...International Journal of e-Education, e-Business, e-Management and e-Learning, Vol. 1, No. 3, August 2011 Case Study of Online Retailing Fast Fashion Industry Wei Zhenxiang and Zhou Lijie Abstract—The study investigates into the fast fashion industry worldwide, specifically on Zara, H&M and UNIQLO with respect to efficient supply chain management, scarce value creation, low costs promotions and positioning strategy, supported by comparisons between several typical well-known fast fashion brands. Through the overall analysis of B2C apparel online retailing in China, statistics show an enormous space for online retailing fast fashion industry to explore but a far way to catch up with the leading enterprises in the world in terms of e-commerce scale. The next main part demonstrates a case of a Chinese fast fashion online retailer-Vancl, analyzing its keys to success in aspects of proper product positioning, brand positioning, business mode, marketing strategy, products and services, user experience, logistics and team management. In addition, relevant suggestions for further prosperity are proposed in the end of the paper. Index Terms—fast fashion industry, e-commerce, B2C, online retailing retailers to acknowledge that designs move from catwalk to store in the fastest time to capture current trends in the market. The apparel products are designed and manufactured quickly and cheaply to allow the mainstream consumer to take advantage of current clothing styles at a lower...
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...Zara Case Study Contents 1. Abstract 3 2. Current state 3 3. Problems with current state 4 4. Competitors 5 5. Target State 7 5.1. Considerations 8 6. IT strategy 9 7. Cost Analysis 11 8. Conclusion 11 1. Abstract Zara is one of the largest international fashion companies. It belongs to Inditex, a multinational retailer and manufacturer. At the beginning of 2003, Inditex operated 1,558 stores in 45 countries, of which nearly 550 were part of the Zara chain. The customer is at the heart of their unique business model. Quick and accurate response to shifting consumer demands is the goal of Zara. The main objective of this case paper is to analyze Zara’s current business model, focus on issues they are facing and provide solution to overcome them. This case analysis also provides Zara with suggestions for IT implementation along with its cost analysis and opportunities for further innovation in their business. This analysis gives Zara a pathway to transform from non-IT savvy firm to an IT Savvy firm and help them to be in competitive advantage. 2. Current state * Offline business Zara currently works only with stores and they do not offer online shopping for customers. The strategy to keep offline business working is to face customers with variety of cloths in different colors and designs and try to convince them buy new arrivals. Since the products inside stores change frequently, the chance of selling new products is very high...
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...In 1975, appeal giant Inditex set up the first Zara store in La Coruna, in Northwest Spain. By 2006, Zara had owned 723 stores which hold a selling area of 821,100 square meters around the world. With sales of 3.7 billion dollars in the business year 2005, Zara had developed into Spain’s the most famous fashion brand and the leading brand of Inditex (Kumar, 2006). Zara is one of the most outstanding apparel retail businesses in the world today. Although it is not the biggest, its marginal profits and rates of growth are leading the industry. The purpose of this essay is to analyze what sort of innovation Zara used on its way to success and make comparisons of competing products or processes with its competitors. By analyzing and comparing, it is obvious that the company's success depends on conducting a series of innovations at each one of the parts in the business: fashion-forward design, unique branding strategies, in-house production processes and centralized distribution system. Basically, this essay has been divided into four parts: the first part focus on describing how Zara makes its designs more innovative compare with other appeal retailers. Then, what sort of innovation used in their branding strategies will be discussed. Next, it will consider Zara’s innovation of production process and show an apparent difference of this process among Zara, H&M and the Gap. Finally, it will look at how Zara promotes innovation on their distribution process in to become more fast...
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...Summary 2 Introduction of Zara 2 Porter’s Six Forces model in Zara 3 Existing competitors 4 The bargaining power of suppliers 4 The bargaining power of customers 4 Potential competitors 5 Alternative products or services 5 The power of cooperative dealer 6 IT is the heart of ZARA mode 6 Track fashion with the information base 6 Information standardizing and optimizing design 7 Zara’s competitive advantage – based on value chain perspective 8 Design 8 Marketing 9 Conclusion 12 ZARA's Informational Rapid Response Mechanism and Fast Fashion Summary In recent years, with the unique marketing strategy, fast fashion apparel business has developed rapidly in the world. Some of enterprises engaged in the fast fashion business have obtained considerable sales and global business expansion, it can be said that fast fashion has been become one of the most valuable fields in the clothing industry, and carrying out fast fashion business has become an ideal choice for clothing enterprises to develop rapidly and create performance (Hayes & Jones, 2006). In this paper, it chose an international fast fashion clothing brand--ZARA of Spain, which is characterized on marketing and has won widely recognized worldwide, as the research object. Through the analysis of the brand's marketing strategy, it interprets the universal business model used the fast fashion clothing brand to do business. This paper adopts the method of case study, first makes detailed analysis...
