Zara Plus Sized A Case Study for a New Product Line - Assignment Example

# Zara Plus Sized: A Case Study for a New Product Line Table of Contents Section 1: Executive Summary/Objective 2: Introduction 3: Company History Section 2: Environmental Analysis 1: Macro Analysis PESTEL 2: Micro Analysis BCG 3: Micro Analysis Porter Five Forces 4: Marketing Mix/ 4 P’s 5: Competitors 6: SWOT Analysis Section 3: Strategy Development 1: Mission Statement 2: Geographic Segmentation 3: Strategy Section 4: 1: Budgeting 2: Monitoring and Control 3: Summary/Conclusion Bibliography SECTION 1: Executive Summary The changing dynamics of the average feminine physique coupled with the average weight of individual consumers forces apparel companies to be even more flexible with their overall product offerings and evolve with changing market demands. Currently, in the United States alone, the average size of a single article of woman’s apparel that is sold is a size 14. Accordingly, Zara does not currently have any offerings in plus sizes or for the fuller figured woman. Therefore, this is a lucrative market in which Zara’s competitors are capitalizing and Zara apparel is not. If Zara intends to maintain its competitive edge in this evolving market, it will be forced to integrate a full figured line of clothes into its product offerings. Normally, the apparel industry is already one that is almost wholly driven by consumer tastes; however, now that consumer needs play such a key role, the evolution of the industry takes place even more rapidly than prior market demands dictated. Objective The overall objective is to create a prosperous new line of plus sized/full figured women’s clothing to augment the existing profitability of the Zara apparel firm. This objective will be accomplished by designing and producing a new line of full figured/plus sized women’s clothing, internally marketing that new product line, working to streamline and maximize the profitability of the new product line, monitoring its growth and success, and expanding the product line to different markets based on the profitability both online and in the initial US market introduction. As such, Zara’s primary objective is to achieve market share in an existing market with existing products. According to analysis of Ansoff’s matrix referenced below in Figure 1.0, this strategy is the safest of Ansoff’s 4 strategies. Figure 1.0 However, it is a well known fact that even with this safest of strategies, it is not without its limitations. Most prominent among these drawbacks is the fact that competitors will necessarily react to Zara’s entry into the market. As Zara will be attempting to cut down on the number of customers and market share which these firms previously held, expect the competition to be fierce. By carefully measuring Zara’s objectives within the metrics of SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, and time bound), Zara apparel will ensure that the metrics and milestones of the product launch are well defined, possible, and timely. SPECIFIC/Measurable With the plus sized clothing market approaching US 20 billion dollar a year industry in the United States alone (Stark, 2012), it will be Zara’s intent to capture 0.00875% of the US market - equating to total sales figures of around US 165 million dollars per annum. Figure 2.0 below shows overall sales objectives for the first year of the new product line as compared with the overall size of the plus sized clothing economy in the United States. Figure 2.0 Attainable/Time Bound It is the understanding of this analysis that such a figure is attainable given Zara’s current market share and net profits as of fiscal year 2011 totaling over US 2.14 billion dollars (Irish Times, 2011). Even without accessing total internet sales into the overall tally, each of Zara’s 49 stores in the United States will be responsible for generating around US 3.34 million dollars in sales of plus sized clothing in order to reach the sales number set forth by this analysis. For purposes of this analysis, the sales goals, both online and in store, will be reviewed and measured on a quarterly and yearly basis to ensure that the product expansion is on track to meet and/or exceed the sales goals set forth in this analysis. Introduction of New Product Line It is Zara’s intent to closely mimic the other offerings that are in current production and planned for future production for its new line of Plus Sized/Full Figured product offerings. As such, rather than losing the “cute factor”, the range of plus sized fashion will maintain the brand distinction while opening up a broader range of sizes to the consumer. Other firms that have opened plus sized/full figured product lines have sacrificed brand recognition and the “cute factor” all the while turning out very bland, exceptionally blase product offerings billed under the brand name but bearing little if any resemblance to the slimmer –sized product offerings from which they have founded their company and made their name recognizable. This pitfall is one that Zara is well aware of and will work to fully include plus sized/full figured fashion into its existing product offerings without sacrificing attractiveness and overall sell-ability of its plus sized/full figured fashion line. Company History Founded in 1975 in Spain, Zara is a clothing and accessories retailer that continues to expand and has experienced a highly successful business model that focuses on low-cost/fast-fashion. While other firms have focused on heavy advertising and expensive marketing programs, Zara has not. Instead, Zara has used the money that other firms spend on expensive marketing and advertising techniques towards opening new stores and rapidly and continually varying product offerings. As