Market of Zara - Research Paper Example

Zara International is one of the world’s most popular brands for which the bulk of the population is crazy. Looking at its history we come to know that, the outlet was simply set for cancelled orders but the firm soon realized ‘the importance of a marriage between manufacturing and retailing’ which accelerated the evolution of the company (Ferdow, Lewis, and Machuca, 62). As a result, Zara stores are present in more than 64 countries worldwide, with an emphasis on Spain and the rest of Europe, Latin America, and a growing presence in the Far East. In the present world, Zara outpaces its rival competitors such as GAP, H&M, and Tommy and leads the fashion industry. Not a single reason for the cause, several reasons account for Zara’s popularity and its standard along with worldwide recognition.

The very first fact is its vertical integration, with operations including design, textile manufacturing, and dying, permits the company to respond extremely quickly to market conditions and fashion trends. This makes Zara, a flagship chain store of Inditex, a fast fashion for youth. Another remarkable difference is that, unlike other international clothing chains, Zara makes more than half of its clothes in-house, rather than relying on a network of slow-moving and disparate suppliers. This type of innovation management renders swiftness and efficacy throughout its operations and consequently, Zara can make a new line from start to finish in three weeks, against an industry average of nine months (Zara International Inc).

Another key factor for Zara’s success is its strategic management, it does not spend money on advertisements; instead, they spend money on anything that would enforce the speed and responsiveness of the business chain. They invest heavily in production and distribution facilities to fluctuating demand.

Furthermore, instead of more quantities per style, Zara produces more styles roughly 12,000 a year. Thus even if a style sells out very quickly there are new styles already waiting to take up the space. Fresh produce, moving in step with fashion trends and updated frequently the ingredients are just right to create the sweet smell of success.

Moreover, the effectiveness in ownership and control of production is one in the list of success causes. Most other competitors like GAP and H&M, completely outsource their production to factories around the world, many of them in low-cost Asian countries. In contrast, it is estimated that 80 per cent of Zara’s production is carried out in Europe that is, in owned or closely controlled facilities. While this gives Zara a tremendous amount of flexibility and control, it does have to contend with higher people costs, averaging 17-20 times the costs in Asia (Zara International Inc).

Zara welcomes every demand of its customers more truly, and garment styling for Zara starts with an email or phone call. Thus Zara responds to the actual need rather than forecasting for a distant future. In addition, the daily feedback from the stores and the sales reports is taken into account during product development.

To sum up the above discussion, we can dictate that Zara has the scheduling techniques; Centrally Managed Inventory, Reduced Design Cycle Time, Strong IT System, Logistics and Distribution. Thus the innovative management and the above-mentioned factors set Zara apart from its rival competitors and deliver Zara as a world-famous brand name.