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...Question 1: From an analytical prospective, explain how information systems relate to the way Zara runs its business. What types of systems are the most essential for this company in its current environment? Zara is a clothing company that was founded in 1975 and came from Spain. Its under Inditex group which owns other brands such as Massimo Dutti, Pull & Bear, Oysho, Uterques and many more companies. Zara grew very fast and currently in 2012 has 1,617 stores worldwide. With a large name in the fashion industry, besides that, Zara faces tough competition internationally including H&M, Benetton, and GAP. In order to keep up with the speed chic, Zara need to keep up also with the information system to run their business. Information systems is a critical tool in todays world in business and even our daily lifes, Zara uses information systems to succesfully speed up the entire value chain process. This is because it takes the retailer 10 to 12 months to develop a fashion model and see it through the point of where the goods arrive in the store, but with information systems, Zara uses quarter of that time for the whole process. Besides that, Zara achieves this by using information systems in their stores to provide the design team innovative ideas. In a way Zara’s success could be also attributed to their information system tools employed at their production level. A designer checking for sketches with associates to market specialists, all the way to cross-functional...
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...Case study: Zara, Fast Fashion from Savvy Systems Introduction The poor, ship-building town of La Coruña in northern Spain seems an unlikely home to a tech-charged innovator in the decidedly ungeeky fashion industry, but that’s where you’ll find “The Cube,” the gleaming, futuristic central command of the Inditex Corporation (Industrias de Diseño Textil), parent of game-changing clothes giant, Zara. The blend of technologyenabled strategy that Zara has unleashed seems to break all of the rules in the fashion industry. The firm shuns advertising and rarely runs sales. Also, in an industry where nearly every major player outsources manufacturing to low-cost countries, Zara is highly vertically integrated, keeping huge swaths of its production process in-house. These counterintuitive moves are part of a recipe for success that’s beating the pants off the competition, and it has turned the founder of Inditex, Amancio Ortega, into Spain’s wealthiest man and the world’s richest fashion executive. Figure 3.1. Zara’s operations are concentrated in Spain, but they have stores around the world like these in Manhattan and Shanghai. The firm tripled in size between 1996 and 2000, then its earnings skyrocketed from $2.43 billion in 2001 to $13.6 billion in 2007. By August 2008, sales edged ahead of Gap, making Inditex the world’s largest fashion retailer.[1] Table 3.1 compares the two fashion retailers. While Inditex supports eight brands, Zara is unquestionably the firm’s...
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...Bus 1004 – Introduction to Management Introduction The aim of this assignment is to understand and explore the main principles of the way Marks and Spencer’s operates. In the assignment I will be examine the strengths and weaknesses of the company, however the most critical issues which will be covered in the essay is the leadership and management style and corporate culture of Marks and Spencer’s. Furthermore I will analyse to what extent o regard leadership and management style as the key factors in accounting for Marks and Spencer’s relative underperformance over the last 20 years. Explain 5 strengths and 5 weaknesses of Marks and Spencer’s Referring back to the case study, we can see that Marks and Spencer have a very well known recognition of their brand, which links to quality. In the late 1880’s the company introduced the ‘St Michael’ logo as a sign of quality. With the brand linked to quality has helped the company build loyalty with their customers as they always ensure that their products are consistent and of high quality. This has of course helped Marks and Spencer gain rewards in terms of profit. Another strength which the company comprise is the good reputation of customer service. Marks and Spencer’s tend to focus a lot on their customer services; with one of their fundamental principles was to ‘provide friendly, helpful service and greater shopping comfort and convenience to customers’ Marks and Spencer’s assistants all carried tape measures to assure...