a result, Zara has garnered a devoted consumer base and continues to expand its locations and product offerings worldwide. Additionally, Zara is a market leader in that it boasts the ability to turn a conceptual idea into tangible store offering within a two week time frame. In the fashion industry this is an unheard of ability (normally it takes apparel producers/designers between 4-6 months minimum to see the results of their designs implemented as store offerings) and is achieved by Zara as a result of their complete control of nearly every aspect of product design, manufacturing, supply, implementation and delivery (Gallaugher, 2008). As such, it is a logical progression that Zara would chose to expand into the plus sized/full figured apparel sector. SECTION 2: PESTEL Analysis of Macro-Environment At the macro level view of changes that could adversely affect the future of Zara, this analysis will make an examination of PESTEL factors (Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental, and Legal changes) that could affect the overall profitability/viability of Zara in the future. Firstly, a change to the political landscape in countries of production could easily minimize or outright destroy profit margins of Zara if local or federal governments enact labor reform, institute an increased minimum wage, or in any way attempt to outlaw or reduce the number of textile manufacturing businesses operating within the country. This threat is somewhat diluted by the fact that Zara has production operations in multiple countries on different continents. However, a disruption to labor supply, threat of increasing wages, or other government regulations could at best disrupt supply of merchandise and at worst threaten to completely close operations in a given country or region. Treating host governments and employees overseas with the utmost respect and working to build a lasting relationship of trust with member countries of production is one way in which Zara and its production teams can attempt to mitigate the risk of rapid/knee-jerk political changes that could threaten the overall viability of the firm in the future; however, there is no single policy that can protect Zara completely from such actions. Economic threats which could threaten the long-term viability of Zara and its operations include the following: changes to tax laws, economic recession in key markets, cost of an increase to raw material, increase in the cost of borrowing, fluctuations in currency price (thereby making exportation less profitable), increasing/decreasing demand in national income, or instigating higher wage demands in countries of production. Unfortunately, there are few steps that Zara, or any other firm for that matter, can initiate in order to mitigate the threats of negative changes to economic trends; however, by maintaining operations in various regions around the world, many of the dangers presented by these factors are greatly lessened. Social threats which could affect the viability of an apparel firm such as Zara will generally have a negative impact on labor availability and price. For instance, a society that sees a general upward trend in quality of life and GDP per capita will necessarily expect and demand an increase in wage. This will necessarily diminish profitability or even equate to a net loss for Zara. As such, it should be up to the economists and trend analysts to choose growing, yet stable countries of production that minimize risk of rapid social changes that could diminish the profit margins of the firm. Environmental threats that could affect the viability of an apparel firm such as Zara fall into three categories – legal, media initiated, and resource availability. The first of which hearkens back to the latter description of changes in law that could affect a company’s profitability. However, actions that are perfectly legal in host countries of production (for instance, waste disposal, textile treatment processing etc) could easily evolve into a media frenzy to an audience that is overly sensitive to environmental issues half a world away. Lastly, an environmental factor that is oftentimes outside of the control of anyone is resource scarcity. For instance, with textile manufacturing, the availability of water is an absolute necessity. For instance, it typically takes over 100 gallons of water to produce one pair of jeans. As such, a resource scarcity with respect to water could easily be detrimental to an apparel manufacturer such as Zara. Additionally, more and more often legal battles are waged over water rights and allotments of how much water a firm or city is allowed to take from a river or tributary. Therefore, even if a drought has not occurred, altercations over water rights could easily hamstring a textile/apparel manufacturer. Lastly and most importantly, legal threats which could adversely affect the viability of apparel firm such as Zara encapsulate each and every one of the threats that have been previously mentioned. For instance, legal reform as a function of host countries of production can easily affect political, environmental, social, technological, and economic factors. The best way to maintain awareness of these threats and to work to counteract them or to stop them before they gain a great deal of traction is for Zara to maintain a strong and vibrant legal department that keeps abreast of any and all legal threats that could affect profitability. Micro Analysis BCG Another essential tool in management of marketing plans and product positioning is BCG Analysis. This tool will be used to measure where the product stands with relation to other brands, where potential growth exists, and how to leverage new opportunities to increase profitability. Naturally, this