You don’t have to be part of a particular age bracket to want to buy from clothing retailer Zara- their offerings cater to trendy and evergreen tastes, that transcend generations. They’re an internationally competitive brand that has a humongous client base. Have you ever wondered, Does Amazon Own Zara? to know read further!
Does Amazon Own Zara?
Amazon does not own Zara. Zara is owned by Spanish conglomerate Inditex. If the name of this holding company doesn’t ring a bell, well fear not- this article has got that covered! With its unique and highly successful way of operations for the past few decades, Zara has reinforced some important business lessons- to react quickly at the right time than forecast for a possibly impossible future, to know the right marketing strategies and to keep learning to be the best in the business. There are many important organizational and core-business lessons to be learnt from the way in which this famous chain of stores works. What can also be learnt, is how swiftly they deal with copycat claims.
Inditex- All You Need to Know
With its position as the biggest multinational clothing company in the world, Inditex is quite easily the biggest player in the mainstream fashion market. They operate in 93 countries worldwide through their brands, the most famous of which is Zara. As with every international industry leader out there, Inditex also runs on one key purpose- to be as quick as possible in adapting and responding to the market and trends.
Inditex had humble beginnings in a small city in Spain called a Coruna, at the hands of the employee of a local shirtmaker named Amancio Ortega- this is a man who began with selling the clothes that were designed by his wife through a small factory he put up with what meagre savings he could muster in the early 1960s. As their work turnover increased, so did their magnitude- they opened their first clothing store, Zara, in 1975- with the aim of producing popular and trendy fashions at the most reasonable price possible.
He slowly and steadily branched out and launched many other famous brands and more lines of clothing- Pull and Bear, Oysho, Massimo Dutti and Stradivarius, to name a few.Upon its first-ever stock valuation, the Inditex company had been valued at 9 billion USD. This was in 2001. They eventually expanded their good production and got into selling home décor and home-related products through their venture Zara Home.
A very interesting fact about the marketing strategy of Inditex is that they are not inclined towards advertising in print media like fashion magazines or newspapers. They instead choose to funnel the marketing funds into high profile celebrity endorsements and very-easily visible window displays located in places that are considered prime spots to sell fashionable goods. They play directly to the customer’s vision of their product and not pictures of it instead.
Zara- Your Favorite Clothing Store
With the beginnings and workings of the holding company, Inditex now explored, let’s move on to Zara- a world-renowned household name in fast fashion. Zara is known for sleek and trendy offerings that never go out of style and are now an unstoppable force. But there is an interesting story as to what led to the naming of this store itself.
While Amancio Ortega intended for the store to be called Zorba after the film, he changed the name of the store to Zara when he later discovered that a bar with a similar name was situated very close by. It is said that the name Zara was arrived at, with a bunch of extra letters created for the company’s use. Ortega was also very quick to understand that computers would go on to play a huge role in business.
It is this understanding of the possibility that led to the birth of this fast-fashion concept. While his competitors were still reliant on telephones and manual information exchange, Ortega built Zara around the use of computers and hired those who could adapt to the system seamlessly- thus ensuring that he left all his competition behind, in the dust of his wake.
Its outlets
Today, there are 3000 operational Zara outlets in 90+ countries and is undeniably faster than its competitors in adapting to a new market. The launching of Zara and its subsequent growth also ensured that Rosalia Mera, Ortega’s wife- was the richest self-made female billionaire at the time of her death- with her net worth at an estimated 6.1 billion USD in 2013.
Conclusion
With this, you can solidly say that Zara, the flagship clothing retailer owned by the Spanish manufacturer Inditex– is certainly at the forefront of making premier and classy looks affordable, with their ‘mimic-the-high-fashion-world’ strategy. And with their offerings being very easy on the pocket for most people across the globe, Zara is most definitely a game-changer and is possibly the most devastating clothing retailer in the market.