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...SAVONIA UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES UNIT OF BUSINESS AND ADMINISTRATION, KUOPIO THE IMPORTANCE OF STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT A case study of H&M Ding Huiru Business Administration Bachelor’s thesis International Business April 2011 2 SAVONIA UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES SAVONIA BUSINESS Degree Programme, option International Business Author(s) Ding Huiru Title of study The importance of strategic management, Case study of H&M Type of project Date Pages Thesis 27.4.2011 59+12 Supervisor(s) of study 1st Antti Iire 2nd Anneli Juutilainen Executive organization H&M in Kuopio,Finland Abstract Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) is a 100 billion Sweden company, engaged in designing and retailing of fashion apparel and accessories. The company offers a range of apparel, cosmetics, footwear and accessories for men, women, children and teenagers. H&M primarily operates in Europe, North America and Asia, and has a presence in over 38 countries. The company is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden and employs approximately 87,000 people on a full-time basis. This thesis focused on the strategic management of H&M company. The main research problem was to make an in-depth analysis of its marketing strategy and how to implement it. The main research method was a qualitative research by analyzing their company data, annual reports and making interviews with the manager, staffs and customers in Kuopio shop. The thesis starts with a general introduction...
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...Case Study – Zara Abstract The competition of current clothing industry is very fierce and Zara has many competitive advantages in this competition. This paper will analyze on about how the information technology help Zara to make decisions and make their performance more speed. First, a case review from Harvard Business Review will be covered in the introduction to show an overview of current Zara’s business model. Second is the Michael Porter’s model analysis based on Zara that including three generic strategies and five forces. Third, some of IT applications are really help the Zara to make their business more efficient, the applications will be applied in the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Supply Chain Management (SCM) will emphasize a speed supply chain for Zara, and Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Finally is about the relationship between Zara and Peter Drucker’s theory, Zara and Andrew McAfee’s theory, Zara and Hey’s theory. The last part will conclude where is Zara today and make brief recommendations. Table of Contents Introduction 4 Zara and Michael Porter’s Model 5 Generic Competitive Strategies Analysis for Zara 5 Five Forces Analysis for Zara 6 Suppliers Bargaining Power 6 Buyer Bargaining Power 7 Threat of New Entrants 7 Threat of Substitute 8 Industrial Competitors 9 The Value Chain of Zara 10 Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) 11 Supply Chain Management (SCM) 11 Customer Relationship Management (CRM) 13 Zara and...
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...SAVONIA UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES UNIT OF BUSINESS AND ADMINISTRATION, KUOPIO THE IMPORTANCE OF STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT A case study of H&M Ding Huiru Business Administration Bachelor’s thesis International Business April 2011 2 SAVONIA UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES SAVONIA BUSINESS Degree Programme, option International Business Author(s) Ding Huiru Title of study The importance of strategic management, Case study of H&M Type of project Date Pages Thesis 27.4.2011 59+12 Supervisor(s) of study 1st Antti Iire 2nd Anneli Juutilainen Abstract Executive organization H&M in Kuopio,Finland Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) is a 100 billion Sweden company, engaged in designing and retailing of fashion apparel and accessories. The company offers a range of apparel, cosmetics, footwear and accessories for men, women, children and teenagers. H&M primarily operates in Europe, North America and Asia, and has a presence in over 38 countries. The company is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden and employs approximately 87,000 people on a full-time basis. This thesis focused on the strategic management of H&M company. The main research problem was to make an in-depth analysis of its marketing strategy and how to implement it. The main research method was a qualitative research by analyzing their company data, annual reports and making interviews with the manager, staffs and customers in Kuopio shop. The thesis starts with a general introduction and some background information...
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...On: 02 November 2013, At: 21:59 Publisher: Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) INFORMS is located in Maryland, USA Operations Research Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://pubsonline.informs.org Inventory Management of a Fast-Fashion Retail Network Felipe Caro, Jérémie Gallien, To cite this article: Felipe Caro, Jérémie Gallien, (2010) Inventory Management of a Fast-Fashion Retail Network. Operations Research 58(2):257-273. http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/opre.1090.0698 Full terms and conditions of use: http://pubsonline.informs.org/page/terms-and-conditions This article may be used only for the purposes of research, teaching, and/or private study. Commercial use or systematic downloading (by robots or other automatic processes) is prohibited without explicit Publisher approval. For more information, contact permissions@informs.org. The Publisher does not warrant or guarantee the article’s accuracy, completeness, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement. Descriptions of, or references to, products or publications, or inclusion of an advertisement in this article, neither constitutes nor implies a guarantee, endorsement, or support of claims made of that product, publication, or service. Copyright © 2010, INFORMS Please scroll down for article—it is on subsequent pages INFORMS is the largest professional society in the world for professionals in the...