analysis will necessarily require concrete figures and data that may be correlated per annum, per quarter, or by release of the fashion line based upon some other metrics. Based upon the measured results, the brand can be manipulated, augmented, decreased, or phased out entirely based upon profitability and viability metrics. At this juncture of analysis, it is safe to assume that this new product entry will be termed a “question mark” (under the rubric that the BCG matrix contains, dogs, question marks, stars, and cash cows). As such, the product line will require a substantial amount of investment from the firm in the early stages and most likely will not generate a great deal of revenue to cover those costs incurred right away. Most importantly, according to the BCG matrix, there are 3 directions that the new product offering can move. Firstly, the product line can remain in the “question mark” category – consuming company resources and barely earning a return on investment. Secondly, the product could move into “dog” category in which the line is consuming an inordinately large amount of company resources all the while returning little if any money. And most satisfactorily, the product line could move into the “star” category – generating profits to more than amply cover further development and offset costs of production. Figure 3.0 below illustrates the BCG Matrix of Zara’s new plus sized product line. Figure 3.0 Micro Analysis – Porter’s Five Forces Analysis Porter’s Five Forces of Micro Analysis consist of those forces that are proximal to a company and thus directly affect the ability of that company to make a profit or to provide that product to its customers. These include: threat of substitute products, threat of new entrants into the market, bargaining power of customers, bargaining power of suppliers, and competitive rivalry within the industry. Firstly, the threat of substitute products is not an unknown threat to the apparel industry. Imitation products perennially enter and exit the market; however, Zara is able to shield itself somewhat from these entrants as the brand recognition of Zara and its fashion line is in large part what helps to sell the brand in the first place; not necessarily the fact that it is at a competitive price advantage to the closest imitation product currently on the market. Secondly, with respect to the threat of new entrants into the market, Zara holds a bit of an advantage as the product line is non-static and is therefore nearly perpetually in a state of flux. This fact in and of itself does not stave off the competition, but it makes it much more difficult for the competition to effectively mirror the product offerings of Zara and thus reduce its profit margin/share of the market by way of imitation only. Thirdly, with respect to bargaining power of the consumer, Zara again finds itself at a bit of a competitive advantage. With clothing and apparel, it is the consumer tastes that drive the markets; oftentimes more so than cost or availability of imitations. Likewise, since Zara apparel does not spend money on external marketing and advertisements, it can be assumed that Zara’s brand loyalty is perhaps at an even greater level than that of its competitors. Accordingly, brand loyalty and stylistic differentiations are the immeasurable trump card that helps to tilt the apparel market in favor of Zara. What remains to be seen with the new product launch is if that brand loyalty will carry over to a new product line aimed at a slightly different audience than that to which Zara typically appeals. Fourthly, with respect to bargaining power of the suppliers, Zara yet again is at a competitive advantage. Because Zara is a vertical retailer, i.e. it owns, manages, and controls nearly every step from design, from production and distribution to sale, it is able to mitigate the challenges that other firms often face from suppliers disagreeing with a certain facet of overall product yielded. This seamless yet slightly more expensive approach to apparel production lends Zara a competitive advantage with respect to ripples in the supply markets. Lastly, with respect to competitive rivalry within the industry, this may well be the most serious threat that Zara will face from Porter’s Five Forces. Due to the saturated nature of the clothing market and the fact that many companies have already noticed and entered the market for plus sized/full figured women’s clothes, Zara will be facing an uphill battle for profits and recognition. However, even though this may well be the case, this threat in and of itself should not stop Zara from launching the new product line. Zara has shown itself to be an effective and lucrative company; surviving the ever-changing marketplace and finding a way to turn a substantial profit for over 30 years. Likewise, it stands to reason that by using the time-tested and imminently effective techniques that has built Zara into the apparel icon that it is today; Zara can continue to grow and branch out into new markets by a combination of the same time-proven techniques and new market analysis and trends. Marketing Mix/Four P’s With respect to the Four P’s of marketing (Price, Promotion, Place, and Product), Zara has only one unknown in this mix. The place is known – the new product line will be available locally at Zara retail outlets as well as online via the Zara website. The product also is known as a new line of plus sized/full figured women’s apparel is the item that is to be sold. Thirdly, the promotion is to be discussed at greater length further along in this analysis; however, for the time being it is worth noting that Zara will not be spending a large apportionment of the product line introduction budget for an extensive marketing