{"id":402,"date":"2015-11-29T21:31:27","date_gmt":"2015-11-30T02:31:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/zara-fast-growth-through-fast-fashion\/"},"modified":"2015-11-29T21:31:27","modified_gmt":"2015-11-30T02:31:27","slug":"zara-fast-growth-through-fast-fashion","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/zara-fast-growth-through-fast-fashion\/","title":{"rendered":"Zara: Fast Growth through Fast Fashion"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Importance of Newness<\/em><\/p>\n

\"TOM<\/a> \"TOM<\/a> \"TOM<\/a> \"TOM<\/a><\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t take much time in any shopping center or mall to realize the importance of \u2018newness\u2019 in today\u2019s retail fashion environment.\u00a0 The word \u2018NEW!\u2019 is displayed across virtually all retailer-to-customer touchpoints, from store signage to communication emails to sales associate training guides.\u00a0 In today\u2019s highly competitive fashion economy, the ability to frequently introduce new products to consumers can be an extremely beneficial point of differentiation, driving customer traffic across the lease line into the store or onto a retailer\u2019s website.\u00a0 While speed-to-market is something most vertically-integrated fashion retailers strive for, perhaps no one rivals Spain-based group Inditex, and specifically, its specialty apparel retailer Zara, on this dimension.\u00a0 Since its inception in 1975, Zara has done an incredible job aligning its internal operations to support its\u00a0fast-fashion business model, which focuses on driving mass consumer sales via a merchandise portfolio of new on-trend, designer-inspired pieces at affordable prices.<\/p>\n

This model has ultimately allowed Zara to grow to be one of the world\u2019s most successful retailers: in fiscal year 2014, Zara had sales of $19.7 billion (compared to Gap\u2019s $16.4 billion or Abercrombie and Fitch\u2019s $3.7 billion) [1]. \u00a0While\u00a0it takes apparel retailers approximately\u00a09 months on average to bring a concept into stores, Zara is astonishingly able to do so within just 10-15 days [2]. \u00a0\u00a0<\/sup>Zara\u2019s ability to produce newness allows the retailer to secure a global average of 17 store visits per customer versus the industry average of 3 visits per year [3].<\/p>\n

Doing Things Differently<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Tom<\/a><\/p>\n

Apparel retailers have traditionally developed designs based on trend predictions and forecasts months in advance of bringing them to the physical or online store, causing them to possess\u00a0a relatively\u00a0static product assortment throughout the season.\u00a0 Zara, however, operates on a much more rapid, customer response-oriented production model to allow for the flexibility and speed to incorporate the newest\u00a0trends into its designs.<\/p>\n

To do so, Zara has instituted a number of operational enablers that help it secure shorter lead times:<\/p>\n