Re: Maggie Huang’s Blog Post Zara and its Operations

Like Maggie, I am also interested in Zara and how it operates. From shopping and my mall hangouts with friends, I was aware the brand, however, having never personally shopped or stepped inside of the store, I had no idea of the unique way the company operates. From the outside, Zara looks like any other clothing store, however, after being introduced to the behind-the-scenes daily operations of the company, my interest in doing further research into the brand has since escalated. I am also planning to visit the store when I get a chance.

The main point of difference that I felt has allowed Zara to thrive in the clothing industry and stood out to me was how fast the company was able to “restock with new designs twice a week“, which comes to show how productive the design and production teams are. By doing this Zara is not only changing the way the whole fashion industry works, but in many ways also dramatically increasing its profits. By changing designs twice a week, Zara, like Maggie mentioned, is “brand positioning” themselves, making themselves the image of scarcity in consumers’ minds. Without even having to advertise their products, consumers’ will willingly go shop at their stores and immediately buy because they know the stock of the certain designs will not last. And with the profits gaiend through this method, Zara is therefore able to produce in Europe and not in a country with cheap labour.

However, I believe although Zara is thriving by using this unique strategy, the company will have a competitive advantage in the clothing and fashion industries for a long time to come because to copy Zara’s operations and to produce and design at the pace of Zara is not an easy thing.