2. Objectives
• By the end of this session, you’ll learn:
• What is Zara?
• Its history
• The concept behind it, and
• Zara’s expansion and growth plans
3. What is ZARA?
• Founded in 1975 by Amancio Ortega and Rosalía
Mera
• Zara is a Spanish clothing and accessories retailer
based in Arteixo, Galicia
• It is the flagship chain store of the Inditex group, the
world's largest apparel retailer
4. HISTORY
• Amancio Ortega opened the first Zara store in 1975 in a central
street in downtown A Coruña, Galicia, Spain
• Ortega named his store Zorba after watching the classic film
Zorba the Greek
• But apparently, there was a bar with the same name just two
blocks away, and the owner of the bar came and said, "this is
going to confuse things, to have two Zorbas”
• Finally, Amancio ended up naming the brand ZARA.
5. S.T.P
Segment
Clothes for people with a combined
attitude of work and play
Target Group
People with medium to high
purchasing power who love to look
glamorous at all times
Positioning
Fashionable look alike merchandise
which is still extremely innovative.
6. CONCEPT
• The first store featured low-priced look-alike products of
popular, higher-end fashion clothing.
• The store proved to be a success, and Ortega began opening
more Zara stores throughout Spain.
• During the 1980s, he started changing the design,
manufacturing, and distribution process to reduce lead times
• Reacted to new trends in a quicker way - called "instant
fashion"
• The company based its improvements in the use of
information technology and using groups of designers
instead of individuals.
7. EXPANSION
• 1988 - Zara started its international expansion through Porto, Portugal
• 1989 - entered the USA
• 1990 – France
• International expansion increased in the 1990s
Mexico (1992)
Greece (1994)
Belgium
Sweden (1994)
• current presence in over 88 countries.
• Zara stores are company-owned, except where local legislation forbids
foreigner-owned businesses; In those cases, Zara franchises the stores
8. PRODUCTS
• As of 2007, Zara stores have men's clothing and
women's clothing in the following categories:
Lower Garment
Upper Garment
Shoes
Cosmetics and Complements
Children's clothing (Zara Kids)
9. GROWTH
• Zara
Flagship brand
Encompasses many different styles, from daily clothes, more
informal, to the more serious or formal, through dresses and
suits for festival events
Fashion for women, men and children.
• Zara Kids
Kids Clothing from 0 to 14 years old.
• Zara Home
Domestic merchandise
10. CONTROVERSY
In 2014, Zara had to remove a striped baby shirt with a
sewed-on badge identical to the Star of David, after
shoppers were outraged by its similarities to a Nazi death
camp uniform.
11. CONTROVERSY
In 2007, a bag embroidered with Nazi-style swastikas was
withdrawn by Zara, after a rush of complaints.
12. WHY ZARA?
• Even though this brand has been associated with
controversies it is still one of the most preferred
brands all over the world in this price segment.
• How about advertising? Well, Zara doesn't do it. There
is no ad budget. Instead, the company spends ungodly
amounts of money buying storefronts next to luxury
brands to own the label of affordable luxury.
• After all who doesn’t like to save some money, right?
13. Why ZARA? Contd
• Zara was described by Louis Vuitton Fashion Director
Daniel Piette as "possibly the most innovative and
devastating retailer in the world."
• Zara is also known to be one of the most eco-friendly
companies. It uses solar panels and wind turbines at the
headquarters in La Coruna.
• Zara is also known to be one of the few clothing brands
that produces 100 % toxic-free clothing, but not until after
the uproar that was caused on how it was using the
cancer-inducing azo dyes in its clothing.