ZARA Brand Story

ZARA is a subsidiary of Spain Inditex group. It is both a clothing brand and a chain store brand specializing in ZARA brand clothing. Inditex is ranked first in Spain, ranking third in the world, and has 8 clothing retail brands, including ZARA, Pull and Bear, Kiddy 's Class, Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Stradivarius, cable, and cable, which is one of the most famous brands. ZARA, founded in 1975, now has 917 stores in 62 countries (90% of self owned stores, the rest of which are joint ventures and franchised stores). Although ZARA brand stores account for only 1/3 of the total number of Inditex stores, their sales account for about 70% of total sales.

Brand history

In 1975, Amancio Ortega, an apprentice, opened a small clothing store called ZARA in a remote town in northwestern Spain. Today, the unknown ZARA has grown into a leading brand of fashion apparel worldwide, with more than 1000 stores in over 60 countries and regions. The way of Zara brand can be said to be an alternative to the fashion apparel industry. It has created a new Fast Fashion mode in the traditional top dress brands and public apparel. With Fast Fashion becoming a mainstream format of fashion apparel industry, Zara brand is also highly praised. Some people call it DELL computer in fashion industry, and some people comment on it as Swatch watch in fashion industry. In 2005, ZARA ranked 77 among the 100 most valuable brands in the world. Harvard Business School ranked Zara as the most valuable brand in Europe. Walton Business School regarded Zara brand as a model for future manufacturing. ZARA, as a leading company in the future, has become the benchmark of fashion apparel industry. 　

There are too many halos on top of the Zara brand, but it is by no means nominal. The beautiful financial figures behind it are the best annotations. In 2005, ZARA's global operating income reached 4 billion 400 million euros, and its pre tax profit was 712 million euros. In a research report, Morgan Stanley predicted that the average annual growth rate of ZARA EPS was 10.9% in 2014, while the annual growth rate of the five luxury goods groups such as Burberry was only 7.7%. As ZARA's financial performance is good and its growth momentum is strong, the wealth of ZARA brand founder Amancio Ortega has also risen steadily with the rising stock market value. In 2007, Forbes ranked eighth in the world's richest list, with a total assets of US $24 billion. 　

ZARA, as the leading brand of Fast Fashion, is famous for its huge profits. It can be regarded as "fame and wealth". ZARA has become a model of profitable brands. The ZARA brand is rising at an alarming rate in the fashion apparel industry. In 2005, it became the 100 most valuable brands in the world, and left behind the big names of fashion brands such as ARMANI. The history of the rise and fall of the great brands in different economic times tells us that the rise of a great brand often lies in the high conjunction between its brand spirit and the spirit of the whole age and the deep needs of consumers. ZARA is the best explanation for the success of the profitable brand model in the world.

Supply chain system

Generally speaking, the reasons for ZARA's success are: customer orientation, vertical integration, efficient organization and management, emphasis on speed and flexibility of production, and unique marketing strategy without advertising or discount. In fact, the crucial link is ZARA's sensitive supply chain system, which greatly improves the lead time of ZARA. Leading time is the time from design to the sale of clothes on the counter. China's clothing industry usually takes 6~9 months, and international brand names can generally reach 120 days, while the shortest time for ZARA is only 7 days, usually 12 days. This is the decisive 12 day. The rhythm of ZARA's sensitive supply chain dwarfs China, known as the "world factory". Some international clothing brand giants know that ZARA is fierce, they just can't learn and can't imitate. Why? 　

ZARA launches about 12000 kinds of fashions in a year, and the amount of each fashion is generally not large. Even with the best selling style, ZARA supplies only a limited number, often only two pieces in one store, sold out and not replenished. Just as the limited issuance of stamps has increased the value of philatelic products, ZARA has trained a large number of loyal followers through this "manufacturing shortage". "Multi style, small batch", ZARA achieved a breakthrough in economic scale.