campaign. This leads us to the final P – price. It stands to reason that the price of the garments should not exceed those prices that other Zara product lines are offered. Additionally, because this is a new product line and because a strategy of market penetration has been adopted, it will behoove Zara apparel to offer the new product line slightly lower than existing product lines as a way to both penetrate the market and increase visibility. With respect to the product line itself, product analysis dictates that a firm considers the actual product, the core product, and the augmented product. In the case of the new line of plus sized clothing, the core product is not the actual tangible product but rather the benefit in which the product brings. In Zara’s case, this benefit is the ability to be stylish and fashionable, wearing the most cutting edge style and all the while being able to do so in never before available plus sizes. The actual or tangible product will therefore be the clothing itself. With respect to the augmented product, Zara apparel can easily augment the product in store or online via coupons for plus sized apparel, of buy one get one at a sizeable discount etc. This type of product augmentation would work especially well in and around the holidays as people are more likely to be shopping for others during this time and such a promotion would easily see benefits in total sales generated. The intended product life-cycle stretches into the foreseeable future. Zara would like this product line to penetrate the plus sized clothing market, gain market share, and prove to be a valuable and profitable line of Zara’s apparel. At the same time, Zara apparel will need to vary product offerings to mirror stylistic changes in its other lines. One pitfall that exists in this plan is also counted as a strength of Zara’s. For years Zara has been known as one of the most prolific of fast-fashion producers; turning design to store offerings in shorter time scale than its competitors. This skill has served Zara well; however, if customer tastes are incorrectly gauged and a product line does not meet consumer expectations or if a particular fashion trend that is selling well in the mainstream does not correlate to pleasing consumer tastes in the plus sizes, Zara will find itself experiencing a very costly mistake. Although speed to market reactions is a vital necessity in the current marketplace, it can also be a very costly one. Micro Analysis – Competitors: With respect to brand differentiation and the creation of a unique selling point (USP), Zara will be entering a difficult market with respect to apparel for full figured/plus sized women. For instance, of Zara’s two closest competitors, Charlotte Russe and H&M, H&M currently has a plus sized fashion line and Charlotte Russe has a plus sized product line that is currently in development. As such, competition in this market will be difficult; however, the opportunity cost of not participating could be equally painful as each year the size of the plus sized market grows regardless of whether the overall clothing/apparel economy shrinks. Additionally, Zara will be coming into the market for plus sized clothing late as compared with its closest rivals. Therefore, Zara must rely on the strength of rapid design, production, store availability, and existing distribution channels to outmaneuver the competition. It will be up to the designers and fashion stylists to set Zara apart (just as they have for the better part of 30 years) from the competition by designing and creating unique pieces of fashion and fashion accessories that will irrevocably attract customers to the brand. It should also be understood that the market will not remain static and that as soon as Zara will enter and begin sale of plus sized/full figured women’s wear, the competitors will change their own actions and the market will be in flux again. Therefore it is a necessity that Zara anticipate this flux and be prepared for it. Strengths and Weaknesses Analysis – SWOT Any proper analysis of a marketing plan would necessarily need to include a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats). Accordingly, for the full figured/plus sized product line that Zara will be launching this analysis has been performed below. With respect to strengths of the new product line – there are many. For the most part these strengths are all concentric to the central point that Zara is a highly profitable existing apparel provider. As such, the brand name strength, existing supply channels, existing infrastructure, existing customer base, and existing delivery mechanisms add to the overall viability of the expansion line. These existing benefits tend to give a competitive advantage to the firm that is merely expanding and not starting a new business entirely. Zara is able to leverage each of these strengths separately and cumulatively as it seeks to expand into the plus sized/full figured market for women’s apparel. Additionally, due to Zara’s unique business model, the lack a direct marketing/advertising allotment frees up substantial funds to pour into further product line development/differentiation. A primary threat that exists to Zara’s product launch is the fear of negative publicity like what occurred in Brazil back in August of 2011. During this media incident, Zara was accused of knowingly running immigrant sweat shops in the environs of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Worse still, these sweat shops were employing illegal Bolivian immigrants that were smuggled into Brazil by human traffickers. To add insult to injury the workers were being paid below minimum wage in Brazil and only receiving around 17 cents per pair of jeans produced (where typically a pair of