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...Chapter 2: MANAGEMENT LEARNING PAST TO PRESENT CHAPTER 2 TAKEAWAY QUESTIONS 1. What can be learned from classical management thinking? 2. What are the insights come from the behavioral management approaches? 3. What are the foundations of modern management thinking? CHAPTER 2 LEARNING OBJECTIVES After completing this chapter, students should be able to: • State the underlying assumption of the classical management approaches. • List the principles of Taylor’s scientific management. • List three of Fayol’s “principles” for guiding managerial action. • List the key characteristics of bureaucracy and explain why Weber considered it an ideal form of organization. • Identify possible disadvantages of bureaucracy in today’s environment. • Explain Follett’s concept of organizations as communities. • Define the Hawthorne effect. • Explain how the Hawthorne findings influenced the development of management thought. • Explain how Maslow’s hierarchy of needs operates in the workplace. • Distinguish between Theory X and Theory Y assumptions, and explain why McGregor favored Theory Y. • Explain Argyris’s criticism that traditional organizational practices are inconsistent with mature adult personalities. • Define system, subsystem, and open system. • Apply these concepts to describe the operations of an organization in your community. • Define contingency thinking, knowledge management, and a learning organization. • List characteristics...
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...European Planning Studies, Vol. 10, No. 4, 2002 RESEARCH BRIEFING The Fashion Industry in Galicia: Understanding the ‘Zara’ Phenomenon ARTURO REVILLA BONNIN ABSTRACT Galicia is traditionally one of the weaker regional economies in Spain. However it is home to one of the most successful global marketing phenomena of the age. Zara, the mid-market fashion arm of the Galician INDITEX Group, is amongst the ‘culprits’ that have been blamed for the demise from high street hegemony of such European retail notables as C&A, Littlewoods and Marks & Spencer. In this paper an analysis is provided of the mechanisms by which this peripheral region has succeeded in producing, from virtually nothing, a globally outstanding retail fashion industry in one of the world’s most cutthroat competitive industries. It is shown that regional, national and supra-national factors have had important parts to play, but that the Galician approach is nevertheless unique, compared to that of other fashion clothing regions. Among the special features at play are high levels of tacit and codi ed knowledge exploitation, integrated design, production and retailing and advanced retail feedback technology that enables anticipation of customer preference. 1. Introduction The fashion industry in Galicia presents different characteristics from that in the rest of Spain. Until the end of the 1970s, the Spanish textile industry was highly protected, oriented mainly towards domestic markets and with a very restricted...
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...ZARA By Promode Gabriela Andrade Diego Farfán Cristina Neira Gabriela Muñoz SEARCH STAGE About INDITEX Industrias de Diseño Textil S.A (INDITEX) is a large Spanish corporation inside the fashion industry. This group is related with different companies that deal with activities involved in textile design, production and distribution. Amancio Ortega Gaona is the founder and chairman of INDITEX. INDITEX headquarters are located in Arteixo, a village in the province of La Coruña in Galicia, in the north west of Spain. It is there where almost all its merchandises are manufactured. With over 4,430 stores in around 73 countries, INDITEX owns brands like ZARA, Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Oysho, Pull and Bear, ZARA HOME, Kiddy’s Class (Skhuaban), Uterqüe and Stradivarius. These stores are mostly corporate-owned since franchises are only conceded in countries where corporate properties cannot be foreign-owned. Their management model, based on innovation and flexibility, and the company’s achievements, have placed INDITEX as one of the largest groups of fashion distribution. One of the strategies of INDITEX group is to understand fashion, creativity and quality design in order to provide an efficient answer to the demand of the market. This has allowed a fast international expansion and an excellent embracement of this proposal in all different brands that form part of the INDITEX group. About ZARA As mentioned before, ZARA forms part...
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...Innovation in the Fashion Industry: A Study of Four Cases 1 Table of Content Introduction Page 3 Page 3 Page 3 Page 5 Page 6 Page 6 Page 8 Page 10 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 The history of fashion Major trends and developments in fashion Company Selection Analysis of the Companies House of Einstein Zara Fragile TOMS Conclusion Teamwork References Appendix 2 Introduction The history of fashion In order to fully understand where the fashion industry stands today in terms of organizational forms and strategies, we first look at the transformation this industry has gone through. This paragraph will analyze the changes that have occurred in the fashion apparel industry in the past century. We will also discuss some of the major trends that are visible in the fashion industry today. Up until the 1960s, the fashion industry was roughly divided into two groups. First there were firms which were based on mass production, with low costs and standardized styles that did not change frequently (Bhardwaj & Fairhust, 2010). During this time, a large group of consumers was less sensitive to fashion and had a preference for practical, basic apparel. Secondly there was the luxury fashion industry, which originated in France. A small group of French traditional players set up a special ...
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