500,000 square feet in total.
They only have the capability of processing around 60,000 folded garments in an hour. They need to find a new distribution center or increase their operations so that they can save more time. However, the biggest advantage for them is the fact that they have vertical integration which allows them to manufacture; and, distribute their stuff without having to be at the mercy of any supplier.
It is not tough to move any of their products as they have their railway network which allows them to move goods easily to its distribution center. Once the goods are ready they are shipping out immediately though the shipping schedule is only twice a week. European stores get their goods early (around 24-36 hours) while other destinations get them within 2 days.
This system has allowed them to achieve a very high level of accuracy in its shipments. The other good thing is that the outlets don’t take long to display the new outfits once they reach their destination; and, this allows them to show new stock to their customers. The clothes also code according to their color so that the staff knows where to place them. This makes it easier for the customers to go around color matching the items they want to buy.
Zara is facing a large number of issues which can cause them several problems in the future, their case study follows. Even though Zara has a consistent business system that gives them a competitive advantage it is always in the danger of tanking badly. Zara’s biggest advantage is the fact that its economies of scale are really good; and, that they have been able to ramp up their distribution system. The continued growth is good for them in every way.
They have been helped a lot by their expansion in the international market. However, the case study explains their growth in the international market will curtail due to the reason that Zara has a very centralized logistics model. Understandably, Zara has to expand its distribution centers and to increase its capacity. Zara has its main distribution center in Spain; and, it won’t be easy going trying to expand when its base is only in Spain. This will affect their plans to go international and to target more regions.
They can’t simply survive with a European presence alone. They do indeed have a presence in other countries but then it is not as much as it should be. It has a huge presence in Spain but quite limited when it comes to other countries. They can easily target the North American region where they don’t have much of a presence compared to the huge size of the region.
The problem is that there are a lot of outlets there and a lot of competition coupled with the need for plus-sized clothing, high cost of operations and a very mature market. Zara needs to come up with a strategy so they can compete very aggressively over there. They can also target South America but the problem is that it is not a very stable region; and, any geopolitical problems can lead to profits being low.
A good market would be the ever-reliable Middle East where Zara already has a small presence. However with talks of a revolution in the air and other geopolitical problems it can be a risky bet. There are a few countries in the region which will lead it to be profitable; but, then the market small compares to other regions. They can easily opt for countries such as the South East Asian markets; and, South Asia which have a lot of potentials.
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Imagine you are in charge of Zara s supply chain operations. This case study and supply chain simulation will give you an appreciation of what that job is like. In this exercise your mental model of Zara s supply chain will expand and your understanding of how this supply chain works will deepen. You will see the continuous adjustments that need to be made to keep the supply chain working and to keep operating expenses and inventory levels under control.