Zara jeans sells for around $100.00 USD (Burgen & Phillips, 2011). This type of publicity can be utterly detrimental to an industry. Once consumers have a negative image of how a firm operates their brand loyalty can be non-existent. For a firm such as Zara which seemingly prides itself on its fair interaction between the environment and its employees this type of revelation can be especially detrimental. Furthermore, if Zara expects to grow and start new product lines, a primary emphasis should be made upon the plight and conditions of its producing entities. Firstly, without these producing entities Zara would have no fashion lines and no product to sell. Secondly, if further negative publicity results from the way in which Zara’s clothing is being produced, consumer confidence in the brand and image associated with Zara could be completely lost. Furthermore, if Zara would like to mitigate the risk of such further negative publicity, they should institute a series of reforms. Zara’s legal department must create or contract a third party monitoring agency to access the conditions, legality, and pay of their producing partners. Even a small story regarding labor issues, environmental issues or human rights abuses can severely hamper, and in some cases, entirely destroy, a firm’s ability to succeed and make sales. Concerning opportunities that Zara’s product line introduction could enjoy, there are two prominent ones. Firstly, Zara will experience the ability to grow an entirely new segment of their existing industry without having to drastically alter any one single facet of their existing business model. When trying to branch out and open new markets or start a new product line, the ability of a company to do without a massive expense provides it a priceless opportunity. A secondary opportunity exists in the fact that the market for plus sized/full figured women’s clothes is a rapidly growing market and one which Zara is poised to capture with such a successful introduction. With reference to the weaknesses of the plan within the rubric of the SWOT analysis, there are two. Firstly, Zara will be attempting to gain entry into a totally new market for them. As such the weakness is whether or not they will be able to gain successful entry; and if they do, will they have a staying power in that market. A secondary weakness that exists to the new product line is the lack of money that Zara allots to marketing/advertising. In most new product lines, in order to make the consumer aware of what one’s firm offers one must necessarily invest heavily in the early stages in consumer awareness/advertising. However, the threat lies in the worry that because Zara typically does not invest money in advertising the availability/introduction of a new product line will not get to the target market/customer. As a result the threat that the new line will not begin selling right away or at all is a very real threat. SECTION 3: Zara Mission Statement: “Through Zara’s business model, we aim to contribute to the sustainable development of society and that of the environment with which we interact. The company's commitment to the environment is included in Inditex Group’s Corporate Responsibility Statement, published on our website: www.inditex.com “ Geographic Segmentation For purposes of this product launch, Zara has chosen the US market as it has a high level of existing store infrastructure and believes that a large number of potential customers exist due to the rapid growth of the plus sized clothing market in the United States referenced in Section 1. This type of geographic segmentation will serve the company well as it is within this particular market that the largest potential for growth of the line exists. A favorable result in the US market will necessarily open the way into Canadian, Mexican and Central American markets; in each of which Zara is well represented. Strategy Of the four outputs from the Ansoff Product Matrix, market penetration will be one of the primary goals of Zara apparel in the early stages of the product line’s introduction into the United States. For this reason, the product line will collectively be sold at a relatively lower price with comparison to other Zara product lines in order that the sales quotas can be met and the product can rapidly gain market share. Therefore because of price inelasticity, existing rivals in the marketplace, and the desire to grow a long life cycle product line – Zara has opted for market penetration pricing as opposed to the shorter-lived market skimming. Although not as lucrative in the beginning stages, penetrating the market in order to gain market share is the only strategy that will hopefully give Zara apparel true staying power with respect to plus sized/full figured women’s clothing and accessories. Secondly, competitive positioning will play a key role in the introduction of the product line in the United States. With an ever increasing number of Zara’s customers and target audience relying on social media and the internet, Zara can readily make use of competitive positioning using these tools as well as SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Through market research and analysis of search trends, Zara can ensure that one of the top results returned in a Google or Yahoo search query relating to plus sized fashion will invariably contain Zara apparel within the top results. This extremely inexpensive technique will doubtless yield a high number of sales with respect to the internet arm of the product launch. This tactic is especially beneficial when directed towards the younger demographic as they become more and more dependent on the internet for their shopping and purchasing habits. It is this very demographic that is the target audience for Zara apparel. Through making use of perceptual mapping, it becomes clear that Zara apparel will need to further target a particular subset of the American demographic. This demographic may be described as middle and upper middle class Americans with discretionary funds and a keen eye towards fashion and trends. Figure 4.0 below relates where Zara apparel lies with respect to other clothing lines expressed in terms of a perceptual mapping. Figure 4.0 Accordingly, as soon as the product line is ready for production, Zara will make these offerings available via their website. In this way, targeted and practically free advertising could take place to those dedicated customers that frequent the site as well as to make them aware of the new product line. In the future, Zara can set a dependency timeline based on market monitoring and analysis so that they may be able to gauge customer response to the product line before completely committing to release in the US market. Section 4: Budgeting As with any new product line, determining the amount of money that the firm is willing to invest in the initial phases of implementation is a complex decision. However, for purposes of Zara’s plus sized/full figured women’s apparel line, this analysis believes that a simple rubric can be used to minimize risk and maximize profits. The rubric is as follows: investment of20% of prior year’s fiscal net profits. In this case the total budget for US product launch would equate to nearly US 430 million dollars as Zara’s total net profits for FY 2011 totaled US 2.14 billion dollars. In this way, Zara will be able to continue design and implementation on the following season of clothes and at the same time allocate an apportionment of that budget to the design and creation of the plus sized/full figured line launch as well. Accordingly, if the sales targets where were laid out earlier in this analysis are met, then the product line will be close to recouping the money that was invested after the first year’s product offering. As a result of Zara’s culture of not spending on expensive advertising but rather allowing the brand and word of mouth to sell the product, Zara will be able to save a very large sum of money that would have been required to be spent on a pricey awareness/advertising campaign. The obvious pitfall of this is that to launch a new product line without a legitimate advertising campaign is the epitome of risky. As a result of this shortcoming, the Zara apparel firm will mitigate its risks by incrementally expanding and increasing the offerings of the plus size/full figured apparel line into new markets only as demand increases and sales goals are met. Monitoring, Evaluation, and Control Zara will rely heavily upon monitoring and evaluation of the new product line in order to determine long-term viability and what markets to contract or expand into as the product line matures in the future. As such, quarterly, seasonal, and per annum data will be rigorously maintained and cross referenced periodically to assure that all goals are being met and at what rate they are being met across the different markets of offering. Additionally, the incremental markets that will be opened (depending on sales totals) will also be re-assessed as the monitoring and evaluation sales data will be incoming as a function of time. In other words, as sales are generated, actual data will be generated which may or may not correspond with prior market research. Depending on the result of that information, Zara apparel may need to somewhat tweak their marketing plan to match the data reflected as a result of the monitoring and evaluations. Therefore, the incremental markets in which Zara initially intended to penetrate may change as sales data points to inconsistencies with the prior market research. Summary/Conclusion With any product line expansion the risks associated with product line start-up are various. However, due to Zara’s devoted customer base, its retail strength in its respective markets, a solid design and supply apparatus, coupled with its ability to rapidly change to the needs and desires of the fickle consumer at a rate exceedingly faster than its competition, it is our belief that Zara’s new line of plus sized/full figured women’s apparel will be a success. Furthermore, by incrementally testing the waters and performing incessant market research and monitoring in the various markets of introduction as well as keeping a watchful eye on all of the business metrics discussed in this analysis, Zara apparel may continue to grow its product line while cautiously expanding its presence in the successful markets in which it currently competes. Lastly, as a result of its unique ability to rapidly react to the market and changes in consumer tastes, Zara is well positioned to rapidly learn from any mistakes and rectify them according to the dictates of the market. Bibliography Burgen, S. & Phillips, T. (2011). Zara Accused in Brazil Sweatshop Inquiry. [Online] The Guardian. 18 August 2011. Available at www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/aug/18/zara-brazil-sweatshop-accusation [Accessed 5 July 2012] Gallaugher, J. M. (2008). Zara Case: Fast Fashion for Savvy Systems. Fiat World Knowledge. 13 September 2008. [Online] Available at http://www.gallaugher.com/Zara%20Case.pdf [Accessed 5 July 2012] Stark, B. (2012). Fashion Industry Goes after Plus Size Market. ABC News. 1 April 2012. [Online] Available at http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=87259&page=1#.T_cDnMUu8a8 [Accessed 7 July 2012] Irish Times. Zara’s Net Profits Jump to 1.73 Billion Euros. [Online] Available at http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2011/0324/1224292955077.html [Accessed 7 July 2012] Read More